La semana del asesino

I recently watched the Spanish film 🇪🇸 Cannibal Man (1972) on Shudder. The storyline follows a man and his girlfriend who are attacked by a taxi driver, leading to the man accidentally killing the driver. As he tries to cover up his crime, he begins to go mad, making matters worse.

Directed by Eloy de la Iglesia (El pico I & II), the film stars Vicente Parra (Cotolay), Emma Cohen (Cross of the Devil), Eusebio Poncela (Matador), and Vicky Lagos (Five Dollars for Ringo).

The movie feels realistic and features a solid, authentic lead performance. The events are fascinating and unpredictable, with a certain tragic element. The protagonist's mental deterioration is compelling to watch. There are a few notable kills, including a worthwhile throat slash, but most are mediocre, with the blood resembling red paint. The soup subplot is gross and hard to fathom, and the ending felt a bit like a copout.

In conclusion, Cannibal Man has enough unique elements to make it worth a watch for horror enthusiasts but not enough to stand out in the genre. I would score this a 6/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Plot: The movies about a guy who works at a slaughterhouse and what happens to him and most of all his mind when his spouse calls it quits. Bit by bit he starts to loose it....

Form: It plays out very neatly. You have to follow the story tightly to make any sense of the whole thing. Follow closely and you get a reward at the end in the form of knowledge on the human mind.

Who is it for?: First of all this is not a movie for kids. It is a highly realistic movie with a hard story,lots of violence and gore and an adult theme. So if you are a sensitive viewer or under 17 I would not recommend it for viewing. There are a lot of non-violent films out there about similar topics. But on the other hand if you don`t have a problem with violence in films and like a touch of realism, this is really the one for you.

Grade: 10 out of 10

I would have to agree with the previous comment regarding THE CANNIBAL MAN. It's an excellent film in the vein of DERANGED (1974), HENRY and CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL KILLER, though it predates all three.

THE CANNIBAL MAN took a couple viewings to really come together and I think part of the problem was the English dubbing. Anchor Bay's recent release has superb picture quality, but unfortunately they didn't include the original language track with subs as they did with TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD.

Regardless, the acting is well-done - Vincente Parra plays a particularly relatable man, one with whom the viewer can sympathize. In accordance with the film's original title, WEEK OF THE KILLER, Parra takes the part of the titular role, slowly spiraling downward into insanity while dispatching one victim for each day of the week. Along the way, there are some interesting twists and turns as well as some restrained, well-used scenes of violence and gore.

There are also some truly surreal scenes, such as the swimming pool sequence and the tense denouement. And, as with any Spanish horror film, nearly all the women are gorgeous. All in all, this is a must-see for genre fans, but be warned, THE CANNIBAL MAN is a subtle film, not one that will immediately jump out at you.

Most commentary I have seen on Cannibal Man focuses on the psychological horror, but the political side of the story seems more important to me. The film seems to place more blame on the society of Spain under Franco than even on the killer, the ultra cool swimming pool sequence is very reminiscent of Chaplin's "the Great Dictator".

The alternative title "Cannibal Man" is very misleading, because this film is not a gory splatterfest about the sick mind of a serial killer, it is more a drama about a man whose life falls apart aroused by a chain reaction of unhappy circumstances. You might compare this film to similar movies like "Henry" for example, but this one is more a portrait of the situation in the early 70s when the dictatorship of Franco ruled the Spanish nation. "La semana del asesino" is full of macabre minor details and polished dialogue sequences. Not like the typical horror mass productions, more an unusual outsider cinema...