Neon Flesh   Starring: Mario Casas, Vicente Romero and Luciano Cáceres Showbox Home Entertainment RRP: £17.99 SBX444 Certificate: 18 Available 11 June 2012

Having lived on the wrong side of the law all his life, street hustler Ricky has been saving for the last five years to realise one of his mother’s dreams. With her soon to be released from jail, for prostitution, Ricky engages the aid of his, slightly unhinged, friend Angelito in opening a whore house called the Hiroshima...

Neon Flesh (2010 - 1 hr, 41 min, 52 sec) is a stylish comedy thriller written and directed by Paco Cabezas. Patently aimed at the same audience which enjoys films by Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie, this Spanish movie certainly has a lot of style.

Set in the world of street level prostitution, Ricky’s (Mario Casas) plans of fulfilling his mother’s dream does not go quite to plan. It’s not that the lad doesn’t have a good heart; in fact most of his problems arise because he still retains some moral fibre. This would not be a problem, except for the type of people he has to rely on.

Angelito (Vicente Romero) is a pimp and a violent one, who cares more for his dog than he does any other human being. His hired muscle, El Niño (Luciano Cáceres) is a simple soul, who takes what is said to him literally. Although, beneath his hard carapace he has heart enough to fall in love with one of the kidnapped girls forced into selling sex.

When his mother is finally released, Ricky’s triumph quickly turns sour when he realises that she has Alzheimer's. Not only does she not remember wanting to have a club, she doesn’t even recognise her own son.

The film walks a very thin line as far as its characters are concerned. Even within films which deal with crime the audiences requires someone who they can empathise with and whose fate concerns them. Undoubtedly, there will be some who will be turned off by the subject matter alone, or the excessive nudity which the film contains.

Mario Casas certainly is a charismatic lead, although his portrayal is somewhat fractured as he navigates between showing his character as sympathetic, whilst at the same time portraying someone who is more than happy to exploit kidnapped women for prostitution.

The more stereotypical characters work much better, especially Dámaso Conde as La Infantita, an aging transvestite prostitute, with delusions that he/she is related to the king of Spain. Through most of the film La Infantita wrestles with the problematic choice of cutting of his genitals for the chance of staring in a porn movie. Conde gives an off the wall performance, playing his character completely over the top.

The film is presented with an original aspect ratio: 2.39:1, with audio options for either DTS HD master Audio 5.1 or 2.0. The film is in Spanish with burned in subtitles. The only extras on the DVD disc are the original UK trailer (1 min, 25 sec) and the original Spanish trailer (1 min, 48 sec).

There is a case to say that the film certainly leans more towards style than content. Compared to the best of the genre it’s not quite in the same league. However, this type of stylish thriller has exploded into many, often poor, imitations. Neon Flesh works to find its own voice; ultimately I found it an enjoyable slice of humorous under life.

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Charles Packer