Death Karate in Torremolinos (2003)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Amazing and amusing B-movie!! The director has obviously become the successor of JESS FRANCO! Totally worthy to see!! The plot is not totally uninteresting and a fan of Jess Franco should definitely see this movie. I really enjoyed both Magicians, the Mair's Hall and the Ninja Nun! It is a very good adaptation of Japanese movies in the style of The Calamari Wrestler, an amazing and extremely original movie.If you enjoyed films like The Corn Kids or the last Robert Rodriguez 's movie (in the joint program with Tarantino) called Planet Terror this is a film in the very style of these ones.With no doubt, the future of Spanish cinema is in the hands of Directors and Films like these ones.

What you lack in budget can often be made up for with big doses of humor and inspired direction. Newcomer Pedro Temboury makes a big splash with silly zombies, a portly villain, a rubber monster, stock footage and clever cameo appearances by cult director Jess Franco and actress Lina Romay. Big baddie Paul Lapidus plans to take over the world with karate trained zombies so of course he starts by attacking that vital town of Torremolinos. Call in martial arts champ Oliver Denis to the rescue and see him knocked off almost immediately. The jokes are smart the acting is way above what you'd expect from such a low budget film and Temboury's direction keeps things going at a pace that always keeps your interest. Don't let the subtitles scare you away. Maybe One Shot Productions, who Temboury's worked for in the past, will release this in on USA DVD in a dubbed version. In joke lovers will take note of the same green goblin that stalked the Spanish countryside in "Les Psycho-Lettes."

I recently was lucky to be invited to a screening of this otherwise unreleased movie. And what I got is what I could expect from its title: a funny, mindless, no-budget movie that's really proud of its humble origins. People looking for something serious or some production values must stay away of it (alas, what could you expect from a movie made from stock film from several shootings, including some from the spanish Z guru Jess Franco?). First time director Temboury offers a post-modern product: he is recreating his Z-movie heritage, and delivering a movie for fans of the genre. Of course the movie is technically very poor (except some nice touches like the credits, wich are impressive), but Temboury manages to make the viewer forget about these shortcomings thanks to his great sence of humor and his obvious knowledge of filmmaking language.