“Perdita Durango” aka “Dance with the Devil” (1997) starring Rosie Perez, Javier Bardem and James Gandolfini / Z-View

Perdita Durango aka Dance with the Devil (1997)

Director: Álex de la Iglesia

Screenplay: Barry Gifford, David Trueba, Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Álex de la Iglesia; based on 59° And RAINING: THE STORY OF PERDITA DURANGO by Barry Gifford

Stars: Rosie Perez, Javier Bardem, Aimee Graham, Demián Bichir, Santiago Segura, Don Stroud, Roger Cudney and James Gandolfini.

Tagline: Get On The Road

The Plot…

Perdita Durango, in Mexico to scatter the ashes of her dead sister, meets Romeo Dolorosa who is on the run.  Dolorosa is a drug dealing, bank robbing satanist.  The two hook-up and devise a plan to kidnap a couple of college students and use them in a cannibalistic ceremony.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Álex de la Iglesia has a very visual style.  He was joined by terrific leads in Rosie Perez, Javier Bardem and James Gandolfini.  But the subject matter was too over the top gross for me.  I tapped out at about the 20 minute mark when a coked-up Dolorosa was hacking up a dead body in front of tourists.  He then threw the limbs in a boiling pot of blood and drank from it.

The character of Perdita Durango first appeared as a minor character in WILD AT HEART another novel by Barry Gifford.  On film she first was played by Isabella Rossellini in the adaptation of the novel.

Javier Bardem’s hairstyle in Perdita Durango is worse than his in No Country for Old Men.

Perdita Durango was released in the United States as Dance with the Devil.

Perdita Durango aka Dance with the Devil (1997) rates 1 of 5 stars.