Play Dead review – an intriguing high-concept horror that runs out of breath

A basement-bound thriller begins with a grisly jolt of invention before succumbing to diminishing returns As Carlos Goitia’s low-budget horror movie opens, we begin in medias res as a woman (Paula Brasca) wakes up in a standard murder basement: muted decor, very little natural light, a sturdy workbench with an impressive array of rusty tools, various masks made of skin. She immediately realises she is lying in a pile of corpses – all mutilated women. She herself is badly injured. Not a happy ...

By Catherine Bray