The DVD:
Gonzalo and Marta are a longtime couple who have just moved into a new apartment in a modern high rise. Marta works while her boyfriend struggles to complete his degree. But Gonzalo is easily distracted, spending far too much time on his computer, chatting away with complete strangers. One day, he stumbles across the site for The Infiltrators, a group of adventurers who get a thrill out of taking impossible or precarious risks. Intrigued, Gonzalo drags Marta along to one of the illegal enterprises – the exploration of an isolated dam. When tragedy is narrowly averted, the gonzo gang establishes a deep, lasting bond. Soon, Gonzalo finds himself best friends with the crazy, callous Sergio, and sexually attracted to the enigmatic mystery of the sullen Sonia. But when a horrible accident leaves one of the posse to precariousness dead, something strange begins to happen. One by one, The Infiltrators are stalked and slaughtered by an unseen killer, the supposed leader of the outsider organization, a phantom force named Iblis. Then there are the ominous emails, filled with demands and death threats. Soon, Marta and Gonzalo learn they are being spied upon, and with more and more members of the collective winding up dead, it's only a matter of time before this entire affair de-evolves into the sick joke it started as. Trespassing takes on a whole new meaning, especially with some unseen psychopath enforcing the warning sign: You Should Not Be Here.

You Should Not Be Here is a very aggravating film. It uses a sly, inferential style to build a decent level of doom and gloom. It proposes a series of enigmatic issues and then uses an even more mysterious narrative drive to realize them. It offers up interesting characters that it later completely dispenses with, and it never quite understands how much power it actually has in the ideas it's tossing around. The result is a movie that never really gets going, stumbling from sublime action scene to stupid subplot like a partygoer who's had too much Sangria. There is a lot to like about You Should Not Be Here. It finds a way to mix suspense with sexiness, menace with the adrenalin rush of physical extremes in a refreshing and inventive way. But it is also a film riddled with clichés, trading on outdated ideas about technology (the chat and porn loving cast act like the Internet has just been invented) and interpersonal ideals (the skinny geek as cross-dressing chubby chaser) that consistently undermine its almost original approach. The end result is a film that feels half-finished, like that novel sitting in the bottom drawer of every wannabe writer, or the communications between disconnected lovers.

The idea of urban spelunking – the exploration and examination of abandoned homes, buildings, factories and infrastructure – has the potential for a fascinating horror/action film. Many of these decaying places pack a pictorial wallop that no set designer could ever recreate. So when we learn that You Should Not Be Here will utilize this premise to provide its shocks, we feel that familiar tingle of new ground being broached. And indeed, the entire opening sequence, from the discovery of The Infiltrators chat room to the commando-style raid on a wonderfully spooky dam, is handled with expertise and precision. After it is over, and the split-second timing of the scene combines with the energy of the acting to make for a manic, magnificent sequence, the movie looks for the idea incinerator and proceeds to burn through this initial concept. As it will do often in its narrative, You Should Not Be Here treats the sea of stories like a recycling bin, pitching potentially compelling narrative strands away like it was being mandated to do so by the State. Director Jacobo Rispa constructs his plot as if he's suffering from some manner of yarn-spinning ADD. Throughout the course of this fundamentally flawed film, he will run through the illegal exploration motif as well as such incongruous concepts as daredevil stunts, the death wish, erotic obsession, a giallo-like who-done-it and even some sobering sexuality. The fact that it never gels into something sensational shows how limiting, not limitless, this approach actually is.

The lack of compelling characters also dooms You Should Not Be Here. In the lead, Pablo Echarri (given the always goofy sounding name of Gonzalo) turns befuddled into a supposed sign of sexiness. He consistently looks like he's lost in his own world of cluelessness, and this apparently drives the senioritas crazy. In the crucial, complimentary role of Sonia, Marian Aguilera has a name far more suggestive than her on-screen persona. Playing the typically twisted hypersexual waif who uses any opportunity – a near drowning, a feisty standoff between villain and hero – to jump into groin grabbing mode, Miss Aguilera looks appropriately loopy, but never quite connects as the object of untold erotic tension. The rest of the cast, from Pilar Punzano's Marta to the psycho with something to hide (gee, wonder what it is?) Sergio (Tristan Ulloa, all smiles and insanities) never really resonate as three dimensional. Mostly, they are representative, filling in mode of nerdy victim or sizzling pseudo sex object with formulaic ease. By the end, when people are dead and other lives are threatened, we don't really care, since we're not invested in their predicament or their personality. Like most movies that rely on some manner of chemistry among its actors, You Should Not Be Here tries to offer up slice of life archetypes to bolster it's believability. But it doesn't work.

