{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Infobox film | name = | image = Venicephrenia poster.jpg | native_name = {{Infobox name module|es|Veneciafrenia|nolink=yes}} | caption = Film poster | director = Álex de la Iglesia | producer = {{ubl|Carolina Bang|Álex de la Iglesia|Ignacio Salazar-Simpson|Ricardo Marco Budé}} | writer = {{Plain list| * Jorge Guerricaechevarría * Álex de la Iglesia }} | story = | starring = {{Plain list| * Ingrid García Jonsson * Silvia Alonso * Goize Blanco * Nicolás lloro * Alberto Bang * Cosimo Fusco * Enrico Lo Verso * Armando di Razza * Chanel Cazzaniga * Caterina Murino * Nico Romero }} | music = Roque Baños | cinematography = Pablo Rosso | editing = Domingo González | studio = {{Plain list| * Pokeepsie Films * The Fear Collection I AIE }} | distributor = Sony Pictures Entertainment Iberia | released = {{Film date|2021|10|09|df=y|FICFC|2022|04|22|Spain}} | runtime = 100 minutes | country = Spain | language = {{ubl|Spanish|Italian|English}} | budget = | gross = €441.000 }} '''''Venicephrenia''''' ({{langx|es|'''Veneciafrenia'''|links=no}})<ref name="spainted">{{Cite web|url=https://www.audiovisual451.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/icaa-justspainted-winterspring-2022-ok-lowres-.pdf|publisher=ICAA|via=Audiovisual451|access-date=21 April 2022|title=Just Spainted. Winter/Spring 2022. New Spanish Films|page=93}}</ref> is a 2021 Spanish slasher thriller film directed by Álex de la Iglesia. It is the first film belonging to the 'Fear Collection' label created by Sony Pictures International Productions and Pokeepsie Films in association with Amazon Prime Video. It stars Ingrid García Jonsson, Silvia Alonso, Goize Blanco, Nicolás Iloro and Alberto Bang as a group of Spanish friends who travel to Venice as part of a vacation plan, but as soon as they arrive to their destination, they encounter with furious inhabitants who refuse to welcome them, and a deadly killer who hunts each of them down.
''Venicephrenia'' had its world premiere at Sitges Film Festival on 9 October 2021, with several more festival screenings following until it was released theatrically on Spain on 22 April 2022.
== Plot == A group of young Spanish tourists travel to Venice in order to have a good time, even though their inhabitants are not in a welcoming mood for tourists. Once there, they face the prospect of struggling to stay alive.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://elpais.com/cultura/2021-09-28/asi-es-veneciafrenia-de-alex-de-la-iglesia.html|website=El País|title=Así es 'Veneciafrenia', de Alex de la Iglesia|date=28 September 2021}}</ref><ref name=lavanguardia />
== Cast == {{Cast list| * Ingrid García Jonsson<ref name=fotogramas012021 /> as Isa, Jose's sister * Silvia Alonso<ref name=fotogramas012021 /> as Susana * Goize Blanco<ref name=fotogramas012021 /> as Arantza, Javi's girlfriend * Nicolás lloro<ref name=fotogramas012021 /> as Javi, Arantza's boyfriend * Alberto Bang<ref name=fotogramas012021 /> as Jose, Isa's brother * Cosimo Fusco<ref name=fotogramas012021 /> as Dottore, the killer jester * Enrico Lo Verso<ref name=fotogramas012021 /> as Giacomo * Armando di Razza<ref name=fotogramas012021 /> as Brunelli * Caterina Murino<ref name=fotogramas012021 /> as Claudia * Nico Romero<ref name=fotogramas012021 /> as Alfonso, Isa's husband }}
== Production == ''Veneciafrenia'' was written by Álex de la Iglesia alongside Jorge Guerricaechevarría.<ref name=academia /> Produced by Pokeepsie Films and The Fear Collection AIE, in association with Sony Pictures International Productions and Prime Video and with the participation from Mogambo Films,<ref name="a451" /><ref name=academia>{{Cite web|url=https://www.academiadecine.com/2020/10/22/veneciafrenia/|website=Academia de Cine|title=Veneciafrenia|date=22 October 2020}}</ref> the film was shot in between Madrid and Venice.<ref name=fotogramas012021 /> Shooting began on 5 October 2020 and lasted for seven weeks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.diariovasco.com/culturas/cine/alex-iglesia-rueda-20201025182744-nt.html|website=Diario Vasco|title=Álex de la Iglesia rueda en Venecia un filme de terror, 'Veneciafrenia'|date=25 October 2020}}</ref><ref name=fotogramas012021>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fotogramas.es/noticias-cine/a35199081/veneciafrenia-alex-de-la-iglesia-fotos-rodaje/|website=Fotogramas|date=13 January 2021|title='Veneciafrenia': Primeras fotos de lo nuevo de Álex de la Iglesia|first1=Paula|last1=Ponga|first2=Juan|last2=Pando}}</ref>
