Tuno negro

Like `El arte de Morir', this is a Spanish example of the teen slasher pic, that has some original ideas, but isn't as good as the efforts of other Spanish directors in horror film making, like Amenabar's `Tesis', de la Iglesia's `Dia de la bestia' or del Toro's marvelous `Devil's Backbone'. Still it is a lot better than the boring and predictable `I know what you did last summer', which had nothing, absolutely nothing new or inventive to it. The story tells of a secret society of serenade singers, and, guess what, lots of students are being killed. One of the highlights of `Tuno Negro' is the impressive setting at the university of Salamanca, a location that gives the film a slightly Gothic touch. Then there's the female lead: an interesting divergence from the usually dull well-behaved heroines in Slasher flicks; I liked Silke's acting a lot, although the version I've seen has been dubbed into German; can't say nothing about her original way of speaking that got criticized below. This is certainly not a masterpiece, but it's quite entertaining; I've seen much worse than that.

I watch the movie, because I just had to see where it was going. Lucky me I saw it in Spanish, so I did not loose any translation. I have seen each and every one of those actors in some other movie, but can remember where.

About half way though the movie, Alexis Valdez comes out from under the bed of Alex and try to assault her................. I am 7/8 thru the movie,and I can not figure out what was that all about. I keep thinking is Alexis Valdez el Tuno Negro and he will be discover at the end? I do not see the connection of this 5 minute seen. I can only think it is a cheap filler, they need kill some time as well as kill students.

Well, supposedly spanish filmmakers are trying to avoid the "american" way of making films, well I guess they missed the point here. Because this film follows exactly all the elements that make american horror films what they are, one minute thrills with some exceptions. The film is rather predictable, the dialogue is awfully ridiculous,but the sex scene was somewhat interesting. The acting on the other hand was not that bad, Fele Martinez once again shows that he is one of the best young actors working in Spain these days, and even though he looks too old for being in college Jorge Sanz does a good job also. The soundtrack of the film is one of the few good elements the film has, and well...the last 15 minutes of the film are flooded by certain touch of dark humor that brings up all that was lost by the first one hour and a half. At the end, what I have to say about Tuno Negro is that, is totally forgettable, but you might as well have a not so bad time if you go see it. It´s up to you.

This is an interesting movie. On one hand it is kind of slick Hollywood-style slasher movie involving an ultra-modern killer who stalks his prey in internet chat rooms and posts his murders on the internet. On the other hand it is enjoyably atmospheric and highly stylized, resembling the much more interesting (to my mind) early 80's slasher movies or the Italian gialli(many of which, people tend to forget, were Spanish co-productions). It has a great setting--the University of Salamanca, one of the oldest and most storied universities in the world. The high-tech slasher operates against this almost medieval background. He calls himself the "Dark Minstrel", connecting himself to a legendary (albeit fictional) group of poor student minstrels who took it upon themselves in earlier times to weed out the most undeserving upper-class underachievers. Like his brethren, the dark minstrel targets students who cheat or have bad grades--his motto: "la ignorancia mata" (ignorance kills).

The plot of this movie is actually pretty good, and those who claim it doesn't hold together really need to watch it again. The revelation of the killer is pretty surprising and is NOT a cheat if you are paying close attention. It's definitely as violent as your average giallo or slasher movie. The victims look pretty long-in-the-tooth to be college students, especially the most recognizable actress, Maribel Verdu (of "Y tu Mama Tambien" fame), but they are no less likable or any more stereotypical than your average slasher movie cast. The lead is a smoking hot German actress, who goes only by the name of "Silke". She's pretty decent and has a nice nude scene, something that is usually missing in most modern-day Hollywood movies (that may sound like a sexist thing for me to say, but the day they start casting remotely average-looking women in these things, based on their acting talent rather than their physical attributes, I'll stop complaining when they don't take their clothes off).

This is pretty decent movie overall, and I'd recommend it to anybody, but especially giallo and slasher movie fans.

Very good Spanish slasher movie, with an interesting and darkly humorous idea (a slashing minstrel going from one university to another each year, killing the worst students, cutting the bad seeds of society).

Only slightly different from his american models (the plethora of college slashing films), Tuno negro is a very good addiction to the genre, with several good death scenes, many talented actors and actresses (the lead cutie is a sort of Spanish clone of Katie Beckinsale), good musical score. All in all, a good way to spend 100 minutes, far better than many of his similar from the States.