There's something oddly fascinating about watching a film where the French get spanked, so this Spanish adventure film already has its feet planted on solid ground.

In 1808 Napoleon sent a large number of troops from Barcelona in the direction of Zaragoza. Hitting a spot of bad weather slowed them down considerably, giving the Spanish time to gather numbers in preparation. What should have been a walk over for the French ended up being a humiliating experience, as a bunch of spirited fighters managed the unthinkable and defeated them.

The events that took place there are historically accurate, but this film focuses on the supposed antics of one individual during this time that would later become legend.

When Napoleon learns of his army's defeat at the Battle of Bruch, he's none too happy. So he sends his top man Maraval (Vincent Perez) to investigate what the hell happened.

After talking to a few survivors, Maraval gets the impression, however hard it is to believe, that their defeat was the work of one man. He hears the same rumours from the Spanish too, who are treating the young man by the name of Bruc (Juan José Ballesta) as a local legend. But could this coal miner really be single-handedly responsible for such a remarkable achievement? Maraval believes there's only one way to stop this story from spreading out of control – to hunt him down and kill him. But despite being merely a coal miner, Bruc really does have a few tricks up his sleeves.

I'm getting a sense that they aren't giving me a head start in this race out of the goodness of their hearts.

Director Daniel Benmayor creates a nice blend of thrills and spills with only his second feature. He also manages to convey a great sense of the period with the weapons and costumes at his disposal. He obviously didn't have a Hollywood-esque kind of budget, but gets a lot of bang for his (Euro) buck.

At its heart it's a simple tale of cat and mouse. Maraval's cat is a striking figure, and although he doesn't come across as quintessentially evil, he's definitely got very sharp claws and isn't afraid to use them.

Ballesta doesn't appear to have a great acting range, but then again his Bruc's mouse doesn't need it; he's about as nimble as can be and as canny as the canniest thing.

The film is at its best when the hunt is in full swing. Maraval is relentless when it comes to hunting down his prey, but Bruc not only keeps on his toes, he also manages to keep a step or two ahead.

After a while though the film does feel that it may have crossed the boundaries of believability once or twice too many times, but it's a minor quibble.

With the recent influx of Spanish horror titles, it's good to see it flexing its cinematic muscles in another genre. Not only that, but doing a pretty good job of it too.