== Release == The film made its world premiere at the 54th Sitges Film Festival (FICFC) on October 9, 2021.<ref name=lavanguardia>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/20211009/7779563/alex-iglesia-rodaje-venecia-le-robabamos-iluminacion-tom-cruise.html|website=La Vanguardia|title=Álex de la Iglesia: "Durante el rodaje en Venecia le robábamos la iluminación a Tom Cruise"|first=Leonor|last=Mayor Ortega|date=9 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="cinemania">{{Cite web|url=https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/noticias/sitges-2021-veneciafrenia-turismo-masivo-y-sangre-a-borbotones-en-lo-nuevo-de-alex-de-la-iglesia-4850557/|website=Cinemanía|publisher=20minutos.es|first=Miguel Ángel|last=Romero|language=es|access-date=13 October 2021|title=[Sitges 2021] 'Veneciafrenia': turismo masivo y sangre a borbotones en lo nuevo de Álex de la Iglesia|date=10 October 2021}}</ref> Tentatively slated for a wide theatrical release on November 26, 2021, in Spain,<ref name="cinemania" /> the domestic release date was finally rescheduled to April 22, 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fotogramas.es/noticias-cine/g37136546/peliculas-esperadas-estrenos-2022/|website=Fotogramas|title=Estas son las películas más esperadas que se estrenarán en 2022|first=María|last=Aller|date=14 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://as.com/meristation/2021/10/28/noticias/1635416991_397065.html|website=Meristation|publisher=As|title=Veneciafrenia, la nueva película de Álex de la Iglesia, revela su fecha de estreno|date=28 October 2021|first=Sergio C.|last=González}}</ref><ref name="a451">{{Cite web|url=https://www.audiovisual451.com/veneciafrenia-estreno-en-cines-22-de-abril/|website=Audiovisual451|title='Veneciafrenia' – estreno en cines 22 de abril|date=18 April 2022}}</ref>
== Reception == {{RT prose|75|6.8|8|access-date=30 December 2024|ref=yes}}
Jesús Palacios of ''Fotogramas'' rated the film with 4 out of 5 stars, writing that it presents a "schizophrenic exercise in the love of evil, of villains torn between reason and irrational murderous madness, of scapegoats and moral and social dilemmas", praising its boldness while negatively pointing out at its "rather soft" ending.<ref>{{Cite web|author-link=Jesús Palacios Trigo|url=https://www.fotogramas.es/peliculas-criticas/a39784391/veneciafrenia-critica-pelicula/|website=Fotogramas|date=21 April 2022|first=Jesús|last=Palacios|title=Crítica de 'Veneciafrenia', terror en los canales por Álex de la Iglesia}}</ref>
Marta Medina of ''El Confidencial'' also gave it 4 out of 5 stars, considering that the film brings together almost all the obsessions hallmark to De la Iglesia's films.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/cine/2022-04-22/veneciafrenia-alex-iglesia-terror_3410156/|first=Marta|last=Medina|title='Veneciafrenia': Álex de la Iglesia lleva la turismofobia a su extremo más gore|date=22 April 2022|website=El Confidencial}}</ref>
Reviewing for ''Cinemanía'', Miguel Ángel Romero gave it 4 out of 5 stars, underscoring ''Venicephrenia'' to be a story of "tourism-phobia and murder in a rundown Venice."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/criticas/critica-de-veneciafrenia-4986997/|date=18 April 2022|title=Crítica de 'Veneciafrenia'|website=Cinemanía|via=20minutos.es|first=Miguel Ángel|last=Romero}}</ref>
Oti Rodríguez Marchante of ''ABC'' scored 2 out of 5 stars, assessing that De la Iglesia and Guerricaechevarría managed that their story do not say much, which is what it is all about, and that its characters are tiresome and stupid enough that any violence inflicted on them becomes normal and bearable to the viewer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.es/play/cine/criticas/abci-critica-veneciafrenia-muertecitos-venecia-202204211608_noticia.html|website=abcplay|via=ABC|title=Crítica de 'Veneciafrenia': Muertecitos en Venecia|date=21 April 2022|first=Oti|last=Rodríguez Marchante}}</ref>
Raquel Hernández Luján of ''HobbyConsolas'' scored 60 out of 100 points ('acceptable'), deeming the film to be an "imperfect slasher" displaying a message denouncing mass tourism that fails at making viewers empathise with the protagonists.<ref name="hobbyconsolas" /> She praised the opening credits and the transgressive elements blended with the carnival's imagery while considering the production issues not solved at the editing stage to be the worst about the film.<ref name="hobbyconsolas">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hobbyconsolas.com/reviews/critica-veneciafrenia-pelicula-alex-iglesia-inaugura-antologia-fear-collection-1047985|website=HobbyConsolas|first=Raquel|last=Hernández Luján|date=20 April 2022|title=Crítica de Veneciafrenia, la película de Álex de la Iglesia que inaugura la antología The Fear Collection}}</ref>
== See also == * List of Spanish films of 2022
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://infoicaa.mecd.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=56819 ''Venicephrenia''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219222134/https://infoicaa.mecd.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=56819 |date=19 February 2022 }} at ICAA's ''Catálogo de Cinespañol''
{{Álex de la Iglesia}} {{authority control}}
Category:2020s slasher films Category:2021 horror thriller films Category:2021 films Category:Films set in Venice Category:Films shot in Italy Category:Films shot in Spain Category:Sony Pictures films Category:2021 Spanish-language films Category:Spanish horror thriller films Category:Spanish slasher films Category:Films about vacationing Category:Films directed by Álex de la Iglesia Category:Films scored by Roque Baños Category:2021 Spanish films Category:Spanish-language horror films