Der Todesking (1990)

"Not as Funny as NEKROMANTIK"

       I wonder if its director would agree? The movie Jorg Buttgereit made in between the repulsively gory NEKROMANTIK (1987 & reviewed on here) and the similarly-styled NEKROMANTIK 2 (1991 and also reviewed on here) gets a remarkably lavish and exhaustive presentation on a three-disc set from Arrow.

The title translates as The Death King and indeed, what we have here is a film about death or rather deaths - one for each day of the week. Thus we are plunged into seven vignettes in which someone is either killed, or kills themselves. None of the segments are uplifting. All of them are shot on grainy 16mm. Quite a few of them appear to have been shot in the same room (or at least the same house). 

       A short way in, there's a spoof on Don Edmonds' tatty old ILSA SHE WOLF OF THE SS (1975) which will probably elicit a variety of reactions from different viewers ranging from a bit of a chuckle to being utterly morally outraged. And to be honest, that's a bit like the film as a whole. Towards the end there's an allusion towards the possible cause of the deaths - a chain letter from the 'Brotherhood of the Seventh Day' that echoes Robert Chambers' classic 'The King in Yellow' in its stylistic intent of driving insane all who come into contact with it. 

For all that I've said above, I don't think the film is entirely about death and madness. It's bookended by a child doing a drawing of the title character (the body of whom, presumably, we see rotting throughout the film), which makes one wonder if this is perhaps the director's comment on the nature of storytelling itself. DER TODESKING is not an easy watch, but if you can get through it you'll probably find yourself thinking about if for quite a while afterwards.

And while you are, you can be getting stuck into Arrow's feast of extras which include a commentary track from the director and co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen, a conversation between the director and Graham Rae at Manchester's Festival of Fantastic Films in 2016, a vintage making of, footage from the 1990 Berlin premiere, Mr Buttgereit's 1992 documentary Corpse Fucking Art, and two short films by producer Manfred O Jelinski.

       All that stuff, plus trailers, stills and more are on Disc 1 (Blu-ray) and Disc 2 (DVD). Disc 3 is a CD of the complete DER TODESKING score. You also get a 60 page book with new writing on the film from Kat Ellinger and Graham Rae and finally, a replica of the Brotherhood of the Seventh Day chain letter if you feel you have the strength to read it. An amazing package for Buttgereit fans. 

Jorg Buttgereit's DER TODESKING is out in a limited 

edition three disc set from Arrow Films on 

Monday 26th February 2018

Nekromantik 2 (1991)

Welcome to House of Mortal Cinema’s interactive movie experience designed to help YOU get the most out of your viewing choice. Today we’ll be watching Arrow’s new Region 2/B DVD & Blu-ray release of Jorg Buttgereit’s NEKROMANTIK 2. For this you will need the following:

1 A strong stomach.

2 A sense of humour.

3 The fast forward button on your remote control.

Got all of those? Great! Then away we go! Here is a list of the highlights in Mr Buttgereit’s second film about necrophilia that once again veers between the utterly disgusting and the ludicrously funny with gay abandon:

1 A pretty girl digging up a corpse in a churchyard while nice     

          music plays and we get some arty shots of snails and lizards. 

Pretty girl digging up a corpse

2 The pretty girl’s naked bottom bouncing up and down on said 

        corpse after she has brought it home, accompanied by more   

        pleasant piano music.

3 Pretty girl meets new boyfriend who has a day job dubbing    

        porn.

What all young lovers do on a first date

4 A daft black and white art house interlude in which two naked 

        Germans discuss ornithology while eating hard boiled eggs.

5 The pretty girl singing a love song to a corpse while being    

        accompanied by the German equivalent of Terry Jones’   

        insane Monty Python organist.

Time for a song!

6 Pretty girl cuts up corpse in the bath. This goes on a bit.

Bathtime does not end well. This is the tasteful still

7 Pretty girl goes to zoo with boyfriend. This goes on even 

        longer. But is less disgusting.

Less disgusting?

8 The willy in the fridge bit.

9 Pretty girl and her weird friends watch post mortem of a seal. 

        If you don’t fast forward through this you have more staying    

        power than I do.

10 Pretty girl realises she can only have meaningful relationship 

        with boyfriend if she saws his head off while having sex with 

        him.

11 “Humorous” German punchline.

