La Huella De Un Asesino (1991)

One time I was checking out my email spam folder and received an email with no subject and the body simply read: “OyE bRo, EstO ES Un SLaSHER?” (Hey bro, is this a slasher?) with an attachment link to the IMDb page of Miguel Marte’s La Huella De Un Asesino (aka “The Trace of a Killer”). 

Serial killer “Elias” aka “El Destazador De Neza” (played by stuntman/actor Manuel Benitez) has killed his latest female victim in an abandoned building and he then proceeds to kill a cop in there as well. Elias then comes across a gloomy ol’ vagabond whom he tricks police officer “Falcon” (Mario Almada) into believing that he’s is trying to kill him. The vagabond is shot since he’s believed to be the serial killer. With the urge to help out the "poor" Elias, Falcon takes him into his home as a temporary helper & to get him back on his feet. 

Elias happily takes the help and then begins to show signs of unusual behavior which consists of acting creepy towards Falcon’s daughter Legna (Holda Ramírez) and showing signs of much psychotic behavior to everyone else around. He’s at least nice to Falcon’s son Richie (played by Miguel Marte’s son Michael Marte). But of course, Elias eventually comes after everyone with a knife! 

La Huella De Un Asesino is like many other Miguel Marte films which consist of typical action-crime police protocol, a lot of cheapie gun-firing scenes, general dramatic scenes, and then of course the cherry on top: the psychotic dilemma which consists of one mean-ass serial killer. There’s a lot going on here and it’s typical for a Miguel Marte film to be this way and that’s what makes it so damn enjoyable to watch. And while I admit the crime/police angle of the film is rather random, it does at least keep the attention going and an excuse to see Mario Almada and the rest of the cast firing their pistols at each other. The serial killer stuff is pretty interesting too, but also vague since we never really find out why the killer Elias is the way he is. He just seems like a pervert & mad at everything. But what made him this way though? At least in 38 Especial we know why the killer is the way he is, but here in La Huella De Un Asesino we don’t know why. Oh, well though! 

So to answer that email from BrO: This is NOT a SLaShEr. This is a psychotic thriller and an action-crime film. La Huella De Un Asesino is a great film that keeps you entertained all the way through and Manuel Benitez can surely play one mean ass motherfucker for sure.