El caminante (1979)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Tomas (David Rocha) is a young man who is befriended by Leonardo (Paul Naschy) who promises him a great adventure, which will lead to wealth. What Tomas doesn't realize is that Leonardo is actually the Devil who has come to Earth to see what man is like.
EL CAMINANTE, also known as THE DEVIL INCARNATE, is considered by many to be Paul Naschy's masterpiece. Naschy will always be remembered for the various horror films that he appeared in but we all know his most famous character was playing the werewolf in a string of movies that made him a horror legend. EL CAMINANTE is a lesser known picture and that's a real shame because it's a perfectly entertaining black comedy that really has a lot going for it.
When this film was originally announced I wasn't familiar with it but after some research it became clear that many considered it Naschy's best. Usually this type of hype ends up in disappointment but that actually wasn't the case here because I thought the film was extremely good and I'd agree that it was the best film from Naschy. Not only is it the best screenplay I've seen from him but I'd also argue that his direction was spot-on throughout and even his performance was quite great.
Basically what happens is that we see the Devil character going from one scene to the next where he encounters a wide range of people and all of them fall for the temptation that he offers them. This leads to some extremely funny scenes and I must admit that I was shocked to see how well Naschy handled the comic timing. Not only in his performance but the way, as a director, he builds up the scenes and the laughs. I thought Naschy was superb in the role of the Devil and he really fit the part perfectly and delivered.
The film offers up plenty of sex, violence and nudity so fans of EuroSleaze will be really happy. That's especially true in regards to the nudity as there are a large number of beautiful ladies who strip down. EL CAMINANTE is certainly a highly entertaining film that mixes laughs with a bunch of sleaze and in the end the picture really delivered the goods.
