Killer Book Club
A Spanish slasher about a pact of silence and a killer clown.
Killer Book Club (Spanish: *El club de los lectores criminales*) is a 2023 Spanish slasher film. Carlos Alonso directed it, and the screenplay was written by Carlos García Miranda, who adapted it from his own novel. The lead role is played by Veki Velilla. The story centers on a group of college students who accidentally kill a lecturer and then swear to keep it secret. A masked killer clown subsequently hunts them down, picking them off one by one.
- release_year
- 2023
- country
- Spain
- genre
- slasher film
- director
- Carlos Alonso
- screenwriter
- Carlos García Miranda
- source_material
- novel by Carlos García Miranda
- lead_actor
- Veki Velilla
Lore & Background
The film is based on the novel El club de los lectores criminales by Carlos García Miranda. It was produced by Brutal Media and scored by Arnau Bataller. While the novel is set at the Complutense University of Madrid, the film avoids explicit mention of the setting, with footage shot in Toledo at the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences of the University of Castilla-La Mancha and the Hospital de Tavera.
Reader's Guide
Killer Book Club was released on Netflix on 25 August 2023. According to the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an 8% approval rating based on 12 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 4.2/10. Critics offered mixed to negative assessments: John Serba of Decider.com called it 'just another brutal mediocrity among many'; David Lorao of HobbyConsolas rated it 62 points ('acceptable'), noting an 'interesting Spanish slasher film that has a magnetic premise, but that fizzles out as its short running time progresses until it reaches an ending without much emotion.' Matt Donato of Bloody Disgusting lamented that the story 'feels more like an inorganic vanity project to see how close the production can replicate Scream without copyright infringement.' Chase Hutchinson of Collider gave the film a C− rating, pointing out that it 'relies on recycled tropes and contrivances of the genre, feeling most like a ripoff of Scream.' The film's significance lies in its attempt to bring a Spanish slasher to a global streaming audience, though critical reception was largely unfavorable.
Did You Know?
- The film is based on the novel El club de los lectores criminales by Carlos García Miranda.
- While the novel takes place at the Complutense University of Madrid, the film avoids any explicit mention of the setting.
- Footage was shot in Toledo at the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences of the University of Castilla-La Mancha and the Hospital de Tavera.
- The film has an 8% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews.
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