Coto de caza

"Code of Hunt" is an extremely rare Spanish thriller that left me disturbed and speechless.This is one of the hardest to come by titles that existed in only two video releases,one Spanish(it's country of origin)and the other Greek.Both are now long deleted many years ago and both are ultra-rare.A famous Spanish actress Assumpta Serna plays Adela,a defender of poor criminals.Unfortunately her latest defendants steal her car and find the keys to her country villa.During the robbery her husband is killed and three of the criminals run away.The youngest criminal(who is the brother of one of the villains)is captured by the police and dies in prison.For Adela this is the beginning of pure nightmare..."Code of Hunt" is a very gritty and bleak film that has to be seen to be believed.The acting is excellent and the violence is ugly and brutal.The climax is incredibly vicious and sadistic in its cold depiction of sexual violence and revenge.This little gem seems to be forgotten by fans of European cult cinema,but if you get a copy treasure it.10 out of 10.

Coto de Caza is an obscure Spanish gem and one that is well worth seeing. The film is a bit like exploitation flicks such as The Last House on the Left and The House on the Edge of the Park, although the point this time is not just to see innocent people put in danger. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie director Jorge Grau takes the helm and the film is clearly taking a swipe at the legal system that often lets criminals get away with their crimes. For this reason, it might not appeal too much to exploitation fans as there's not a great deal of sleaze or nastiness, but those who are looking for a little more than just exploitation will find plenty to like here! The plot focuses on Adela, a defence lawyer for criminals. She gets a couple off the hook and they repay her by stealing her car. After finding the keys to her country villa, they naturally decide to rob the place; but trouble starts the lawyer's family turn up, and in the struggle; the husband ends up getting killed. However, this is just the start of the unfortunate lawyer's ordeal...

The point of the film is actually very well expressed as, at its heart, Coto de Caza is a depiction of the idea that if you don't put criminals in jail, they will commit more crime. This film was made over twenty years ago in Spain, but its social commentary is certainly relevant to modern day Britain and probably elsewhere in the world too, making the film poignant even today. The plot moves rather slowly and not a great deal happens in the first half of the film. However, the film is never boring and the scenes at the beginning succeed in building the characters and setting the scene which does benefit the story later on. As mentioned, there not a lot of sleaze in the film; but that doesn't hinder it too much as there's enough going on elsewhere and the action we do get treated to is generally very good; a sequence involving fire towards the end is certainly worth the wait too. Overall, Coto de Caza is an excellent little film and really is well worth seeing. It's also a shame that it's so hard to get hold of as this film is ripe for re-discovery!

Jorge Grau's film, Code of Hunting aka: Hunting Ground was almost 10 years after is more well known, The Legend of Blood Castle (1973), Violent Blood Bath and Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, both 1974. It is well made but rather slow for the first half, and not to much happening with a hunting on the lake and looking inside supermarkets and stores. It does get going with a home invasion and an accident and then at the end a really terrible nasty sleaze another home attack with very brutal and sexual violence. Eventually there it comes the revenge and by this time we are almost shouting for the lawyer, Adela played by the famous actress, Assumpta Serna who certainly earned her money on this one.

I originally saw this film on a bootleg print years back. But since mondo macabro released it on blu ray, it's alot better to view. Definitely not for everyone...the last 15 minutes atleast. But Definitely a great film. Jorge grau never disappoints.... I highly recommend this film.

A very interesting incursion by Jorge Grau in the Quinqui trend (a Spanish young delinquents subgenre), that switches the traditional point of view of these films from the aggressors to the victims. That makes the movie a little more conventional (it's much easier to empathize with the victims) and with the social message more prominent, but the powerful direction of Grau, the dark mood and the excellent acting all around makes up for it. It's a slow burner but with a big finale.