Deadly Cargo or Dark Chamber (Spanish: Cámara oscura) is a 2003 Spanish psychological horror thriller film directed by Pau Freixas [es] from a screenplay by Freixas and Héctor Claramunt [ca] which stars Silke and Unax Ugalde.
Plot
The plot follows the members of an underwater diving expedition (including freelance photographer Sara and instructor Iván) hiding on a gloomy hulk used for people trafficking after being left afloat for a while in the wake of their vessel enduring a wreck off the West African coast.[1][2]
Deadly Cargo screened out of competition as the opening film of the 36th Sitges Film Festival on 27 November 2003.[5][6] Distributed by Manga Films,[1] it was released theatrically in Spain on 27 August 2004.[7]
Reception
Jonathan Holland of Variety considered that "far the best of a recent crop of Spanish teen thrillers", the "stylish" film manages to exploit "a decent budget, good perfs and self-assured helming".[1]
Alberto Bermejo of El Mundo rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, praising the "steady pace and believability of the characters' harrowing wanderings on the boat" but also writing about the sailors' characters exposing "the lack of entity" of a script and a mise-en-scène both lacking the necessary depth.[8]
