Paco Plaza as a director has always been competent, but rarely innovative.

In fact, I’d argue that beyond 2007’s Rec he isn’t innovative at all. That being said, not everyone makes it their business to remake the wheel and it should be enough to do your job with a high degree of competence though the problem is that once you show a little bit of genius, it’s hard to get that genie back into the bottle and return to being just acceptable.

And with Hermana Muerte/Sister Death Paco Plaza has shown once again that he can really make remarkable, innovative movies.

The story revolves around a nun, Sister Narcisa (Aria Bedmar) who arrives at a convent in Spain, where she encounters a mystery that changes not only her past, but her future.

Hermana Muerte/Sister Death is for the most part a traditional ghost story, relying on tension and atmosphere to evoke scares, as opposed to overt displays of gore and violence.

Though don’t take that to mean that the movie is boring, because it isn’t though it also rewards attention because everything that you see in the beginning of the movie is paid off at later points.

The movie, while very good isn’t perfect and does hit a few false notes, but they’re relatively rare and don’t distract from a story very well-told.