Instead, what we are left with is a movie that meanders and minces, fretting over insignificant minutia while missing the big picture. Director Rispa has no control over his tone or atmosphere. Sometimes, the film feels like a classic noir with unseen presences spying on our heroes. Other times, there is a distinct late 80s music video quality to the compositions (far too much flashing neon and rain slicked streets) that doesn't jibe with the tone of terror. You Should Not Be Here also employs some rather noticeable CGI (especially in the 'elevator surfing' and 'subway chase' scenes) and the flat, lifeless cartoon chaos adds an amateurish element to the film that's far too obvious. When he pushes the limits of expectations – the fiery deaths of a couple of characters are wonderfully startling – Rispa relies too heavily on contrivances that worked in other films, referencing everything from independent horror like Session 9 to Hollywood hokum like Sliver. Part of the problem with this potluck approach is that ideas that worked before sometimes require a similar framework in which to properly pay off. You Should Not Be Here does not offer anything remotely functional in the way of foundation upon which to explore its ideas. Instead of relying on standard fear factors to sell its sinister circumstances, it goes for broke and ends up shattering into a million mediocre pieces.

Predictable, pedestrian and passive, You Should Not Be Here is the worst kind of disappointment: the failed attempt at marrying many delicious, divergent prospects. If it had stuck to its cosmopolitan archeology or focused solely on a kind of cityscape exploration of extreme sports fanatics, a decent thriller or action adventure could have been crafted. Even though it is as weak as the runt of the litter, literarily, the computer/chat room dynamic could also yield a decent, detached mystery. But You Should Not Be Here isn't interested in crafting a crackerjack piece of clockwork cinema. It could care less if its discordant concepts ever come together. It is all style over substance over sensibility. If it had focused on a single facet of its floundering idea pool, instead of attempting to address each and every element with force and fidelity, then perhaps this film wouldn't feel so unfinished. But as it bounces around like a beach ball in a windstorm, hitting only the surface of its multiple premises, You Should Not Be Here moves from entertaining to mildly interesting to redundant and dull. Jacobo Rispa has a lot of potential as a director: he has an interesting approach to both composition and combinations. But his ill-considered story of dares taken to dangerous levels is more like the beginnings to several different films, not a completely thought out idea. You Should Not Be Here is an apropos warning. It tells the audience exactly how much to invest in this messy narrative.

The Video:
Presented by Tanelorn Films in a 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen transfer, You Should Not Be Here looks decent, but decidedly bargain basement in its visual approach. Since the CGI stands out so blatantly, one has to wonder if this transfer or the effects are at issue. Most of the time, the film flares with unwanted halos and the blacks bathe in a panorama of bad compression pixels. Still, for something that probably had print issues to begin with and an annoying visual palette that moves from pastels and sepia tones to crass primary colors and grimy urban grit, You Should Not Be Here is presentable. Home theater enthusiasts might balk and the defects and lack of detail. But most of the audience for this awkward thriller won't notice.

The Audio:
Utilizing the original Spanish soundtrack and implementing a basic set of English subtitles (which are occasionally far too literate), the Dolby Digital Stereo does its aural duty, nothing more. It doesn't try to open up the sonic scope or deepen the auditory experience. Instead, we get interesting Euro-trash tunes for a score and a regulation front channel dialogue distinct presentation. You Should Not Be Here fails to emphasize its chills with aural attributes. This is why the audio is pedestrian, but acceptable.

The Extras:
What's not acceptable here is the complete lack of even basic DVD extras. Aside from a chance to see the scene selection (in the most simplistic, text-based offering possible) You Should Not Be Here is absent any viable context. Taking the notion of barebones offerings to an unwelcome extreme, this digital package from Tanelorn Films is disappointing anyway you look at it.

Final Thoughts:
Perhaps filmmakers looking for interesting ideas for their films can pillage You Should Not Be Here for its exhausted potential. Even the most aimless individual can imagine a fascinating – not to mention frightening – movie being made out of exploring abandoned buildings and factories. A quick Goggle of the Internet shows circumstances far creepier and much more compelling than the scenarios employed by director Rispa. Same goes for the metropolitan daredevil dynamics. Insane thrill seekers leaping off buildings and riding the tops of elevators have a powerful pull, especially for today's Jackass friendly demographic. But again, You Should Not Be Here pulls its punches and gets knocked out in the process. When it should be celebrating its eccentricities, it is the kind of film that discards them for yet another novel idea. Never quite becoming the intense thriller or inflated B-movie teen scream shocker it threatens to be, You Should Not Be Here is telling advise for the potential film fan. Avoiding this belly flop of a feature will be beneficial, not only for your entertainment health, but to your aggravation at watching actually interesting material being horribly mismanaged and mangled. There was a lot of potential here. But the end result is as shallow as the cinematic toilet bowl in which this misstep resides.

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