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Released by: Media Target Distribution GmbH
Released on: February 5th, 2015.
Director: Jí¶rg Buttgereit
Cast: Daktari Lorenz, Beatrice Manowski, Harald Lundt
Year: 1988
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The Movie:
Directed by Jí¶rg Buttgereit who co-wrote with Franz Rodenkirchen, 1988's Nekromantik is a seventy-one minute sickie that follows the story of a man named Rob (Daktari Lorenz, who also created the film's fantastic score) who, along with a few co-workers, carves out a meager living as a street cleaner who deals in the aftermaths of grisly car accidents. He lives with his girlfriend, Betty (Beatrice Manowski), and they share a morbid fascination, obsession even, with death that borders on the sexual.
One day Rob decides to break down that border and make it happen so he brings home a corpse for one of the grisliest three-ways you can imagine. It goes off and they get off but soon enough, Rob gets canned and he and Betty split up. Making matters worse for him, she takes off with the corpse. Unable to move on or get over his obsession, he begins the search for a new partner to indulge his kink, be it an unsuspecting prostitute or someone else entirely. This won't end well for anyone… least of all Rob's cat.
Nekromantik may be primitive by pretty much anyone's standards but it wears its low budget on its sleeve like a badge of honor. What the film lacks in technical panache it compensates for in spades with effectively disgusting practical effects, some remarkable gore and a whole lot of corpse licking. The movie does feature one particularly nasty scene of actual animal violence involving the skinning of a rabbit (shot on a farm where it would have happened anyway… but that doesn't make it any less unpleasant), so some may shy away from the film for that reason if the necrophilia hasn't already set off a few warning bells. Behind all of this, however, is a very obvious sense of twisted, pitch black humor that's hard to ignore and very much of what happens in Nekromantik is so absurd that you can't help but be in on the joke.
The performances here are committed. Daktari Lorenz has this sort of strange, somber tone to him as Rob that keeps us interested in him and once Betty leaves him, his turn as the male lead becomes increasingly more desperate and manic as his search to replace what he had with her sees him take one wrong turn after the next. Beatrice Manowski (credited in the film as Beatrice M.) is sexy enough that we have no problem understanding why Rob would want to be with her and she too is bold and fearless in front of the camera, particularly in that infamous three-way scene in which she literally fucks the corpse that Rob has brought home to her the same way a goofy dog brings you a stuffed animal to play with. There really is that sense of naiveté to Rob's actions that make the taboo shattering reality of what he's doing seem almost like an afterthought.
All of this is fairly well shot, though there are definitely parts of the movie where the crew's inexperience with lighting comes into play (the opening scene is infamously dark). Lorenz's score for the film (available on its own on this release as an alternate audio option) is actually very effective and quite impressive. This isn't ever a film that should earn mainstream appeal but for those with an appreciation for twisted horror and humor, Nekromantik is a minor masterpiece of German underground cinema.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Nekromantik debuts on Blu-ray transferred in AVC encoded 1080p high definition in its original 1.33.1 fullframe aspect ratio in a transfer that looks very similar to the US release from Cult Epics. There's some mild print damage throughout but this scruffy little production definitely does benefit from the high definition upgrade it receives here. While you can't expect it to offer the same amount of detail as 16mm or 35mm productions and should in turn expect some softness due to the elements used, there's definitely better depth, texture and detail here than was present on the previous DVD release from long, gone Barrel Entertainment that came out years ago. Colors are a tiny bit on the dark side but otherwise well reproduced - this probably looks about as good as realistically possible without a frame by frame clean up job.
Audio is presented in your choice of DTS-HD Mono or the 1999 'stereo remix' also in DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo, both tracks in the film's native German language with optional English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish or Portuguese subtitles. The lossless audio on this disc trumps the US release, it's got a bit more range and depth to it and slightly better clarity as well. Things are still limited by the original source material but overall this sounds quite good for what it is.
Extras on the disc are pretty plentiful, starting with what a 'Grindhouse Version' which is literally a new high definition transfer taken from the theatrical 35mm print with German DTS-HD Mono audio. This transfer is definitely a lot more worn and tattered than the version taken from the negative but it does closer replicate what the original theatrical viewing experience would have been like. While not without its charm, the movie is easier to appreciate in the version taken from the negative but this definitely has a grittier, dirtier, filthier feel to it.
