Ataúd Blanco: El Juego Diabólico (2016) Online

Virginia (Julieta Cardinali) will do the impossible in order to rescue her little daughter (Fiorela Duranda) who has been abducted. After an accident, she has the chance to live one day more to save her. On her path, she will find out that there are worst things than death.

"White Coffin", with the subtitle "A Diabolical Game", has been in the works for a long time, at least as early as 2007. At that time, Adrián García Bogliano and his brother had a script, but the film collected dust due to lack of funding. In the meantime, Bogliano has gone on to become one of the rising stars of horror with "Here Comes the Devil" and "Late Phases" (both excellent films), to name just a couple.

Fast forward a few years. Bogliano is now a bankable name, and Argentine director-producer Daniel de la Vega, the director of "White Coffin", has made his mark with the Faye Dunaway thriller "Jennifer's Shadow". They could probably have turned to outside (read: Hollywood) investors, but instead managed to keep things local. "After all this time, we managed to bring it nearer to fruition thanks to Argentine state film subsidies," de la Vega explained in 2015.

One has to wonder if the script evolved between 2007 and 2015. In earlier interviews, "White Coffin" was said to be "a genre auteur film" with influence from Hammer Productions, Roger Corman movies and the Vincent Price classic "House of Wax." None of these three is clearly evident in the finished film, however. Later, the film came to be referred to as "a horror / road movie" described as "Duel" meets "The Wicker Man". Both of those films are more obvious forebearers, and one could add Tarantino's "Kill Bill" for good measure (some of the cinematography even suggests a Tarantino influence). Or even "The Vanishing" (1988).

With plenty of car chases, and an eight-hour plot packed into a 70-minute film, what we get is an exciting, inventive, fast-paced thrill ride. And did I mention gory? There's a buzzsaw-wielding maniac not afraid to bifurcate his victims, and a priest who takes a cue from John the Baptist. Perhaps most interesting is how the film defies the taboo of putting children in harm. Without giving too much away, be warned: innocent children are at risk, and not all of them make it to the final scene alive! Some aspects of the plot are not fully explained. Oddly, this did not bother me on the supernatural elements, such as the main character's resurrection. Much like "The Crow", I was willing to accept that love could conquer death. But the lack of explanation was somewhat irksome on the ritual aspects. Unlike "The Wicker Man" where the pagans have clear reasons for their behavior, it was never clear exactly what motivated the kidnappers in this film. Or perhaps this was explained and was over my head? A second viewing is in order.

"White Coffin" premiered July 18 at the Fantasia Film Festival, and I have no doubt the audience loved it. Despite what I see as a possible plot oversight, the film as a whole is hard not to love – it just keeps moving, hacking and slashing through everything in its way. If Argentina hasn't already left a mark in the world of genre film, this will be the one that does the trick.

Only watch this if you like to see mothers watching their children die before they themselves are murdered. The only reason I watched it in entirety is because I was eating fried chicken and I didn't want to grease up the remote control.

Daniel de la Vega is quickly becoming not only one of the best horror directors in Argentina, but one of the best in world cinema for the simple fact that he has his own style! Yes his films have some problems, but the creativity he possesses is something to be applauded in a world full of remakes and generic garbage. Being a very self aware director, he plays the audience along on a string. Creating generic moments, giving the viewer a false sense of security and then pulling the rug from under them. He did this in his other movies (Necrofobia and Hermanos de Sangre) and its no different in Ataud Blanco. Strange, disturbing and very fast paced, Ataud Blanco doesn't allow itself to get boring and will constantly have the viewer on edge, because of the directors ability to play with the audience! High end production, along with solid acting, allows the dreaded atmosphere to soak through the screen and strangle the audience right up until its shocking climax! This is definitely a film that wont appeal to the masses, It can be very confusing and vague at times, but if you like your movies that are very strange and violent, then this one is right up your alley!

Let's get right into this: Is this violent? Yes. Is it strange? You betcha it is! Some may call it far out and would not be missing the spot while saying that. Does it feel like amateur script hour though? Sadly yes to that too. Also the acting is mostly not convincing, which may be a result of a script the actors didn't really get.

On the other hand, you have really good visuals. And the crazy factor goes through the roof. If you don't mind story and logic, this will take you on a ride that you won't forget - actually this is also true if you dislike the movie. A lot of things are happening and it seems like the filmmaker here bets on us not noticing the flaws while throwing stuff at us (and the main character). Do you mind? If you do, don't watch, otherwise go ahead and have "fun" ... don't blame me for your confusion though

A woman with her young daughter is driving somewhere on a desolate road when they get a flat. A stranger shows up to help her replace the flat. He warns her to leave, that it's not a good place to be. A sinister tow-truck is also driving around. They arrive at a gas station where the girl gets something to eat. The mom leaves her alone for a bit and when she returns, her daughter is gone. There's also some sports team made up of young kids. And one of those kids also goes missing. So now the woman named Virginia and the sports coach start looking for their respective kids.

When Virginia sees the tow truck drive by she goes chasing after it. And indeed her daughter is in there. Then an ambulance appears and starts crashing into her, eventually driving her off the road, where she crashes into a tree and dies.

The body is quickly dragged into a morgue, washed, and buried. Not long after, Virgina wakes up and is helped out by the stranger from earlier. He tells her that she's dead and that her daughter will die unless she finds a white coffin, and that she has 24 hours. So off she goes to find a while coffin. She has run-ins with some creepy locals, and the coach, and another crazy woman. All three are looking for the white coffin to save their kids. Things get eventually deadly and a bit gory as it turns into a competition because there is only one white coffin and three kids to save. And there's a twist that involves the motivation behind all these strange events and then at the end there's also a scene that expands things a bit more.

White Coffin is an interesting movie that does offers something different. It relies a bit too much on confusion, because for most of the movie, even the past the end, the audience will be puzzled. Technically, the movie is very good. There are some poor choices all around though, as with the casting of Virginia, and the long intro credit scene with some ridiculous out-of-place music. Virginia should have been made to be much more sympathetic at first, but for some reason they didn't really try. This movie is rather short and this is one rare case where a couple minutes more would have helped. The concept is pretty good, but unfortunately they chose to turn it into some horror drama, when it could have easily been horror action or a horror thriller. Given what goes on, things are too low-key. White Coffin is worth a look but also worth a remake, something along the lines of an extreme French horror movie.

I just watched first 10 minutes and stopped. This movie looks like done by bad cinema students. Long passages and serious continuity problems, like the woman driving her car in a perfect road while talking to her daughter and suddenly a bump and a flat. Now the car is in a long dirt road.

Star Trek technology that beamed the car from asphalt road to a dirt road instantly? I do not know.

Argentina had made great movies but not this one. Sorry.

How far will a mother go to protect her child? And at what cost?

Good or bad? I can't decide because there are so many conflicting factors. There are some original and interesting concepts. Lots of continuity issues which can be quite distracting. The climax of the film is really quite disturbing.

For me it's a 4 and an 8 at the same time ... so I guess pick the middle.

This movie is well made and seems like it's going somewhere but honestly it sucks and the ending is stupid. It's not the worst, but it's a waste of your time when you could be watching something good.

Kids gets kidnapped and the only way the desperate mothers can save them is to follow the instructions they are given but at what cost? The end is Painful to watch and a little bit disappointing.