H6: DIARY OF A SERIAL KILLER

(a.k.a. H6: DIARIO DE UN ASESINO)

Antonio (Fernando Acaso) argues with his girlfriend in the doorway of flats one night. She is tired of him hitting her and wants to end their relationship. They tussle, and the end result is that he strangles her to death.

Fourteen years later Antonio is released from prison and, as his late Aunt's only living relative, inherits her guesthouse. He moves into it, a former brothel, and starts making over room 6 as a DIY torture pad.

And it's here Antonio's narration begins. He tells us he is starting a diary, writing about his compulsions and actions so that one day people can study his work and learn from it. He intends, you see, to live up to his teenage idol Henri Pardu, France's most notorious serial killer.

But while Antonio has aspirations to kill, first he marries the gold-digging harlot Francisca (Maria Jose Bausa) - who explains in her own narration that she has married because she desperately wants to move out of her parents' home. Her true love, though, is the married doctor she's been secretly shagging for years ...

So far, so humdrum. But then Antonio invites hooker Rosa (Raquel Arenas, EN EL AGUA) into his hotel one night and asks if he can tie her up during sex. She obliges, but starts to feel queasy when she's led to the sinister room 6. Kept there and starved for 3 days, with only Antonio's urine to drink, Rosa also has to tolerate his rambling psychobabble and verbal mocking, before he eventually relieves her - hacking her to pieces with a chain saw.

Keeping photographs of his victim and sticking them in his diary next to his detailed entries - a'la SCRAPBOOK - Antonio tells us he has a taste for murder and this is just the beginning. We get a lot of embarrassing philosophising about the act of murder, as we're told men instinctively need to dominate, and so on. But director Martin Garrido (SIMPATICOS DEGENERADOS) offers a more plausible explanation for the protagonist's women-hating ways: he's impotent. Even when Antonio "rapes" his victims, both parties remain clothed around the groin.

And so, more victims are introduced to room 6 (and raped, tortured, jeered at by Antonio), Francisca ignores her suspicions and concentrates instead on her affair, and the police eventually get a tip-off that something vile is going on at the Paradise Guesthouse (I kid you not).

The torture scenes are tasteless for their length, and the snivelling misogyny of Antonio. Garrido eschews gore (all the dismemberment occurs offscreen) and opts instead for scenes involving Antonio forcing a bottle of his own piss down a prostitute's throat, and endless amounts of rhetoric about sexual politics.

Performances (especially from the victims) are convincing, and production values are relatively high. The film is beautifully shot too, with stunning widescreen compositions of spiralling staircases and outdoor scenery that are a joy to behold.

But it's not enough to rescue the film from it's heavy-handed musing (Christ, the script even quotes Nietzsche at one point - pretentious!), unbalanced tone - awkward comedy creeping in from time to time - and it's desire to humiliate women relentlessly.

Tartan, as ever, provide a reliable disc for their main feature.

The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced. Images are clean and sharp during lighter scenes, but there are some unfortunate ghosting effects during its darker moments. Colours are correctly saturated and well balanced.

The Spanish audio is available in 2.0 stereo, 5.1 and 5.1 DTS mixes. All are dependable, problem-free affairs. Removable English subtitles are available.

An appealing animated main menu gives way to dull static menu pages, including a scene-selection page offering access to the film via 16 chapters.

Extras include a decent 29-minute fly-on-the-wall documentary following cast and crew members at a European press conference for their movie. Garrido addresses the camera occasionally in a video diary fashion, but the eventual interview with the press is more engaging. Optional English subtitles are available.

We also get insubstantial interviews with Acaso, Garrido and actor Alejo Sauras who plays a squatter in the film. These add up to 8 minutes in total. Nothing much to be gleaned from these.

Finally, there are two trailers - a blink-and-you'll-miss-it teaser (22 seconds) and a more fulfilling theatrical trailer, clocking in at just under 2 minutes in length.

Misogynistic, overwrought and overacted by Acaso, H6 adds little to the ever-growing cluster of movies professing to look into the mind of a killer. Full marks for style, but seriously lacking in content.

Review by Stu Willis