Bajo la piel (1996)

Loosely based on a novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Francisco J. Lombardi’s literate but highly entertaining drama Bajo la piel (1996) (translated as Under the Skin) is a Hitchcockian study of mankind’s dark impulses. José Luis Ruiz Barahona stars as Percy Costo, a Peruvian police captain who’s dispatched to solve a string of brutal ritual murders. Attempting to piece together a context for the crimes, Costo visits a local museum curator (Gianfranco Brero) who’s an expert in the occult. Together the two men embark on a terrifying journey into the dark heart of human nature. Of course, once Costo’s come to terms with his inner bad boy, he’s free to pursue sexy Ana Risueño, who willingly gives herself over to the feverish cop.