This movie rocked. I don't know how I missed seeing this one but it was major influenced by Natural Born Killers, True Romance and even smatterings of Pulp Fiction but this one can hold its own.Javiar Bardem hooks up with Rosie Perez to commit awful crimes together. He is heavy into voodoo rituals and chums with Screamin' Jay Hawkins who plays his voodoo helper. Rosie meets him and the two instantly hit it off. The two of them end up kidnapping a young American couple and bringing them along for a job he's got going involving a truckload of fetuses in jars.This flick is soaked with seedy characters. The one who steals the show though is James Gandolfini. He plays the detective who's been after Bardem and keeps pursuing him no matter what happens. He gets hit by cars, thrown off of trucks, punched and shot.Make sure you watch the 2 hour 5 minute version which is the longest as the other prints might be missing the good stuff. Most of the content is disturbing as they each rape the couple they take hostage and randomly kill throughout the film. Mobsters, drug dealers, assassins and scumbags all get in the way of Perdita Durango and her voodoo boyfriend which Bardem plays to a tee. Just an awesome flick. You have to watch this one.

A psychotic criminal called Romeo Dolorosa (Javier Bardem) is a dangerous exponent of the Vodoo-like cult , Santeria , he meets his match in femme-fatal Tex-Mex , Perdita Durango (Rosie Perez) . The couple nevertheless finds time along the way and abducts a random teenager duo named Duane (Harley Cross) and Estelle (Aimee Graham) for a forced march on the wild side . The woman rapes the male captive, and lets him watch his lover being raped by the man. They then plan to sacrifice the couple . The story kicks in when Romeo has to transport a lorryload of live foetuses across the border , being relentlessly pursued by a stubborn officer ,Willie 'Woody' Dumas , (James Gandolfini) .This hallucinatory weirdness is a full-on surreal action movie with a wild ride that blends thrills , a lot of fun , sleazeball local color , suspense , tension as well as an intriguing script full of underlying seriousness , horror , comedy and embarrassing situations . Packed with scenes of disagreeable nature , this fantasy-fuelled is exciting as well as frightening , as we follow the strange situations of a peculiar couple and a pair of teens whose destination is dictated by terrible events . The picture is rated ¨R¨ for its crude violence , grisly killings , lashings of sexual abandon , lots of nudism , gore and guts . The narration is so filled with quirk characters , crazy violence mixed with diabolic elements and an underlying sense of horror and gore , and it is so excessive and plenty of surprises, one can't help but keep watching, much as it is over the top in many an occasion . In the picture there is a marvelous homage by inter-cutting of footage from Robert Aldrich's excellent Mexican Western ¨Veracruz¨ and its main actor , Burt Lancaster . Overacting and excessive acting by Javier Bardem as Santero Romeo Dolorosa and nice acting by Rosie Perez as Tex-Mex Perdita who was first incarnated by Isabella Rosselini at ¨David Lynch's Wild and heart¨ also based in a novel by Barry Gifford . Javier Bardem and Carlos Bardem got badly burnt due to excessive gunpowder and a badly synchronized explosion caused by a special effects technician ; another crew member got second and third degree burns in 80% of his body . Very good support cast plenty of familiar faces such as Don Stroud as Santos , Demian Bichir as Catalina , Carlos Bardem -Javier's brother- as Reggie San Pedro , Screamin' Jay Hawkins as Adolfo , Santiago Segura as Shorty Dee and special mention to recently deceased the great James Gandolfini . Good cinematography by Flabio Martinez Labiano , excellent cameraman of ¨Non-stop , Unknown , Day of Beast , Time crimes , 800 bullets¨ , among others ; he's Alex De La Iglesia's usual photographer . Thrilling and stirring musical score by Simon Boswell . Spanish filmmaker Alex De La Iglesia tackles efficiently the further adventures of Perdita , being compellingly directed and it barely quickens the pulse , though 'Bigas Luna' was first slated to direct the film . When Bigas was due to direct the film, Madonna, Javier Bardem and Dennis Hopper were his first choices to play the main roles . Alex De La Iglesia is a cool director who has got much success as ¨Accion Mutante¨ ,¨Dying of laughter¨ or ¨Muertos De Risa¨ , ¨Baby's room¨ , ¨Oxford murders¨ , ¨Balada Triste De Una Trompeta¨ and this ¨Perdita Durango¨ is probably the weirdest Javier Bardem film ever made , being De La Iglesia's English-language debut shot in USA . And of course 'La Comunidad' obtained the unanimous praise of both the critics and the public and results to be a lot of fun, especially for those who enjoy surrealist humor , it won several Goya prizes and a turning point in his meteoric career ; from then on he became his own producer, beginning with '800 bullets' (2002) through the Pánico Films company . Winner of several Goyas (Spanish Oscars), however his movies have not yet reached box office in USA, but he has strong followers , as his films have a kind of comic edge to them . In ¨Perdita Durango¨ there is nonsense, ridicule , violence , sex , absurdity , disturbing scenes and many other issues ; you can find everything in this flick . It captures the essence of the best Álex De La Iglesia, a filmmaker who, at this point in his own story, is respected and admired worldwide and has the most committed fans in the film universe . This is without a doubt a thrilling and enjoyable movie to be enjoyed for thriller buffs and Alex De Iglesia fans.

