Two Boxes: Televised Terror in Franco’s Spain

Spain in the early 1970s was a country in transition, with increasing economic prosperity and the expectations of a growing middle class in direct conflict with the dying Francoist regime, where state surveillance, media censorship and social control was still the norm. Inspired by mystery-horror anthology series such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone, this unique period in history is depicted with terrifying clarity and dark humour in these two infamous television films: La cabina and El televisor. In Antonio Mercero’s La cabina, a group of officials install a telephone box outside a block of flats. After a man enters to make a phone call, he finds himself unable to leave, attracting the attention of fascinated locals as he grows increasingly desperate to escape. A sensation upon release, La cabina also developed a huge cult following in the UK after regularly screening on late-night TV. In Narcisco Ibez Serrandor’s El televisor, a man living a dreary suburban life has a simple dream: to possess his own television. When he finally gets his wish, the dream soon becomes a dangerous, all-consuming obsession. Originally a special episode of Serrandor’s hugely popular series Tales to Keep You Awake, El televisor’s escalating dread and shocking conclusion still retains its power to shock over 50 years later.