Araña sagrada

As someone who actually lives in the city the events of this movie happened in any bad review of this movie usually containing bad and broken english is not a real person and either is someone trying to make this movie look bad or it is someone working for the corrupt islamic regime of iran, this movie perfectly shows the social situation of iran and the city mashhad especially ,women are treated unjustly and un-equally even this movie is labeled as "dishonoring holy beliefs" and therefore is illegal and dont get me started on the cencorship laws perventing this movie ever going on screen in iran atleast under the islamic regime ,but anyways the movie.

Unfun fact the interview footage at the end of the movie is based of what the son of saeed hanaee(the spider killers real name) actually said in an actual interview...

Where to even start the cinematography ,the lighting ,the atmosphere the feeling it gives you as characters panic you are on the edge of your seat panic-ing with them everything about this movie is just perfect but a warning to anyone light hearted or anyone who gets uncomfortable easily and all that this movie for lack of a better word decimates you ,at about the halfway point I was physically exhausted and had to take a break ,I noticed I was tense and was contracting muscles in some really disturbing scenes ,This movie is just something else ,A True Masterpiece.

And deeply unconfortable movie, unless youre under that jolly good feeling of being a psychopat, or your a guy simply stalking on prostitutes for a serial kill...

its a true story about the holy spider, a male serialkiller operating his little fathwa against women selling lust from the porch or the sidewalks of the streets of mashaad , iran, a dangerous lifestyle wherever you are in the world, generally more deadly in the country of persia.

A well knit together and heavily indulged acting from entire cast throws you into a turmoil of fanatism, corruption and depletion of the female nature and excistence, its filmatographic grips gives vibes of intensity of the emotion called angst.

So if you wanna taste scorching feeling of real feel crime, then the grumpy old man recommends ''holy spider'', a film with a deadly sting.

A killer trawls the streets of Mashhad City, shows no remorse, regret or shame, there is no pity, for the women that he kills, I'm sure he gets plenty of thrills, as a self-appointed one man vigilante. A journalist begins investigations, in a culture that's built on male foundations, but she's persistent and quite brave, to stop the girls going to graves, and to suffer prejudice, of generations.

It's a brutal depiction of events, as a disgruntled, discontented and disturbed psychopath decides to take the lives of several women who have been left with no choice but to sell themselves on the streets to survive (or not as it turns out). I thought Zar Amir-Ebrahimi was brilliant as the stubborn and relentless journalist who tenaciously puts her own life in peril to track the killer down.

Based on a true story of Saeed hanaei,a man who killed 16 sex workers in iran,and branded as a super hero... Though being cruel and shocking,surprisingly reaches to a tight & tense situation of what's happening in iran currently & high society conservatives influencing the monster and symbolising them as saviour of sin indulging in heroic act... Zar Amir ibrahami upholds the movie with her strong morality breaking the stereotypes of women's life in iran...she was honoured with best actress award at the Cannes too... Mehdi bajestani delivers quitely & deadly at times,his body language sends some spine chilling unsettling moments that's hard to beat out... Overall a genuine piece of cinema...

I watched this film yesterday on the Golden Apricot film festival and its rating of 6.6 makes little sense to me.

It is a crafty film that takes you on a suspenseful trip with moments of well-placed humor.

The Iranian setting is somewhat overdramatized, but I believe that works for the film, rather than against it.

The important note here is that the true Spider Killer received very little to no support from the Iranian society.

The overall setting is somber, it is relatively violent, there is a lot of room given for the personal development of our characters, there is social criticism, great acting, and powerful sound design.

My only criticism is that secondary characters could have given more screen-time to act out their emotional curve, as there performances were really strong.

I strongly recommend this to anyone that loves European film and/or true crime pieces.

Easily an eight!