4. Insensebles (aka Painless)
The Spanish Civil War has provided the backdrop for some truly excellent supernatural horror films over the years and Juan Carlos Medina's Insensibles is no exception. Set originally in the 1930's the film explores the idea of a condition that runs through the veins of a select few young children rendering them entirely impervious to pain. With no concept of ever being hurt the kids are considered a danger to themselves and others and find themselves confined to cells in the local mad house for the rest of their lives. As the Civil War and eventually World War 2 ravage the country one boy finds himself working for the invading regime as a 'Confessor' physically destroying anyone who is put in front of him as he develops more and more into an unfeeling, unnatural monster named Berkano. Running alongside this story is a modern day yarn in which a doctor must seek out his biological parents in the hopes he will receive a life saving bone marrow transplant before his cancer takes hold for good. When it becomes clear his parents are not actually who he thought they were he sets out on a journey of self discovery to find his true mother and father. But what he finds was never meant to be discovered leading to a final showdown with the old but every bit as monstrous Berkano. Insensibles is creepy. It's not terrifying by any means but it packs enough of a punch to haunt you far more than a typical ghost story would. Berkano and his scarred body is a terrifying sight to behold and his descent from a scared, gifted child into a complete and utter monster is as heartbreaking as it is frightening.