Perdita Durango

1997

Perdita Durango (1997)

TOMATOMETER

33%

——

Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.

AUDIENCE SCORE

63%

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Movie Info

The title character of this Alex de la Iglesia film made her first appearance in David Lynch's Wild at Heart (1990) and was originally played by Isabella Rossellini. Rosie Perez takes over the role in this blend of black comedy, graphic sex and violence, voodoo, and weirdness. Perdita Durango is pure trash, a fact she establishes at the film's beginning. Her adventures begin when she hooks up with Romeo Dolorosa (Javier Bardem), a sleek, black-clad, sexually adventurous practitioner of Santeria who routinely kills, robs banks, and steals corpses from graves for his cannibalistic blood-soaked rituals. Santos (Don Stroud) is a pedophile and a crime boss. He hires Romeo to steal a truck filled with human fetuses that are slated to be used for cosmetic experiments. Romeo accepts but feels he must make a human sacrifice before he goes. This bothers Perdita not a bit and she even picks out a pair of blonde teens for the ritual killing. The two crooks kidnap the kids, ritually feather them, sexually abuse them, and are preparing to kill them when Romeo's cheated partner shows up with policemen. The crooks and their prey manage to escape, but the scheme to commandeer the truck gets botched and an ensuing shootout between Santos' men and DEA agents goes wrong. Santos loses many men and swears revenge upon Romeo and Perdita, who continue on their journey with their two doomed victims.

Cast

Rosie Perez
as Perdita Durango
Javier Bardem
as Romeo Dolorosa
Harley Cross
as Duane
Aimee Graham
as Estelle
James Gandolfini
as Willie 'Woody' Dumas
Demian Bichir
as Catalina
Don Stroud
as Santos
Santiago Segura
as Shorty Dee
Carlos Bardem
as Reggie San Pedro
Alex Cox
as Doyle
Harry Porter
as Ford
Carlos Arau
as Phillips
Miguel Galvan
as Doug
Regina Orozco
as Lilly
Roger Cudney
as Herbert
Erika Carlson
as Glory Ann
William G. Stamper
as Charly Park
Gabriel Berthier
as Technician
César Rodríguez
as Dedo Peralta
David Villalpando
as Skinny
Forrie J. Smith
as Armendariz
Paco Pharrez
as Nicky Bigfoot
Will Nahkohe Strickland
as 'The Fist'
Josefina Echánove
as Romeo's Grandmother
Miguel Iglesias
as Danny Mestiza
Dewey Kellogg
as Montana
Marco Bacuzzi
as Tony
Abel Woolrich
as Old Man in Cemetery
James Gooden
as Manny Flynn
Emily Blanton
as Airport Waitress
Maya Zapata
as Mexican Girl
Vadira Zapata
as Mexican Girl
Andaluz Russell
as Juana
Salvador Gómez
as Mexican Border Guard
Kenny Jacobs
as Driver
Pam Risner
as Woman
Cheli Godínez
as Vicky
Katie Barbieri
as Stewardess
Norma Stone
as Old Man 'Toquez'
Gerardo Zepeda
as La Florida Barman
Lazaro Paterson
as Babalawo Priest
Jessie Faller
as Bank Teller
Adelina Sinohui
as Beautiful Woman
Roberto Lopez
as Susie Street Man
Paul Dapra
as Policeman
Craig Vincent
as Policeman
Steve Kennedy
as Paramedic
Screamin' Jay Hawkins
as Adolfo
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Critic Reviews for Perdita Durango

All Critics (9)

The film would have better off staying with the comic tone, for that's what de la Iglesia does best--and where his interests clearly lie.

Sep 14, 2005 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
TheMovieReport.com
View All Critic Reviews (9)

Audience Reviews for Perdita Durango

½

I was curious to see this after recently seeing the director's 2010 film 'The Last Circus', which I loved. Unfortunately there's not much that I enjoyed about this one. I will seek out the director's other works though.

Wu Chouin
Wu Chouin

Super Reviewer

½

Following the success of El Dia De Bestia and Acción mutante, once again the director pursues the nature of dark obsession. The two main leads are dysfunctional amoral sadists who re in some ways rediscovering a part of them that they miss - love. It's a story of trying to move on but the main characters are very amoral however there's darker circles than them, which pulls them further down the spiral. In essence this movie is an antithesis of a glamour Mafia movie and I believe represents Mafia dealings in a very dark fashion. In some ways I believe there's a nod to David Lynch with the actor playing the Mafia boss. The film is not a sick puppy nor is it banal. For those that have followed this director they will read between the lines to discover some salient points of US government intervention out of the states and human traffic - in this case embryos used for beauty products. Like 'clean Madrid' in El Dia de Bestia there were fascist movements in the capital at the time. Iglaisia puts this on the screen as a cultural reminder. Watching this movie at face value will seem very ultra violent and in some places extremely disturbing. Unlike other cult producers like Tarintino Iglasia uses a loot of cult cultural references to make his films extremely dark and funny (like La Communidad). If you're Latin or Spanish I feel there would be a lot more in this movie for you. Recommended viewing - but not for the faint hearted.

Cassandra Maples
Cassandra Maples

Super Reviewer

½

A flawed affair from Alex de la Iglesia that benefits from one thing: Javier Bardem playing a crazy ruthless mexican santero who rapes american teen girls and makes human sacrifices. Bardem owns the movie in every way.

Tsubaki Sanjuro
Tsubaki Sanjuro

Super Reviewer

½

Awesome rated R action and hot sex scenes. Rosie Perez is bloody hot American-Purerto Rican actress in this dangerous hostage thriller film.

Dean McKenna
Dean McKenna

Super Reviewer

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