{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox film | native_name = {{Infobox name module|es|El club de los lectores criminales|nolink=yes}} | image = Killer Book Club poster.jpg | caption = Promotional release poster | director = Carlos Alonso | screenplay = Carlos García Miranda | based_on = {{Based on|''El club de los lectores criminales''|Carlos García Miranda}} | starring = {{ubl|Veki Velilla|Álvaro Mel|Iván Pellicer|Hamza Zaidi|Ane Rot|Priscilla Delgado|María Cerezuela|Carlos Alcaide}} | cinematography = | editing = | music = Arnau Bataller | studio = Brutal Media | distributor = Netflix | released = {{Film date|2023|08|25|df=yes}} | country = Spain | language = Spanish }} '''''Killer Book Club''''' ({{langx|es|'''El club de los lectores criminales'''|links=no}}) is a 2023 Spanish slasher film directed by Carlos Alonso from a screenplay by Carlos García Miranda based on the novel by García Miranda which stars Veki Velilla.
== Plot == {{More plot|date=March 2025}} After the accidental killing of a lecturer, a group of college students keen on horror fiction film and literature agree on a pact of silence, but a masked killer clown takes them down one by one.<ref name="chico" />
== Cast == {{Cast listing| * Veki Velilla as Ángela<ref name="romero">{{Cite web|website=Cinemanía|via=20minutos.es|title=Quién es quién en 'El club de los lectores criminales', el primer slasher español de Netflix|url=https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/noticias/quien-es-quien-club-lectores-criminales-primer-slasher-espanol-netflix-5166527/|first=Miguel Ángel|last=Romero|date=25 August 2023}}</ref> * Álvaro Mel as Sebas<ref name="romero" /> * Iván Pellicer as Nando<ref name="romero" /> * Ane Rot as Sara<ref name="romero" /> * Carlos Alcaide as Rai<ref name="romero" /> * {{ill|Priscilla Delgado|es}} as Virginia<ref name="romero" /> * María Cerezuela as Eva<ref name="romero" /> * Hamza Zaidi as Koldo<ref name="romero" /> * Daniel Grao as Antonio Cruzado<ref name="romero" /> }}
== Production == The script is based on the book ''El club de los lectores criminales'' by Carlos García Miranda.<ref name="chico">{{Cite web|website=Fotogramas|url=https://www.fotogramas.es/noticias-cine/a44922151/el-club-de-los-lectores-criminales-final-explicado-netflix/|title=Final explicado de 'El club de los lectores criminales': ¿Quién es el payaso asesino de la película de terror de Netflix?|first=Fran|last=Chico|date=28 August 2023}}</ref> The film is a Brutal Media production.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.diezminutos.es/teleprograma/series-tv/a44906775/el-club-de-los-lectores-criminales-netflix-estreno-reparto/|website=Diez Minutos|title=Veki Velilla y Álvaro Mel lideran 'El club de los lectores criminales', el nuevo éxito de terror de Netflix|date=25 August 2023|first=Nora|last=Cámara}}</ref> It was scored by Arnau Bataller.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hoy.es/extremadura/orquesta-extremadura-pone-musica-ultimo-estreno-netflix-20230825075452-nt.html|website=Hoy|first=J.|last=López-Lago|title=La Orquesta de Extremadura pone música al último estreno de Netflix|date=25 August 2023|publisher=Grupo Vocento}}</ref> While the novel takes place in the Complutense University of Madrid, the film avoids any explicit mention to the setting, with footage otherwise shot in Toledo, in between the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences of the University of Castilla-La Mancha and the Hospital de Tavera.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/noticias/complutense-verdadera-localizacion-club-los-lectores-criminales-pelicula-terror-espanola-netflix-5166787/|website=Cinemanía|via=20minutos.es|first=Miguel Ángel|last=Romero|date=29 August 2023|title=No, no es la Complutense: la verdadera localización de 'El club de los lectores criminales', el slasher español de Netflix}}</ref>
== Release == The film was released on Netflix on 25 August 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|date=29 August 2023|website=IndieHoy|url=https://indiehoy.com/cine/club-de-los-lectores-criminales-critica-slasher-espanol-atrapa-netflix/|title=El club de los lectores criminales: Qué dice la crítica sobre el slasher español que atrapa en Netflix|first=Julieta|last=Aiello}}</ref>
== Reception == According to the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, ''Killer Book Club'' has a 8% approval rating based on 12 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 4.2/10.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Killer Book Club|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/killer_book_club|language=en |website=RottenTomatoes|access-date=28 December 2023}}</ref>
John Serba of ''Decider.com'' gave the film a negative recommendation, deeming it to be "just another brutal mediocrity among many".<ref>{{Cite web|website=Decider.com|first=John|last=Serba|title=Stream It Or Skip It: 'Killer Book Club' on Netflix, an Instantly Forgettable Spanish Slasher|url=https://decider.com/2023/08/29/killer-book-club-netflix-review/|date=29 August 2023}}</ref>
David Lorao of ''HobbyConsolas'' rated the film with 62 points ('acceptable') writing that it is an "interesting Spanish slasher film that has a magnetic premise, but that fizzles out as its short running time progresses until it reaches an ending without much emotion".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hobbyconsolas.com/reviews/critica-club-lectores-criminales-slasher-espanol-netflix-1298114|website=HobbyConsolas|title=Crítica de El club de los lectores criminales: El slasher español en Netflix|first=David|last=Lorao|date=31 August 2023}}</ref>
Matt Donato of ''Bloody Disgusting'' lamented that "the story behind ''Killer Book Club'' feels more like an inorganic vanity project to see how close the production can replicate ''Scream'' without copyright infringement".<ref>{{Cite web|website=Bloody Disgusting|title='Killer Book Club' Review – Netflix's Spanish Slasher Is a Pale Imitation of 'Scream'|first=Matt|last=Donato|date=30 August 2023|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3777179/killer-book-club-review-netflixs-spanish-slasher-is-a-pale-imitation-of-scream/}}</ref>
Chase Hutchinson of ''Collider'' gave the film a C− rating pointing out that it "relies on recycled tropes and contrivances of the genre, feeling most like a ripoff of ''Scream''".<ref>{{Cite web|website=collider.com|url=https://collider.com/killer-book-club-review/|title='Killer Book Club' Review: Netflix Horror Lives in the Shadow of 'Scream'|first=Chase|last=Hutchinson|date=25 August 2023}}</ref>
== See also == * List of Spanish films of 2023
== References == {{reflist}} {{authority control}} Category:Films shot in Toledo, Spain Category:Horror films about clowns Category:Films set in universities and colleges Category:Spanish slasher films Category:2023 horror films Category:2023 films Category:Netflix original films Category:2023 Spanish-language films Category:Spanish-language horror films Category:2023 Spanish films Category:2020s slasher films Category:Films based on Spanish novels