14/10/2021 - The film is part of The Fear Collection, the specialist horror label that has just spawned Veneciafrenia, directed by Álex de la Iglesia, the main driving force behind this series of films

The team behind Venus and The Fear Collection during the presentation at Sitges, with Álex de la Iglesia, Jaume Balagueró and Ester Expósito in the centre

On Tuesday 12 October, in the incomparable surroundings of the Sitges – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, the official presentation of The Fear Collection took place. This Spanish film label specialising in horror and suspense flicks was created by Sony Pictures International Productions and Pokeepsie Films, in association with Amazon Prime Video (see the news). The presentation served as an opportunity to announce the label’s second project, following Veneciafrenia [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a movie helmed by the driving force behind this initiative, Álex de la Iglesia, and starring Ingrid García Jonsson, Silvia Alonso, Enrico Lo Verso and Cosimo Fusco, which was world-premiered just a few days ago at this very event. Venus [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which is under the direction of a true master of the genre, Jaume Balagueró (REC [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
interview: Julio Fernández
film profile], Sleep Tight [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and the soon-to-be-released The Vault [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), and is toplined by Ester Expósito (a Madrilenian actress who has popped up in series such as Elite, Veneno [+see also:
series review
series profile] and Estoy vivo, among others, and is among the cast of Dani de la Orden’s yet-to-be-released comedy Mamá o papá [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), will begin principal photography in November and will land in movie theatres all over Spain in 2022.

Balagueró asserted during the event, “When Álex called me, I said yes straight away, and I thought about what would happen if we took that cosmic horror universe, that of Lovecraft, and brought it into the present day, and into a grubby setting on the outskirts of a very modern city where there’s poverty – a world not a million miles away from squalor… And that’s what we’ve done with Venus.” His lead actress remarked, “Being here, at this festival, courtesy of Jaume and Álex, to work on a project of the calibre of Venus is a privilege, and even more so, given that I’ve been a fan of horror films ever since I was a girl.”

Álex de la Iglesia explained: “The Fear Collection is a dream come true,and something that has always been on our minds – having a production outfit that would allow us to make films without the difficulties inherent in getting each project off the ground from scratch.And thanks to Sony and Amazon, that outfit already exists. Our aim is to make a great many films. You could say that Venus ticks all of the label’s boxes.”

Finally, Ángel Sala, the director of the Sitges Film Festival, commented at the end of the event: “This partnership between various sectors of the industry – an independent production company, a great studio and a huge streaming platform – is one of the most powerful images to have come out of this edition of the festival, and represents the future of audiovisual production in Spain and, indeed, the whole world.”

(Translated from Spanish)