The Ancines Woods is loosely based on Spain's first recorded serial killer, Manuel Blanco Romasanta (1809-1863), who admitted to thirteen murders but claimed that he wasn't responsible for his crimes since he suffered from a curse that turned him into a wolf.
José Luis López Vázquez plays the film's murderer, Galician pedlar Benito Freire, who has been afflicted with an unspecified ailment since childhood - now, when acting as a guide for travellers, he suddenly becomes gripped by a madness that drives him to kill. Freire is shown not to be a werewolf, but rather suffering from a mental condition - schizophrenia, perhaps - that makes him act in a violent manner against his usual character. The killings are brutal, with the murder of a child being particularly disturbing (he starts to strangle her and then accidentally sets her on fire).
The film is very gradually paced, so much so that it's easy for one's attention to wander at times (I soon started to notice all of the flies in the film), but it is well acted, José Luis López Vázquez putting in a convincing central performance as the killer who evokes pity as much as he does fear. The story builds to a satisfying climax, as Freire's lies eventually start to unravel, evidence mounts against him and he becomes the subject of a manhunt.
7/10. For a more recent version of the same story (but not as good), check out Romasanta (2004), starring the late Julian Sands.
José Luis López Vázquez plays the film's murderer, Galician pedlar Benito Freire, who has been afflicted with an unspecified ailment since childhood - now, when acting as a guide for travellers, he suddenly becomes gripped by a madness that drives him to kill. Freire is shown not to be a werewolf, but rather suffering from a mental condition - schizophrenia, perhaps - that makes him act in a violent manner against his usual character. The killings are brutal, with the murder of a child being particularly disturbing (he starts to strangle her and then accidentally sets her on fire).
The film is very gradually paced, so much so that it's easy for one's attention to wander at times (I soon started to notice all of the flies in the film), but it is well acted, José Luis López Vázquez putting in a convincing central performance as the killer who evokes pity as much as he does fear. The story builds to a satisfying climax, as Freire's lies eventually start to unravel, evidence mounts against him and he becomes the subject of a manhunt.
7/10. For a more recent version of the same story (but not as good), check out Romasanta (2004), starring the late Julian Sands.