Aside from being a huge lover of film, I am also a pretty big collector. I collect DVDs, Blu-Ray, and various paraphernalia from my favorite films. I have a whole room in my house devoted to my collection, and over the years I've spent a lot of time tracking down many harder-to-find films and obscure titles. Jorg Buttgereit's Nekromantik gave me one hell of a goose hunt. The DVD press of this film, released by now-defunct media company Barrell Entertainment, is a rare, expensive DVD that sells currently on Amazon for upwards of $100. I wound up buying an awesome bootleg at a convention for $10, and I'm fine with that. I love DVD, but I can't justify spending that much on any DVD. Whose to say another company won't come along and release this baby on Blu-Ray and making the original DVD totally useless? I wonder how all those people who owned the original Salo release (it used to sell for close to $1,000) felt when Criterion re-released it not too long ago for $29.95 or so. It pains me to think of a future when digital downloads will replace physical discs, but I also feel there will always be a market for DVD/Blu-Ray. I highly doubt you will see the type of films I like streaming on Netflix. At least I hope not. I enjoy owning the actual DVD of films, adding it to my shelf. They kind of serve as badges of honor and a source for me to sit and reminisce on all of the fucked up shit I've seen over the years. That being said, if you're anything like me and prefer owning a physical format, you either have to be willing to shell out the cash or settle for a copy.
The best way I can describe Jorg Buttgereit's Nekromantik is a necrophilia themed love story. Well regarded as some of the most notoriously disgusting filth to ever emerge from the German underground, Nekromantik will most likely permanently etch an image of menage a tois with rotting corpses onto your retinas. Buttgereit spares no expense when it comes to showering your senses with all the graphic detail one would expect (and maybe some that you would not so much expect) from a three way with a woman, her boyfriend, and their rotting sex toy. The droned out, synth laden soundtrack is a perfect fit for the film and it will have you sitting there scratching your heads wondering what exactly you are watching. Aside from the infamous sex scene, the film actually has a rather decent storyline for a film of this sort. Rob is an employee of a street cleaning agency whose job is to clean up grisly accidents from the roadways. He just so happens to have picked the right field, because both him and his girlfriend Betty have an unusual obsession with all that is dead and rotting. One day, Rob brings home a whole corpse for his darling and they decide to let the good times roll. Unfortunately, Rob gets fired from his job and Betty decides to leave his sorry ass and take their new friend with her. All kinds of mayhem ensues, and eventually Rob winds up six feet under himself.
I'm going to use this film as a place to get on my soapbox and point out my feelings on animal violence in films. I, like many others, have a hard time with animal violence in films despite being able to sit through endless scenes of violence towards humans. Funny how that works huh? Although this makes me uncomfortable, I most certainly would not use animal violence solely as a reason to debase a film. This film has a gruesome cat scene that made me cringe. However, this scene was 100% faked and I'm fine with that. I am against censorship and just because I am uncomfortable with something, it doesn't mean that these things should be changed just to make me feel better. Kinda the same way how I feel when people tell me the movies I watch make them uncomfortable. Don't like it? Don't watch it. I believe a director should be able to film anything that they are able to fake without a problem. However, I absolutely do not agree with killing any living being solely for the purpose of entertainment. As much as I enjoyed all those old Italian cannibal flicks like Cannibal Holocaust, the scenes of real animal violence definitely WERE a reason for me to lose some respect for these films. At least in Cannibal Holocaust, the turtle that was gruesomely killed was for food purposes. Then there are other films, such as Men Behind the Sun, which feature scenes of such outright animal cruelty for NO purpose other than entertainment that I find it hard to find any merit at all in the film. Maybe that's just my personal thing, but I wouldn't enjoy going online and watching real murder videos either. My love for the grotesque ends when the line is crossed between fantasy and reality.
Then again, I am kind of torn on the issue as well. There is a horrible scene of a real rabbit being beaten and skinned. Did I cringe? Yes. Was I horrified? Yes. Do I still eat meat? Yes, and if this makes me a bit of a hypocrite than oh well. I am thankful that Mr. Buttgereit decided to use a stock film from a rabbit slaughter farm rather than to kill a rabbit solely for the purpose of the film. I suppose in my mind this makes it better for me to take in, because I know that rabbit was going to be killed anyway and I'm not naive as to how that delicious meat on my plate comes to be. In a way, I am thankful that some things still do make me cringe and turn away from the screen. These moments are few and far between. For this, I would like to say kudos to Jorg Buttgereit for incorporating such horrible themes into his film in as tasteful a way possible. If the animal violence is justified to the story line, then fine. Buttgereit certainly does not need a few cheap scenes of animal cruelty to get people talking about his films (Uwe Boll, I'm looking at you).
