H6: Diary of a Serial Killer (DVD)

Twenty five years ago, Antonio Frau (Fernando Asaco) murdered his girlfriend. He paid for his crime, and now he is free. As luck would have it, he has a place to live in the form of an inherited old brothel in a seedy, isolated part of town. His dream is to repent for his past sin and use the large, hotel-like structure as a place to bring the lost and downtrodden, and minister to them. He marries a nurse, and the idyllic picture is complete. But old habits die hard.

The sagging, peeling, dripping brothel is not going to fix itself up overnight, and Antonio’s wife’s salary will only take them so far. Soon, the Mrs. begins to bristle under her husband’s refusal to get a job of his own, and his strange obsession with the old brothel… particularly Room 6 at the top of the staircase, which he keeps tightly locked. She goes to work and winds up staying there during the week, leaving her taciturn husband to his own devices.

Antonio’s first project for saving and cleansing is a homeless squatter who’s been surreptitiously staying in the topmost room. When the proprietor of this so-called hostel from hell discovers the secret lodger, he brings him downstairs, feeds him a lovely meal, offers words of sage advice, and kills him.

One by one, victims find their way to Antonio’s malevolent ministry – as if by divine will, they stroll the alley behind the house, are spied by Antonio, and come inside for a hot meal. Invariably, they are fed (chili, made with the remains of the previous lost soul seeking solace), then drugged and placed inside Room 6. The victims are largely comprised of hookers and female junkies, forced to withstand Antonio’s sexually perverted “cleansing” ritual. This goes on for days at a time in the plastic-lined walls until finally the implements of torture are brought out. Tied spread-eagled and in various states of undress, the unflinching eye of the camera leaves nothing to the imagination.

H6: Diary of a Serial Killer seems to want to be an arty smarty; the composition and color palette is striking, and the narrated diary entries are deep and pseudo-meaningful. However, in spite of decent direction and very good acting, H6 boils down to nothing but an overly long, dragged-out misogynistic exploitation film.

I understand it’s the character who’s reprehensible and (hopefully) not the filmmakers, but watching the repeated brutal rapes and sadistic torture of actresses posing as society’s dregs over and over again with no progression of plot and seemingly no point to it all, is simply not something I care to waste my time with.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson