H6: Diario de un asesino

I thought that H6: Diary Of A Serial Killer was a good but brutal horror film. H6 tells the story of Antonio Frau, a serial killer set free after serving 25 years in jail for the murder of his girlfriend. After inheriting and old motel from a relative he never knew, he sees this as a place where he is able to do his tasks of relieving the grief of those who have lost the will to live. He takes his victims to room Number 6 in the motel where he 'purifies' them, while, at the same time, continues his everyday life next to his wife. I thought that this was a very brutal, but a good horror film. The film contained quite a lot of strong violence and torture.

I deals with Antonio Frau : Fernando Acaso, a criminal who after 25 years in prison for killing his fiancee, he is then freed. Later on , a public notary tells him he has inherited an old boarding house from an unknown aunt. At the room number 6, of his motel he carries out grisly activities, by coping his admired French killer "Landru" and using a chainsaw , too. Meantime , he marries a nurse woman called Francisca : Maria José Bausa who deceives him with a doctor : Antonio Mayans , and both of whom live at the motel, going on their ordinary marriage life while Frau executes astonishing slaughter . Along the way he writes his self-biography and diary, detailing his ominous and dark exploits. Come in, dont be afraid.

Terrifying films with brief elements of black humor about murders with a series killer proceeding a criminal spree, about 18 victims cutting them in piezes, usually prostitutes, including lots of intercourses, gore and blood . A little known cast as Fernando Acaso playing a formerly convicted murderer who in freedom becomes a series killer as well as a women rapist. His wife is played by Maria Jose Bousa, in her only film, as a nurse who cheats him with her older doctor and she isn't aware his sinister activities. An un unknown support cast exception for short apperances from Alejo Sauras, Miguel Fernandez and Antonio Mayans who was regular actor in Jesus Franco or Uncle Jess films and his usual collaborator.

The movie contains an atmospheric musical score from Gaby Kemp and Jose Sanz, adding classic music by prestigious composers as Vivaldi : 4 seasons, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Requiem, Johannes Brahms : Concert no 2, Ludwig Van Beethoven : Sonata no 14 Moolight, Giacomo Puccini : Tosca , Frederic Chopin : Valse in Flat Major Minute, among others . The picture was regular but professionally directed by Martin Garrido Baron. He is a multiple artist, as he is actor/producer/photographer/director/composer. He has directed a few films as Vidas Tenebrosas , Nos veremos en infierno, El monstruo, and Mediterranean blue. Rating 5/10. Mediocre but entertaining.

H6 - Diary of an Assassin opens with a dark screen. A domestic argument can be heard. Spilling out of the darkness of an apartment into murky, ochre light we see a man abusing and eventually throttling his wife. Hello Antonio Frau, before he learns the self-control needed to become a serious serial killer.

Several years later and he's out of prison, inheriting an old empty building that used to be a brothel. He also picks up a wife, who has corresponded with him in the nick and believes he has reformed. He has. Gone is the anger, the violent reactiveness to situations he can't control. He now has a finely honed mind, free of any non-psychopathic tendencies, and explains to the audience his new calling as a serial killer. He obligingly plans a diary that will include before-and-after Polaroid pictures - for posterity, you understand. We survey his collection of chain saws and other necessary equipment.

The portrait of an unemotional but ruthlessly clinical and intelligent killer hearkens to many movies of this ilk, or popular fiction such as We Must Talk About Kevin. It is not particularly new, but there is always room for a new approach and I was interested to see how the cinematography tackled the subject, whether the scenes of gore would be particularly extreme censor-bait, memorably artistic, or whether it would develop new psychological twists.

Intellectually, the film is fairly shallow, but could still appeal to gore-buffs. Antonio Frau's main raison d'etre is the old 'cleanse humanity of the scum' motive - rounding up prostitutes and other undesirables and purge them with pain before ridding humanity of their presence (all in the name of the Lord). The psychology mirrors the witchfinders of Roman Catholicism, aided and abetted then by a string of ingenious torturers, sexual perverts and willing official and non-official helpers. That age having passed (or at least transformed - the Church no longer having such power in modern day Spain), poor Antonio has to shoulder the divine burden all himself. "The Lord has chosen me for this very special task," he proclaims. The similarity, and the fact that Church brutality against 'witches' was mirrored on Old Testament torture, raises the question of copycat violence for the weak minded.

Antonio's preferred method is to seem kind and generous until he has his victims in his grasp. He has a special room in the old lodging house with a table where he binds women of the night spread-eagled (usually he feeds them first and explains his special sexual needs, offering lots of dosh). Once they are tied up, he rapes them repeatedly, starves them for days, and then (for the good of their soul) hacks them into bits and puts the body parts in black bin bags.

For its economy of images, most of which are above-average though not quite outstanding, H6 - Diary of an Assassin deserves some credit. One of the victims puts in a remarkably good performance as she is raped - the expressions on her face are horrifying. But the film falls short of even its own modest ambition. The camera looks away as limbs are hacked off, and the blood spurts look a little repetitive from one dismemberment to the next. Even more worrying in terms of continuity is the explicit camera shots between the girls' legs that always show neatly arranged panties even as Antonio dismounts.

This film will be offensive to many people for the subject matter. For some horror buffs it will, ironically, be lacking in sufficient realism, at least by today's film-making standards, but there is enough to slake the blood-thirst of most fans of the genre. Others should probably stay away.

Antonio Frau is a cold-blooded killer.Frau has just been released from prison after serving 14 years for killing his girlfriend.He has inherited a run-down former brothel from a late aunt and married Francisca,who he met through a dating service and started writing to while inside.He lures prostitutes,most of them drug addicts,into his hotel at night where he ties them to a table,tortures and rapes them for days then cuts them into pieces using a chainsaw."H6:Diary of a Serial Killer" is occasionally pretty grim,but mostly uninteresting serial killer movie.It is not as extremely intense as my all time favourite Austrian "Angst",but there are some mildly shocking moments including rapes and chainsaw dismemberment.Fernado Acaso is pretty believable as a misogynistic killer and there is a bit of gore.Give it a look.

Brutal film. I watched it at a press screening and I was as shocked as was the rest of the press! Everybody was dead silent as we left the screening room and the female audience there looked quite rattled. It is hard to comment on the film as it is so different and unclassifiable. And I had to remind myself that it was indeed fiction... Not recommendable for a first date unless she is into bondage... Or if you want to brag about how you can spot a cult film from a first time director...(Judging by the fantastic reviews worldwide)... Also, I think that the film has been selected for the Edimburgh Film Festival this year... - - - - 10/10