DVD review: Mas Carnaza (1997)

A psychopath escapes from prison, kills his psychiatrist and makes his way to his ex-girlfriend, who seems to have developed an extremely obsessive and unhealthy relationship. Once in the apartment he first kills the friend and former roommate of his beloved, he discovers that she no longer lives there. However, he finds out her home. His ex-girlfriend is just about to be intimate with a fellow student, and while she takes a shower, the psycho breaks in and kills her boyfriend. He gags the young girl and start torturing her mentally and physically. Mas Carnaza is directed by Sergio Blasco, it´s somewhat reminiscent of the first episode of Olaf Ittenbach's The Burning Moon and Heiko Fipper´s Ostermontag. The plot is built up consistently and is pretty exciting. The camera work is good too and the cast is average. I like the fact that it is played straight, it´s serious and is unrelenting. The film is about 45 minutes long and never gets boring, because it really goes blow by blow. This is not for the squeamish as the scenes in which the woman is humiliated and tortured are disturbing. Unlike the director´s previous film Burrp there isn´t much splatter but instead we get a dark and brutal film but don´t worry there is gore and it´s pretty good for a amateur flick. The special fx better than those of Burrp. Sergio Blasco manages to create a threatening atmosphere. You can smell the evil and suffering. What I found interesting is that you never see the face of the perpetrator which is a nice touch.
This review is based on the DVD released by Shock DVD Entertainment, it´s uncut and has german or spanish audio. There is yet another short film included and this is the only DVD release of this film. The picture is grainy but it is an amateur film shot on VHS from the 90s.
Rating: 4½ out of 7. Mas Carnaza delivers what it promises, and shows the fans that they want to see. Brutality, degradation and no compromises are being made... Sergio Blasco has clearly improved his craftmanship.


/JL