Alex de la Iglesia's second feature film follows the style of his debut Acción Mutante; a grotesque apocalyptical fantasy built around such unflattering Spanish features as the corruption of power and its inevitable consequences on contemporary Spanish society.

A surfeit of ugly kitsch, violence and frenetic action, used as aesthetic values, serve to draw an ironic portrayal of an absurd society in a state of advanced decay. De la Iglesia tries to deliver some serious messages, which makes for an uneven picture, whose individual parts do not always come together.

Father Berriartúa, an expert on the Apocalypse, thinks he has discovered the source of the danger to the human race, and in order to save it from perdition, he tries to detract Satan's attention by committing various sins. With the help of a teenage heavy metal fan and a popular TV evangelist, he gets in touch with the Prince of Darkness himself and embarks on a nightmare of violence.

If there is humour here, it is all black, and the city of Madrid, where the film was shot, has never looked as heartless.

Ignasi Juliachs, FIPRESCI

Prod co: Sogetel-Iberoamericana (Spain), Canal Plus (Spain), M.G. s.l.r. (Italy)

Prod: Andrés Vicente Gómez

Dir: Álex de la Iglesia

Scr: Jorge Guerricaechevarria, Álex de la Iglesia

Ph: Flavio Martinez Labiano

Ed: Teresa Font

Art dir: José Luís Arrizabalaga

Costumes: Estibaliz Markiegi

Music: Battista Lena

Sound: Miguel Rejas, Gilles Ortion

Cast: Alex Angulo, Armando de Razza, Santiago Segura

Running time: 103 mins

Int sales: Sogepaq

Screenings: 22 June, 22.00, Blanik; 23 June, 15.00, Lucerna

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