Director: Carlos Alonso Ojea
Year: 2023
Country: Spain
Alternate Titles: El club de los lectores criminales
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
While attending university for their studies, a group of friends in a book club end up accidentally killing their professor and believe they've gotten away with the crime, but when a series of novel chapters appear online detailing their deaths race to find the killer responsible before they're killed.
Review:
Overall, this one wasn't bad but has some big problems. One of the brighter features here is the main setup of the film and the central idea of what's happening. While the main gimmick of the killer coming for them is based on a past tragedy that they've covered up and is now being brought to light, the use of tying it into their membership in the club and making them aware of what's gone on through the shared texts revealing the incidents as book chapters is a fine touch. This becomes a fine suspenseful choice later on as the bodies add up and the writing site adds more influence over the story.
As well, the other enjoyable factor here is the gruesome and bloody stalking action. The initial prank and resulting chase of the disbelieving victim through an abandoned school that's played off as chapters from the book come to life is all quite fun, while later chases or encounters like the library scene, the confrontations in the medical lab, or the standout sequence in a crowded meet-and-great that turns into a chase through a local greenhouse all come off great in concept. Even the twisting finale gets in on the fun with the confrontations that take place, and as there's plenty of bloodshed alongside a fine killer's mask are easily some of the highlights.
There are some big issues here that keep it down. The main drawback to this one is the highly formulaic and not-that-interesting story that keeps making this come off like a bunch of retreads on the genre. Focusing on sarcastic, booksmart characters who must use their knowledge of the genre to put the pieces together and figure out what's going on makes this inherently familiar and off-putting. Commenting on the fact that they're these types of characters and how they're completely insufferable, unlikable people who just need to be killed gives this a wholly problematic hurdle to get over.
On top of that, there are some big problems with some of the logistics involved in the film. The complete lack of any investigative or authority figure trying to work out what's going on, especially once the deaths become public and happened in front of others, is moronic and the inability to get them involved is just as bad. Likewise, the timeline of writing out the chapters playing off the events in real life to the point they get it on their phones makes no sense and isn't that realistic at all with very little here about building off the clown sightings it had set up earlier. These big issues bring this one down considerably.
Overview: **.5/5
Working exceptionally well as a straightforward brutal slasher but still featuring some issues elsewhere, this is a problematic slasher with a limiting market. Really only go for this one if you're a fan of these teen-oriented slashers or are just a hardcore slasher fan in general, while most others who are turned off by these issues should heed caution.
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