Take any torture porn horror film — Saw, Hostel, I Spit on Your Grave — and they all pale in comparison to the real-life horrors we inflict on each other. Set against the real life pro-dictatorship junta and their torturous antics in 70s Argentina, 1978 delivers a frightening juxtaposition between joy and fear, reality and the paranormal.
During the World Cup final between Argentina and Holland, in times of military dictatorship, a group of torturers kidnap a group of young people. What begins as an inhumane interrogation turns into hell: the wrong group has been kidnapped.
1978, IMDB
As the synopsis suggests, the World Cup hid secrets of its own, with members of Argentina’s junta mercilessly kidnapping, beating, and killing small groups of those opposed to the government’s harsh politics. Kept in secret prisons where they endured agonizing acts like teeth pulling and electrical prodding, the prisoners finally get the upper hand: it’s not the rise of Communism, it’s the Occult.
1978 is beautifully divided into two halves. The first half is a realistic portrayal of how the actual kidnappings and murders were being performed. The junta members are unfeeling, even making light of the situation at hand. While watching the game and cheering endlessly for Argentina’s win, prisoners dig their own graves. It is filled with violence that would only be perpetrated by a dictatorial government. The second half flips the switch between reality and the paranormal; as the junta officials realize they captured the wrong group, members enter a possession-like state and raise literal Hell. They hunt the kidnappers like prey and devour them until they’re nothing but piles of slop.
In that way, 1978 took me by surprise. I was expecting a whole hour of tough-to-watch torture, but ended almost lightheartedly with vampire-like witchcraft, enough to soak the walls with blood. 1978 follows the usual tropes of childlike music playing before scares, backwards-walking , alters with burning candles, blackened eyes, sharp teeth, and a grimoire detailing the horrors of the damned. Normally, I would shrug it off as nothing new, but pairing it with historical context made it all the more interesting to watch.
What I think sticks out the most for me in 1978 are the monstrous creatures the prisoners turn into. One in particular looks like a grotesque version of Jesus Christ, stigmata and all. A priestly figure with blackened eyes and a screeching voice looks on as one guard is disemboweled.
1978 surely won’t be for everyone. It has themes that might trigger those who have experienced a dictatorship as well as major bloody moments. But for horror fans, especially those keen on possession films, 1978 takes evil to a new level with antagonists that actually get their comeuppance. Prepare for subtitles, for 1978 is worth the read just for the sacrilegious imagery alone.
1978 is available to rent/purchase on iTunes, Google Play, Fandango, and Amazon. Follow the film on Instagram for more.
