Perdita Durango goes some way to replicating the intense violence and steamy storyline of David Lynch's famous predecessor. Perez plays the title role of the wild superbitch (the Isabella Rosselini character) who gets her kicks from wholesale slaughter and perverse sexual activities. She meets her soulmate in Romeo (Bardem) a handsome bank/ grave robber who shares Perdita's penchant for tribal sacrifices, extortion and ritualistic Santero (voodoo).
The action is set around an embryo deal gone sour coupled with the abduction of two wholesome American virgins. Perdita and Romeo head across the Mexican border pursued by the Mob and a hapless FBI agent Dumas (James Gandolfini) as the kidnapped couple are forced to endure sexual abuse and increasingly erratic behaviour from the demonic couple as the film races towards the expected cataclysmic finale. Perez excels as Perdita, eradicating any memories of the irritating chainsaw-like squeaking voice that has ruined many of her previous cinematic outings. Bardem comes across as part-devil, part-Lothario in a pleasingly subtle performance.
In truth, Perdita Durango could be accused of stealing heavily from any number of sources — Natural Born Killers, El Mariachi, From Dusk Till Dawn, Kalifornia — but its equal measure of style and substance place it over and above its contemporaries. If the film has a flaw it can be found in the violent ending. Interspersed with hard hitting violence, lashings of chilli-hot sexual couplings and some hilarious one-liners from Gandolfini, De La Iglesia fails to find a suitable conclusion to a well-scripted, well directed and mostly enjoyable story.