12 The End.

For a zero budget daft German film Arrow could be accused of not just going the extra mile here but possibly going a few miles too far in terms of extras. You get a commentary track, a 30 minute vintage making of, a 40 minute new making of, ten minutes of the locations, a video essay on the significance of the use of Berlin in the movie, composer / actor Mark Reeder on his contribution to the score, 11 minutes of out-takes, highlights from the live performance of the entire film score, two short films  - Bloody Excess in the Leader’s Bunker and A Moment of Silence at the Grave of Ed Gein and a couple of music videos.

Arrow’s three disc set consists of Blu-ray, DVD, and CD of the film’s score (which is actually really good and almost a reason in itself to get this). So if you love NEKROMANTIK 2 you’ll want this. If you weren’t sure at the start hopefully all the above has helped you decide if you want to take the plunge. Hopefully you have all been suitably informed / warned.

Arrow are releasing Jorg Buttgereit's deliriously disgusting NEKROMANTIK 2 in a limited-edition 3 disc set on 7th December 2015. I wonder if it will sell out as quickly as the HELLRAISER set. 

Nekromantik (1988)

Where do I start with this one?

Probably in 1988, which is when I saw it for the first (and only time until now) at the Shock Around the Clock Film festival at the legendary Scala cinema in Kings Cross. In those days, festivals were all nighters, and it was probably appropriate that NEKROMANTIK was the final film, as nothing could have competed with it for shock value. So it was that I and several hundred other people were witness to Jorg Buttgereit's tale of filth and woe (and yes, necrophilia) at about six o'clock on a Sunday morning. It certainly woke us all up.

Rob (Daktari Lorenz) works for 'Joe’s Street Cleaning Agency' which specialises in tidying up the dead bodies after road traffic accidents. But Rob doesn't adhere strictly to health and safety directives, instead bringing various bits and pieces back to his squalid flat for him and his girlfriend Betty (Beatrice M) to enjoy. When a young man dies in a bizarre gardening accident (I don't think they're referencing Spinal Tap but this is such an odd film who knows) Rob brings the entire corpse home and various necrophiliac antics ensue. When Betty gets fed up with Rob and leaves, taking her dead lover with her, it's the cue for Rob to embark on an existential journey that is a mixture of arthouse and extremely uncomfortable obscene cinema as we only really get to see from European film-makers.

NEKROMANTIK is not for everyone. In fact I'd go so far as to say it's hardly for anyone. However, if such classic Euro-endurance tests as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, A SERBIAN FILM and THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE PARTS 1 & 2 are your cup of tea then you'll probably get something out of this one as well. Just like those movies, time has not diminished its effect - NEKROMANTIK is still as weird, disgusting and shocking as I remember it. The only difference on watching it this time was I got the sense that some of it was intended to be funny but in a way that just makes it all the more disturbing. As well as all the (faked) horrors, a rabbit gets slaughtered and skinned close to the beginning so animal lovers should beware.

Arrow's presentation of NEKROMANTIK is remarkable. In fact, I was almost as shocked by the number of extras on here as I was by the film. The three disc set includes the film on both Blu-ray and DVD. Blu-ray isn't really the medium for a grungefest shot on super 8mm, but it does look a lot better than the 'Grindhouse Presentation' that's also included here.

By the far the best of these is a hugely nostalgic documentary for those of us who saw the movie at the Scala as Alan Jones and others reminisce about the difficulty of sneaking the film in under the radar and the producer having to sleep on top of the film cans in his camper van to prevent them from being confiscated. There's also a commentary from Buttgereit and co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen, a couple of short films (Hot Love and Horror Heaven), a new interview with the director who also provides a special introduction to the film, a vintage making of, a Glasgow Q&A and a whole host of other stuff as well. Perhaps the best extra (although this wasn't provided for review) is the third disc, which is a CD of the film's soundtrack. It's quite a bouncy, jolly synthesiser score that's very 1980s while at the same time avoiding the farty burpy monotone that many sleaze efforts of the period seemed to think was de rigeur. There's also an exclusive 100 page book featuring writing on the film and the whole thing is presented in a lovely packaging with five exclusive postcards.

So there you go. I hadn't seen NEKROMANTIK for sixteen years and it will probably be another sixteen before I feel I can steel myself to watch it again. But if you're a NEKROMANTIKophile, or even just casually interested in extreme European cinema, I cannot imagine there's going to be a better or more enthusiastic presentation of this film than this.

Arrow Films have released Jorg Buttgereit's NEKROMANTIK in a special limited 3-disc dual format edition (Blu-ray and DVD) on 15th December 2014 - just in time for Christmas!