Rojo sangre

Rojo Sangre is a Spanish full feature debut by Christian Molina. These kind of debutes are perfect measurements to see if there's any talent hidden inside the director. Writer and leading man Paul Naschy came up with a brilliantly confusing and quite frankly almost fantasy/dream-like story line based around an actor who has nothing going for him.

Veteran actor Pablo Thevenet has no luck: His daughter has been murdered, his wife has left him, he finds no job, his agent wants to leave him and directors will never give him a role. He hates current talent less stars on TV talk shows. Suddenly, he is hooked up for a job as a living sculpture in a whore house working for Mr. Reficul and his transsexual assistant Dora Grizzel. In the end. Pablo becomes an artistic murderer, searching for those he thinks responsible of his current state.

It's a great mish mash of extravagant characters and wildly over the top character development. The film can be very subtle and at the same time it will randomly burst into something rather unsubtle. It's definitely an unpredictable story line and above it all: an unpredictable leading role. There's something about the vibe that will draw your attention from the first to the very last minute. It really is something you can't accurately describe, but you'll find it amusing and disturbing at the same time... once you get into it.

The very first scene definitely sets the tone for what's yet to come. A pretty messed up conversation about shoving toy cars up your rectum isn't quite what I was expecting. It's a clear indication that this film is served with a dark sense of humor. It's one of the many qualities. Christian Molina dares to take risks story wise, as well as visually. He has some cool tricks up his sleeves. His scene transitions are amazingly creative.

Rojo Sangre is not really a slasher, nor is it anything else in particular. It's a surprisingly well made mixture of genres with great performances (Paul Naschy really knows how to put on a show) and the many twists will keep you guessing throughout the entire film. A must see!

Pablo Thevenet (Paul Naschy) is a once famous actor now humiliatingly reduced to trying (and failing) to get bit parts in third rate films. That is until he makes a Faustian pack. One actually wonders if Paul Naschy was acting: it all feels like it might have been too close to personal experience. That gives the film a particularly edgy feeling.

Bibi Fernandez has real presence as Beelzebub. It would have been good if she'd had more of a role. Visually the film is let down by the nasty modern aesthetic which makes it feel like a TV movie. Also I think the snuff movie sequence felt a bit off-key and didn't feel fit with the tone of the rest of the film.

Rojo Sangre (2004)

*** (out of 4)

Spanish horror film written and acted by the legendary Paul Naschy. In the film, which is semi-autobiographical, Naschy plays a horror legend who finds himself becoming a has been due to how the business is ran these days. He gets a break working in a club where he's paid to perform as various real-life serial killers but one day he starts to take the job too serious and begins to murder off the "new and cool" people of television. This film started out so well, unlike any other Naschy film but the director really blew things in the second half. The second half of the film is incredibly bad but I still enjoyed this for the terrific start. The opening hour is a brutal attack on current fame and current Hollywood, which rings all too true. Seeing the legend Naschy having to beg for work hits home quite strongly and Naschy's performance has never been better. His screenplay for this opening stuff dealing with a forgotten great is also the best he's ever done. The second half of the film really falls apart due to the director trying to be too stylish and there's an incredibly stupid twist in the story that doesn't work at all.

In "Rojo Sangre", that god of Eurohorror, Paul Naschy, plays a thinly veiled analogue of himself as an actor in the twilight of his career. At one stage he lists some of the movies he has made, and Naschy fans will instantly recognize many films from Naschy's own career. Sadly, as Naschy is here portraying an actor whose career has gone to seed, those titles aren't the only glaring reference to the actor's real life.

Pablo Thevenets is an actor who the world has sidelined due to his age. He is ridiculed by casting directors, all younger than him, who regard him as a relic of a bygone and embarrassing era. When he finally lands a role, it is humiliating, and doesn't even involve acting on stage or screen: rather, he is relegated to dressing as macabre historical figures in front of a restaurant - and generally in the pooring rain while passers-by jeer at him.

This job pays well, but for Thevenets - who has recently lost his daughter to murder and wife to another man - it is a final straw, and it begins to feel a bit like Naschy does "Death Wish", only with the criminals being puffed up showbiz hacks. Before we take Thevenets as a Paul Kersey clone, however, there is also the fact of his new boss, Mr Reficul, and what that name spells when reversed.

This is all, of course, a treat for Naschy fans, for whom "Rojo sangre" is unmissable. If you have never seen a Naschy film, this one might not sell you completely - there are a ton of films from his back catalogue that are required viewing for anyone who is interested, particularly "El Caminante", "Night of the Werewolf", "Inquisicion", "Panic Beats", "Horror Rises from the Tomb", "The People Who Own the Dark", "The Werewolf Woman Versus the Vampire Woman". "Rojo Sangre" is a fans-only must-watch, but is a must-watch, nonetheless.

This is the only recent Paul Naschy film I have viewed (the credit sequence resolves itself in a succession of snapshots showing him made-up for his earlier pictures); to a large extent, it seems to have been enthusiastically received by fans and I liked it quite a bit myself (albeit with some reservations I will get to later). We have here an intriguing premise with the star (as always penning the script himself) ideally cast as a has-been thespian in search of work but clearly out-of-touch with the times; in fact, he is reduced to accepting "humiliating" odd-jobs such as doorman (under the guise of many a notorious historical figure) to a stag club owned by one Reficul (try reading that backwards) or directing snuff movies and, in the very opening scene, hilariously claims to get his sexual kicks nowadays by stuffing a rat enclosed in a condom through his rectum! Eventually, Naschy snaps and goes on a killing spree, targeting people from the industry who had either snubbed him or whom he believes forsake art for commerce; in this respect, Reficul's gift of a cane concealing a Japanese rapier inside comes in mighty handy! Unfortunately, the plot during the latter stages becomes increasingly muddled: Naschy finds out about his boss' identity (his transsexual assistant, then, is really Beelzebub!), with the latter explaining to him that with the signed contract he had given away his soul; cornered by the Police, he is shot and presumably killed; cut to a "Murillo" awards ceremony with the winner emerging to be a candidate whose seat is presently vacant…but then he turns up, at first with his back to the camera, and ultimately revealed to be an aged Naschy under a different name (apparently, he survived and has had a career renaissance in the interim – his talents vindicated at long last – thanks to the Devil's doing)! Typical of today's horror cinema, we get a flat-ugly look which does the film no favors at all – not to mention flashy technique (believing this is enough to give the whole a semblance of style but actually rendering it somewhat amateurish!) and copious gore (including a particularly repellent dismemberment). A mixed bag, then, but Naschy's weathered features, sensitive performance and knowing critique of the profession – plus a decent score – are enough to redress the balance and make the ride worthwhile for seasoned genre fans.