Carried over from the aforementioned DVD release is the audio commentary by Jí¶rg Buttgereit and Franz Rodenkirchen. This is a fun track, the two offer up plenty of interesting stories from the set and talk about where some of the ideas came from but also make some amusing quips about the director's cameo in the film, the practical effects work and the effectiveness thereof, and about how and why the movie turned out the way it did and was made with the people involved in it. They also address the animal violence and, of course, the film's infamous finale. This release also includes commentary tracks recorded in 2000 and 2014, but both are in German with no subtitle options.
The twelve minute long The Making Of Nekromantik featurette from the old DVD release is here too and it's worth revisiting (with audio provided in English or German language options). There's a lot of great footage here, including shots of the crew building the corpse, while the director's narration gives it all context. Interesting stuff that appears here with some great behind the scenes footage and stills.
The 'Premiere Nekromantik' featurettes is a three minute piece that shows off what it was like attending the film's theatrical premiere. It's in German but there's not a ton of dialogue here, it's mostly some fairly rowdy theater goers checking out the movie and clips of Jorge getting ready to show off the film. We also get a twelve minute long piece called '10th Anniversary Featurette' where Buttgereit looks back on the making of the movie, waxes nostalgic about the importance of the corpse in the film, the picture's production schedule and more. Some of the other participants involved in the picture pop up here too and offer some thoughts on the film. There are moments where Buttgereit appears in a window and offers commentary over some of the more controversial moments of the film itself (that play in the bulk of the picture).
Ein Subversiver Romantiker (von Alexander Kluge) is a forty-seven minute long featurette that is, unfortunately, all in German without any subtitles or alternate audio options provided. It does show off Buttgereit working away in his editing suite, it shows off some behind the scenes clips and it includes a very lengthy interview with the director himself. If you speak German, this is probably pretty interesting.
This disc also includes Buttgereit's half hour minute long short film from 1985, Hot Love, and it's available with an optional commentary from the filmmaker. The plot of this one follows a young man (Daktari Lorenz) who meets and then falls in love with young woman. When he catches her with another man (Jí¶rg Buttgereit) things get bad quickly and through a series of twisted circumstances she gets impregnated after a rape and gives birth to… something. It all goes downhill from there. It's a pretty messed up little movie and while it's rudimentary in nature and at times a bit amateurish in its production values, its inclusion here is very welcome. It definitely lets you see where the director's work was headed in the not too distant future and if you appreciate the dark humor that runs throughout most of his films, you'll like enjoy seeing this. A quick four minute featurette on the making of this short is also included on the disc, shot at a theatrical screening.
Buttgereit's short film Gazorra, an eight minute low budget Kaiju style movie, is also found here presented in German with English subtitles. In the movie a giant monster comes out of the sea and attacks… a bunch of stuff. It's low rent, amateur filmmaing to be sure but it's pretty amusing to see it and some of the creature effects are kind of great. It's also amusing to see Buttgereit himself play a military officer in the movie.
Ein Moment der Stille am Grab von Ed Gein (A Moment Of Silence At The Grave Of Ed Gein) runs just over three minutes and it is a quick piece in which we see Buttgereit's camera visit the scene of the crime in Plainfield, Wisconsin where the infamous mass murderer was laid to rest in an unmarked grave. It really is as simple as that. Ausschnitt aus dem Theaterstuck 'Kanniable und Liebe' is a twenty-five minute piece written and directed by Buttgereit that is presented in German without an English language option. It's a recent piece (the copyright on it puts it at 2013), looking to have been shot on digital HD, where a discussion set in the dark around a table escalates to the point where a guy in a dress with lipstick on puts on a strange mask and rants a fair bit. No idea what's going on here but the guy with the lipstick is credited as 'Ed Gein' and played by Uwe Rohbeck.
Rounding out the extras on the disc is an extensive still gallery and trailers for Horror Heaven, Hot Love + Kurzfilme, Corpse Fucking Art, Nekromantik, Der Todesking, Nekromantik 2, Schramm, Captain Berlin Versus Hitler, Monsters Of Arthouse, Kannibale Und Liebe, Making Of Susse Stuten 8 and German Angst. Static menus and chapter selection are also included.
The packaging for this Region B coded German Blu-ray release is also worth mentioning. This edition is limited to 1000 pieces and it not only includes a pretty slick lenticular cover insert but it also includes a (German language) booklet of liner notes and is packaged inside a pretty keen black colored Blu-ray case.
The Final Word:
Nekromantik is every bit as nasty as its reputation would have you believe, but it's also perversely hilarious and quite bold. What Buttgereit's most notorious film lacks in subtlety it makes up for with wonderfully disgusting special effects and a shock ending that you'll never forget. This German Blu-ray release presents the movie in fine condition with lossless audio and a pretty massive array of supplements (most, if not all, are English friendly).
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
