Les nuits de Mashhad

With the seamless performances of the cast the Holy Spider takes a radical look at the social trends, culture, policing and religion. When the story considered the mood is not that of Hollywood style. It's rawness is what induces the nauseating effect of heinous crimes we see a bored mental patient commits. Visuals are sharp and precise. The cinematic take is powerful enough to make anyone reconsider their notions about underprivileged. The political read is extremely well-done. It shows how Saeed becomes a vessel for his society's hate. Description on societal nativity is excellent. Holy Spider is a different way of looking at the known ugliness.

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!

'Holy Spider' is the kind of film where if it were a fictional tale you would think what a dark perspective of the world it has chosen to take. The fact that it is based on a true story, and a man like this was actually considered to be doing the work of God, not just by himself but by the public at large as well, is incredibly sobering.

I loved that the film chose to tell the story from two perspectives, the killer and the journalist hunting him. There are certainly times to have some mystery surround your film's antagonist, but this was not one of them. Some of the kill scenes and the scenes where he was coming to terms with what he was doing were extremely well done and some of the strongest moments the film had to offer.

Don't come into this film looking for any kind of light relief. The subject matter is heavy and the film handles itself in like-wise fashion from start to finish. It's a well told story though that will certainly leave audiences with some thinking and reflecting to do. 7.5/10.

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.

The movie beautifully portrays the injustice that women face in Iran, and how corrupt the justice and jurisdiction system is. I used to live in Iran as a child and I remember the how terribly people were being treated in the name of "Allah and Islam". To me, this movie was extremely thrilling because it resurfaced some of my childhood traumas, and that tells me how relatable and well made this movie is. The actors and actresses were absolutely amazing. Making a movie outside of Iran about inside of Iran is not easy. I can't imagine how difficult it was for the actors and actresses get mentally prepared for their roles and get in character, since they all have been living outside of Iran for a long time. Most interesting movie of the year!