ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joseph Perry writes for the film websites Gruesome Magazine, The Scariest Things, Horror Fuel, The Good, the Bad and the Verdict and Diabolique Magazine; for the film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope and Drive-In Asylum; and for the pop culture websites When It Was Cool and Uphill Both Ways. He is also one of the hosts of When It Was Cool’s exclusive Uphill Both Ways podcast and can occasionally be heard as a cohost on Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast.

Official synopsis: Executive produced by J.A. Bayona, directed by Martín Mauregui, and starring Carmen Maura, the horror genre film follows Pedro (Daniel Hendler), after receiving a call from his ex-girlfriend asking for help looking after her senile mother for the night, Alicia (Maura). But what seems like a simple task soon turns into his worst nightmare: when Pedro arrives at the house, Alicia suggests they play an extremely sadistic game, and what happens next leaves you in SHOCK (this film contains explicit scenes which may be disturbing to some viewers).

Dear readers, the Shudder folks who wrote up that synopsis are not exaggerating about the shocking and disturbing aspects on display in this film, and the main two that I’m thinking about as I write this review don’t involve explicit gore. I don’t want to give anything away because Crazy Old Lady (Vieja loca; Argentina/Spain/U.S., 2025) absolutely lives up to its title and the reasons why are jaw-dropping. 

Suffice it to say that if you care for either humans or animals, or perhaps even both, something is bound to disturb and perhaps even offend many viewers in writer/director Martín Mauregui’s darkly comedic horror film. His work at the helm is one of aplomb, and the production values are terrific. The pacing and chilling set pieces are spot on. The cast is incredible, naturally with the great Carmen Maura rocking the titular character role of Alicia with fierceness and fearlessness, and Daniel Hendler as Pedro, the hapless ex-boyfriend of her daughter Laura  (Agustina Liendo), who is driving far away from Alicia’s home with her own young daughter Elena (Emma Cetrángolo).

The film’s depiction of a character with dementia is questionable, and that’s just the beginning of what some viewers will find upsetting. But those who are willing to take the challenge should find plenty of entertainment with Crazy Old Lady. It doesn’t quite reach the anxiety-inducing heights or pitch-black humor of the Spanish shocker The Coffee Table or its remake The Turkish Coffee Table, but darned if it doesn’t try.

Crazy Old Lady streams on Shudder from February 27.