Bad girl Perdita Durango (Rosie Perez) meets her match when she teams up with villain Romeo Dolorosa (Javier Bardem), he is an all round criminal who is also the grandson of a witch, in his spare time he sacrifices innocents in a form of voodoo ceremony. Perdita wants to kidnap some gringo's, kill them and eat them, but before they do all this, Romeo is hired to steal a consignment of human foetuses for a criminal boss who wants to use them for beauty products? In the mean time though Perdita and Romeo take great pleasure in scaring the hell out of a young blond couple they have kidnapped, after raping their respective captives they are told they are going to die in a sacrificial ceremony. There are flys in the ointment though, an FBI agent Willie 'Woody' Dumas(James Gandolfini) is in hot pursuit.as are a bunch of criminals looking for money they are owed by Romeo. Yet another darkly comic thriller from de la Iglesia, Perdita Durango combines aspects of Tarantino, The Coens and even David Lynch into one crazy demented film. There are some aspects that are rather hideous, the delight of killing and raping that the main protagonists have will surely alienate the majority of viewers, but still I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same. I usually hate Perez, but here for once she really inhabits her character to perfection, Bardem is also sensational especially when he does his "voodoo" trances. The film is uber stylish and always surprising, what more could one ask for?

Finally picked DANCE WITH THE DEVIL up after having seen it once or twice on Skinemax a few years back. I remembered it to be a pretty "odd" and violent film, and I was right. There are some problems with the pacing and storyline - but overall, fans of Tarantino-esquire material will probably dig this one.Rosie Perez plays Perdita Durango, a vicious fire-cracker of a woman who seemingly gets by from one con to the next. After she meets up with an equally (if not moreso...) deranged Santeria priest named Romeo - things really go to hell. Romeo is recruited to drive a truckload of frozen fetuses from Mexico to Vegas, and Perdita is along for the ride. Before the trip, the two decide to kidnap a couple of white-bread college students to sacrifice for good-luck. The rest of the film is a cluster-f!ck of Perdita, Romeo, and the two captives - and their "adventures" on the road - all the while being tailed by the Feds...DANCE WITH THE DEVIL is not a "perfect" film - as the plot seems to get lost in itself from time to time, and some scenarios and situations seem to be shown for no apparent reason - when the film could have been focusing more on the "action". There's a good bit of violence - and for the most part the film moves pretty quickly. It's hard to put my finger on it - it just feels disjointed at times and loses some of it's momentum towards the middle. Regardless - it's a pretty decent film with good performances and a pretty "out-there" storyline. James Gandolfini as the main Fed tailing them is a pleasure as always...7.5/10