When they give a horror movie the unoriginal title "Slasher", your expectations aren't very high. And with the very first scene, even before the openings credits (a red-caped, hooded and masked person dragging a bloody body-bag through the fields), I almost wanted to stop watching right away. Luckily I didn't: the end of that opening scene was pretty surprising, as was the rest of the movie.
This Spanish horror is a combination of a pretty decent slasher and a parody on the genre, not so in your face hilarious as for instance the Scream films, but far more tongue-in-cheek. We do follow the generic path of a bunch of twenty-somethings out to party in a remote cottage, the unavoidable stop along their way at a local but very suspicious shop, an old scary history linked to the cottage, and a masked murderer wandering around. But to these clichés they added a fairly original person behind the mask with an equally original (nicely farfetched) background, some deliberate over-the-top acting, and some convincing gore and special effects, which all makes for a very entertaining one and a half hour.
Script and direction (both by Alberto Armaz Díaz) are full of little moments that make you chuckle (see for instance the scene in the butcher shop of Carmen, with the cranky neighboring clients). The Spanish cast does a fine job, with special mention of Reyes Monaj (mother Carmen) and Anna Hastings (Lore) who are both very funny. And Sergio Alguacil is almost too handsome for his part, but that's precisely the point here. Anyway, greatly recommended!