All animal cruelty aside, the film was great. If you're looking for a real gross-out of a good time, I highly recommend hunting this gem down. I can't think of any films in recent memory that are anything like Nekromantik, and if you can prove me wrong please let me know what I'm missing. It will make you laugh, it will make you cringe, it will make you question your faith on humanity. But most importantly, it will provide you with a hell of a fun ride. I recommend this movie for anyone who does not have a sensitive stomach, can look past the animal violence, and appreciates a good old German horror film.
4 OUT OF 5 STARS
**** out of *****
The best way I can describe Jorg Buttgereit's Nekromantik is a necrophilia themed love story. Well regarded as some of the most notoriously disgusting filth to ever emerge from the German underground, Nekromantik will most likely permanently etch an image of menage a tois with rotting corpses onto your retinas. Buttgereit spares no expense when it comes to showering your senses with all the graphic detail one would expect (and maybe some that you would not so much expect) from a three way with a woman, her boyfriend, and their rotting sex toy. The droned out, synth laden soundtrack is a perfect fit for the film and it will have you sitting there scratching your heads wondering what exactly you are watching. Aside from the infamous sex scene, the film actually has a rather decent storyline for a film of this sort. Rob is an employee of a street cleaning agency whose job is to clean up grisly accidents from the roadways. He just so happens to have picked the right field, because both him and his girlfriend Betty have an unusual obsession with all that is dead and rotting. One day, Rob brings home a whole corpse for his darling and they decide to let the good times roll. Unfortunately, Rob gets fired from his job and Betty decides to leave his sorry ass and take their new friend with her. All kinds of mayhem ensues, and eventually Rob winds up six feet under himself.
I'm going to use this film as a place to get on my soapbox and point out my feelings on animal violence in films. I, like many others, have a hard time with animal violence in films despite being able to sit through endless scenes of violence towards humans. Funny how that works huh? Although this makes me uncomfortable, I most certainly would not use animal violence solely as a reason to debase a film. This film has a gruesome cat scene that made me cringe. However, this scene was 100% faked and I'm fine with that. I am against censorship and just because I am uncomfortable with something, it doesn't mean that these things should be changed just to make me feel better. Kinda the same way how I feel when people tell me the movies I watch make them uncomfortable. Don't like it? Don't watch it. I believe a director should be able to film anything that they are able to fake without a problem. However, I absolutely do not agree with killing any living being solely for the purpose of entertainment. As much as I enjoyed all those old Italian cannibal flicks like Cannibal Holocaust, the scenes of real animal violence definitely WERE a reason for me to lose some respect for these films. At least in Cannibal Holocaust, the turtle that was gruesomely killed was for food purposes. Then there are other films, such as Men Behind the Sun, which feature scenes of such outright animal cruelty for NO purpose other than entertainment that I find it hard to find any merit at all in the film. Maybe that's just my personal thing, but I wouldn't enjoy going online and watching real murder videos either. My love for the grotesque ends when the line is crossed between fantasy and reality.
Then again, I am kind of torn on the issue as well. There is a horrible scene of a real rabbit being beaten and skinned. Did I cringe? Yes. Was I horrified? Yes. Do I still eat meat? Yes, and if this makes me a bit of a hypocrite than oh well. I am thankful that Mr. Buttgereit decided to use a stock film from a rabbit slaughter farm rather than to kill a rabbit solely for the purpose of the film. I suppose in my mind this makes it better for me to take in, because I know that rabbit was going to be killed anyway and I'm not naive as to how that delicious meat on my plate comes to be. In a way, I am thankful that some things still do make me cringe and turn away from the screen. These moments are few and far between. For this, I would like to say kudos to Jorg Buttgereit for incorporating such horrible themes into his film in as tasteful a way possible. If the animal violence is justified to the story line, then fine. Buttgereit certainly does not need a few cheap scenes of animal cruelty to get people talking about his films (Uwe Boll, I'm looking at you).
All animal cruelty aside, the film was great. If you're looking for a real gross-out of a good time, I highly recommend hunting this gem down. I can't think of any films in recent memory that are anything like Nekromantik, and if you can prove me wrong please let me know what I'm missing. It will make you laugh, it will make you cringe, it will make you question your faith on humanity. But most importantly, it will provide you with a hell of a fun ride. I recommend this movie for anyone who does not have a sensitive stomach, can look past the animal violence, and appreciates a good old German horror film.
4 OUT OF 5 STARS
**** out of *****