HEFILM Hard to see that this director would one day make the exceptional REC and it's pretty good sequels. But perhaps there are some sparks of seriousness here.This is a big improvement over the previously Brian Yuzna produced Spainish made dog related film I saw (the god awful Rotweiler), this is still little more than a above average production value TV movie. The film has no real focus and it's mostly about characters rather than action or horror so this is a big problem. There is no devotion to making it actually scary and though the actors might be up to the challenge they aren't given much to do. Perhaps should be mentioned that several real birds and wolves seem to have been killed to make this film as well, an always questionable thing to do. Or maybe this is just really well done makeup work in which case extra credit is due.There is a transformation scene that is kinda interesting, though it focuses on a wolf turning into a man rather than the other way around,which it turns out is relevant to the theme of the film. But this is really more of a serial killer movie and there is no attempt to get inside the killer/werewolf's head or to delve into what he does and his twisted reasons. The killer is made obvious from the start so there is no mystery element to keep you guessing and with no depth then you're left with a long dry haul through decent period atmosphere and photography. You either need scares or drama or in the best case both, this offers neither. Oh, like Rotweiler, this features a needless scene of a fully frontal naked man running around. Is this some ongoing theme developing as a trademark for this production company? All kidding and naked men aside this somehow helped lead the director to making the REC films so might be worth a look just to see where and what he had to work with before that.

ma-cortes 1851 Galicia , an uproar is caused when some mutilated cadavers are discovered. Wolves plague the forests. People are disappearing. The mutilated cadavers present precise surgical cuts along with savage gashes ,giving way to the legend of the "Werewolf of Allariz". A traveling vendor (Julian Sands) along with his wife (Maru Valdivieso) and daughter rolls through the forest in his old wagon. A woman from every village on his route faithfully awaits him. He's attractive, intelligent, charming.... But he's also the monster feared by all. His most recent prey, Barbara (Elsa Pataky) will soon become the one who hunts him down .This exciting terror picture displays drama , action, suspense, with mysterious touches and is quite entertaining . The frightening story begins well and grows more and more until a downbeat finale. It's some different containing Galicia legends and actual events but with clear reference to previous werewolves films . Good performances from Julian Sands as traveling seller who hides a terrible secret and Elsa Pataky as unfortunate victim who seeks vengeance . The transformation of man into werewolf is complex and is made by expert make-up artist with no computer generator FX .The writers provide a well-knit plot with mystery and horror, giving full rein to Paco Plaza natural talent for the terror genre . Colorful cinematography by Javier Salmones and atmospheric musical score by Mikel Salas fitted perfectly to suspense action .The flick is finely produced by the chairman of Filmax and Castelao Productions , Julio Fernandez who along with his brother Carlos Fernandez are two successful producers and experts on Horror genre , producers of hits as ¨The machinist¨ ,¨ Fragiles¨, ¨Darkness¨, and many others. The picture is professionally directed by Paco Plaza (Second name, OT) who along with by Jaume Balaguero are the main Spanish filmmakers expert on terror cinema , both of whom have realized the box-office big successes as ¨Rec 1¨ and ¨Rec 2¨ , among others . It's a standard terror and sometimes graphically gory and turns out to be an acceptable attempt to cash in the werewolf sub-genre. Rating : 6,5 Good .The film is based on the true-life story of Manuel Blanco Romasanta, the traveling vendor, who confessed to the murders of thirteen people, using their body fat to make soap. Romasanta was tried in Allaríz in 1852 and avoided capital punishment by proclaiming he was a werewolf. Barbara was the lone survivor of four sisters . He obtained pardon to death penalty by queen Isabel II but was condemned life penalty . He died in prison .

Chris Heath The creature is not a large one. At first glance, it doesn't even seem to be anything more than an ordinary dog.But then you look closer. The wolf's mouth is larger than that of an ordinary dog, the teeth packed more densely together within. The wolf's eyes gleam a sickly yellow colour, and a vicious snarl augments the drool flowing from its mouth.The creature leaps at you with supernatural speed and strength. Its front paws knock you flat on your back, and you feel the freezing earth soaking through your shirt, the full moon gleaming down like a cruel eye, watching you.The wolf doesn't bother with a killing wound; it just begins to tear chunks of flesh from your stomach, ignoring your agonized screams. It will be a long, long time before your body loses all feeling, and everything goes dark.Manuel Romasanta was a traveling merchant and salesman in the mid eighteen hundreds, who, at some point, went completely and utterly insane. He believed himself to be a werewolf, a man who would assume the form of an unnaturally large and brutal wolf whenever the moon was full. Manifesting from this belief was the need to kill, and so kill he did, some sixteen or more people, chosen completely at random, no discrimination. He would slaughter them, devour them and then leave the bodies for others to find.There have been so many movies made that have been based on the lives of serial killers- Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, etc. It seemed a mere matter of time until they dredged up this psychopath from the history books and immortalized him through film. But, of course, being set in the time that it is, and under the circumstances through which the events surrounding the case unfolded, they couldn't have been content merely to make a slasher/thriller sort of thing documenting the life of a serial killer. No, they had to turn it into a werewolf movie.And what a fantastic werewolf movie it turned out to be. I was expecting the sorts of cheesy werewolf effects that we saw in such movies as "Dog Soldiers" and "Underworld" (although to tell you the truth, I enjoyed both of those movies, solely for the action content in them). But groundless were all my fears, for as the movie progresses it becomes increasingly clear that this is not your usual, run-of-the-mill type of werewolf crap, with Romasanta assuming the form of a proper wolf when he transforms. Rather than "Dog Soldiers", it portrays itself more as being along the lines of "Ginger Snaps", with much the same sort of tragic tale at the heart of it.As with seemingly all new-age horror movies, even those done in an older sort of style (such as this one), there is a love story at the heart of the movie. However, true to the bizarre nature of this movie, it is not a happy tale of love that unfolds, rather a twisted tragedy in which neither side comes off any better than the other. For those of you who possess something like a twisted romanticism, I tell you now not to miss this one, you'll regret it if you do.I've already told you basically all you need to know about the story of this movie, and I'm not going to ruin all the twists and turns of the movie so as to spoil your viewing enjoyment. Just be sure not to miss this one, especially if you liked "Ginger Snaps".

Ridickulo If we are to look upon the latest in supernatural movies, such as "Van Helsing", then i would have to say that "Romasanta" is way above them. Right from the start of the movie, one is never given the full story so the viewer is compelled to watch wanting to find out what is going on. The movie does this very well and even when the story unfolds, the emotional state of the characters is still not certain. One stays until the very end to find out. I supposed that some viewers will be disappointed because it is not an action movie, far from it. The movie is a slow, sometimes shocking, part drama part crime story which never excels in any of them. It does however hit the spot with a very grabbing story which is really much better than most of what's been seen lately.