ROMASANTA: THE WEREWOLF HUNT

1851. In the forests of the Spanish region of Galicia, numerous horrendously mutilated corpses are found. Initially, the blame is attributed to wolves, but soon suspicions fall on a man. Meanwhile, Manuel Blanco Romasanta, a mysterious man, arrives and immediately wins the sympathy of Josephine and her sister Barbara. When Josephine is found dead, Barbara begins to suspect that Manuel is the perpetrator of the crimes that are shocking the region and, after gathering evidence that confirms her suspicions, the girl sets out to pursue the man for revenge. The new Spanish genre cinema, proudly represented by Fernandez and Yuzna's Fantastic Factory, is enriched with a new title: "The Crimes of the Full Moon". This film fits into the vein of movies dedicated to werewolves, but approaches the theme from a very particular perspective, between the thriller/horror story and the legal drama; in fact, "The Crimes of the Full Moon" is inspired by the true story of Manuel Blanco Romasanta, a peddler who confessed to killing thirteen people to then make soap from their fat and represents the only judicial case to have used lycanthropy as a motive for the defendant's crimes. Given the fascinating premises and the interesting material that screenwriters Elena Serra and Alberto Marini had on their hands, it is hard to understand why the result is such a bland and useless film like "The Crimes of the Full Moon"! The main flaw that can be perceived from watching Paco Plaza's (Second Name) film is a fundamental tiredness, a dragged-out narrative, unfluid, heavy, and redundant that does not involve the viewer at all; the film takes too long to get to the heart of the matter and, moreover, in the long initial wait, the characters are not even outlined or the events clarified. Unfortunately, the viewer has to struggle to understand who is who and why they do certain things, even having more than once the temptation to press the STOP button on the DVD player's remote control. The viewer's emotional involvement is the first requirement that an entertainment film must present, if this is lacking, the film can be considered a failure and so is "The Crimes of the Full Moon". Of course, it must also be admitted that formally Plaza's film is flawless: excellent photography, often dirty and grainy when not tending to the bright, and good historical reconstruction as well; moreover, the special effects are of sure impact, among which can be counted a very realistic transformation from man to wolf. Among the performers, one can recognize a Julian Sands ("Warlock"; "The Phantom of the Opera") as usual inexpressive but quite in part with the character and a beautiful Elsa Pataky (Love Manual 2) in the role of the courageous Barbara. In conclusion, with "The Crimes of the Full Moon" we are dealing with a great missed opportunity, with a film that will provoke more than one yawn despite the interesting basic idea. A film without a soul!