An underrated horror-satire from 2023 is required viewing for any horror fan, especially those with a particular interest in the vampire subgenre. 2023 was a great year for horror, with many of the year’s best releases bringing the already growing popularity of the genre to even greater heights. However, there were also some releases that didn’t gain quite as much attention.
A handful of the easily missed horror films of 2023 come from Netflix. The streaming service has found great success with its original content over the years. However, with the countless тιтles available to stream, it’s not uncommon for certain films to come and go without a majority of audiences noticing. One of these films is the Chilean horror-satire, El Conde.
El Conde Deserves More Attention As A Horror Movie
The Movie’s Observation Of History Is Comical Without Minimizing The Real-Life Horrors
El Conde (The Count) comes from Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín and transforms the notorious dictator of Chile, Augusto Pinochet (Jaime Vadell), into a 250-year-old vampire who has grown tired of eternal life. El Conde is narrated by an enthusiastic fan of Pinochet, and the film’s main plot sees the dictator’s opportunistic children conspiring with a nun in an effort to get their hands on Pinochet’s fortune.
Larraín reimagines Pinochet’s life through a bizarre, supernatural lens with surprisingly strong results. Pinochet is a frequent subject for Larraín, whose films Tony Manero, Post Mortem, and No all revolve around his dictatorship. Vadell approaches Pinochet in El Conde with much amusement. Vadell puts forth a playful charm that’s required to emphasize the character’s negligence and ignorance of the consequences of his actions.
As wildly absurd as the film is at times, the harsh realities and lasting effects of Pinochet’s crimes remain a constant presence.
Many horror films are infused with social commentary and successfully provide audiences with an entertaining plot that doesn’t diminish the weight of the message within it. El Conde strikes a similar balance, for as wildly absurd as the film is at times, the harsh realities and lasting effects of Pinochet’s crimes remain a constant presence until the film’s final moments.
Why El Conde Is Netflix’s Best Original Horror Movie Yet
The Film Balances Its Chilling Atmosphere With A Humorous Reimagining Of History
Currently sitting with a certified fresh critics’ score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, the response to El Conde has been largely positive. Though El Conde hasn’t earned as much attention from audiences as some of Netflix’s more well-known ventures into the horror genre, it’s by far one of the streaming service’s best originals.
For as politically and historically layered as Larraín’s film is at times, it fortunately has no issue keeping a strong hold on its delightfully quirky tone. Meanwhile, El Conde‘s rich gothic aesthetic, in part courtesy of cinematographer Edward Lachman, paints the film with a bleak atmosphere that underscores Larraín’s themes.
El Conde won the Best Screenplay award at the 80th Venice Film Festival and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography.
Through Larraín’s depiction of Pinochet, El Conde cleverly suggests that the dangerous ideologies of similar-minded leaders find a way to re-emerge over time —Pinochet takes part in shutting down revolutionary forces for several centuries before landing in Chile. Despite covering familiar territory, Larraín manages to find more worthwhile material to unpack within Chile’s dark history.
