Critics reviews

There are echoes of the Hitchcock classic Vertigo as Almodovar traces a relationship between a former bullfighter and a female lawyer that finds its purest expression in a lethal combination of desire and death... Matador is a stepping stone to the films that would cement Almodovar’s reputation as the most famous Spanish director since Luis Buñuel.

Not so much a maelstrom as a mess of contrived eroticism, pretentious dialogue, and voyeuristic sensationalism, Almodóvar's silly, cod-philosophical whodunit impresses only for its bravado (fans of Paul Verhoeven may love it).

The most extreme of Almodovar's ‘early, kinky films’, this tribute to the chic slasher movies of Bava and Dario Argento is colourful and unreal enough to be less offensive than it sounds... It’s a screamingly funny, intriguing meditation on sex and violence.

This voluptuous mixture of black humor and subterranean sexuality starts out at an extreme pitch and gets deeper into the characters' obsessions as the movie proceeds... [Matador] is a consistently audacious fantasy of sex and violence.

The movie looks terrific and is acted with absolute, straight-faced conviction by the excellent cast headed by Miss Serna, Mr. Martinez and Mr. Banderas. ''Matador'' is of most interest as another work in the career of a film maker who, possibly, is in the process of refining a singular talent.

“Matador” is as outrageous as ["What Have I Done to Deserve This" and "Law of Desire"], but it does not provoke easy laughter as they do and consequently is more disturbing in its depiction of the absurdities of passion. Such are Almodovar’s skills, however, that the film fortunately compels more than it repels.

"Matador" isn't as complex as "Law of Desire," and the characters aren't so much real figures as embodiments of psychological drives and impulses... Still, the director and his screen-writing partner, Jesus Ferrero, draw them with great conviction.

"Matador" baits every bull imaginable -- murder, mutilation, suicide and rape being just a few of [its] popcorn-incompatible themes. But [Almodovar] swirls his cape over these chargers so imaginatively, shamelessly and inventively, his flamboyance wins the day.

In Matador, Pedro Almodovar displays more polished filmmaking technique, but moves away from social commentary for a frenzied feeding on themes of carnal and blood obsession... Almodovar unfolds [the film's] convoluted plot with zig-zagging surrealism and a careening, sordidly erotic energy that effectively undermines the culturally institutionalized repression targeted by the filmmaker.

[Matador] is one of Almodovar’s better features, although, like many of the others, it partially plays the role of popularizing stronger stuff... and resorts to some contrived plot devices... in order to fuse its diverse story elements. Nevertheless, Almodovar manages to do something fairly interesting and watchable with his material.