Ohh! How Romantik.... Nekromantik.

After reading about Der Todesking from a source I really can't remember, this is the second [director]#s film that I have always wanted to see, but could never get a hold of for a relatively small amount of money, or in the right region setting for me. However, after waiting so long, I finally saw it! And my god, was it a worth while wait! 

Right from the get go there is blood, (literal) guts and gore. We follow Rob Schmadtke, the lead protagonist of the film through his job as a less than legit forensic cleaner, and how his infatuation with dead bodies is not just from his job. After cleaning the first of the many bodies up from public areas, Rob returns home, where we see him add some fresh body parts to his already huge collection of dead oddities, only to find the love of his life, Betty, come up behind him. At first we are a bit taken a back when she comes into the picture, but after she gives him a smile and checks out the new additions, we find out that they are both, in fact collectors together. 

After a fair few beautifully cinematographed scenes of Betty taking a blood bath, his manager moaning about him not doing the job correctly, the slow and long scene of a rabbit being killed and skinned, and such other story builders, we finally get to one of the most hard to watch (and that is coming from me!) scenes of the film. After cleaning up another incident, Rob is given the job of removing the already decomposing body from the company van whilst the other workers head off home. But instead of bringing in the body for examinations, decides to take this newly befriended body to meet his girlfriend. I think you can tell how this rendezvous continues... 

  

So after a lovely few days in utter bliss (every BODY should enjoy pleasure, right?) the orgasmic dream for the couple are broken when the moany manager convinces his boss to fire Rob, which means that neither will get to enjoy the ripe organs of the job anymore. Betty leaves and takes their new acquaintance with her, which of course leaves Rob upset. After a few lonely scenes of Rob going to the movies alone, enjoying a bloody bath at the expense of a newly found feline friend, and having a pill and alcohol induced undead dream about himself, we see Rob check out the local lady prostitutes in his area. 

Cliché as it is, Rob takes his paid for friend to a graveyard (so romantik) where gives her the old, as Alex from A Clockwork Orange would say, in out. Unfortunately, the lady of the night is not a creature of the night, and so Rob finds it hard to get aroused. Being the lovely, caring woman that she is, the prostitute laughs at his misfortune and so Rob rectifies the problem by strangling her to death... and finally finishes the job. The morning arises (hehehe) and the graveyard caretaker appears, Rob deals with the situation, and, you guessed it, kills again. 

Now comes the best closing scene for a film that I have seen in a very long while. As Rob gets home, we see him study a sharp and crusty old knife that was, I presume, used to cut up the organs displayed in the copious glass jars that adorn his display. He lays on his bed with the knife pointing to his gut, and before penetrating himself, releases himself for the best orgasm of his life. As he stabs himself, he orgasms, and orgasms.... and orgasms. (Please, no notes on how this feature displays a comment on male penetration and the homoerrotisism of men etc... that was explored long ago in the movie when he slept with a male corpse!) 

The closing scenes after the fountains of cum and blood, we see Rob's grave in a peaceful and almost romanti(k) setting.... Which is then broken by a ladys foot digging in a shovel. I wonder who this mystery lady is, dundundun!

All in all, I really loved Nekromantik. It is really refreshing to see a film that has, in my opinion, a different, yet simple story line. The affects, considering this was a low budget film with none entirely  experienced directors and actors (which I have no problem with at all) the effects are wonderful, and although I am not an expert with body parts or skeletons, look really realistic! This realism adds to the gross-out factor that the film is filled with, which is another one of the features I am in love with.

For all you horror/exploitation/sick bastards out there with an urge to push your boundaries, you need to see this film sharpish! You will not regret it at all.

Until next time, 

Jessiefer. 

Ps: At the time of writing this, I have only seen Nekromantik once, but would like, after a few more watches, to possibly do a more psychoanalytical review on the movie. I don't know how long that will take (if I ever do it) for me to do an analysis on the film (along with a few other of Jorg Buttgereit's films), but if I ever do, there will be a link here, as well as a full post on this blog. 

My Mad Fat Diary: Therapeutic Programming Perfection.

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Ever since randomly catching an episode during one of my 3am-insomnia induced night-nights, I have been utterly fangirled (a term I hate, but admit to for this program) by this show. It follows a mid teen, Rae, her group of friends and Mum (with the more recent addition of her lover/husband Karim) and how she copes with growing up in the early 90's with a mental illness. 

Sounds a bit like every other teen drama out there, right? Let me tell you, it isn't! This series has the usual teenage struggle story lines which consist of boy troubles, the anxiety over losing your virginity, kissing and relationships, as well as disagreements with parents over curfew times etc, but this series has an almost philosophical (without the glistening hue of mind blowing epiphany, as many may expect when they see this word) feel to it... in a layman's terms sort of way. 

My Mad Fat Diary shows a fair few examples of what everyone thinks about when they are in the early stages of adulthood, with the added bonus of mental illness. Of course this is a huge theme in the show, as should be understood by the title, and it really does deal with, in my own experience anyway, the way of a self conscious and depressed young woman who doesn't know how to deal with the thoughts and feelings she is experiencing. 

There is a huge amount of times in the program where the audience yells at the screen for Rae to do something, or not to (or was that just me...?) which I personally think is a huge indicator to how deep the story is, or will be, for a lot of people. We see Rae go through periods of wanting to self harm, seeing how much her self esteem varies from episode to episode, and also notice how she thinks herself worthless, even though she is seen by others as a wonderfully bubbly, humorous and talented young lady. 

These reasons are exactly why I think that My Mad Fat Diary is a therapeutic sort of show, the plot gobbles you up so you are a part of it, you realise that you have, or do feel these thoughts of being worthless, ugly, stupid etc, but that in most cases, you aren't at all. It also goes on to express exactly why you (and why others around you) aren't either. For me, that is a hugely uplifting feeling to get from a show, and one that I have never seen previously in dramas. 

I feel that those of you that have ever felt any feelings of depression, anxiety, social anxiety and other such disorders should watch this program. Even though those horrendous times of being a monstrous, hormonal wreck of a teenager may be behind you, you can still get a huge amount of understanding about what happened (and is happening) in your own life, as well as relive some of the more embarrassing, yet character shaping events that we all have done. And to those of you with teens of your own, maybe watch My Mad Fat Diary with them so that if they have any questions, or problems that this show may allow them to want to talk about, they can (which is also another huge factor about the program that I like!) 

Until next time,

Jessiefer.

Shatter Dead

I first saw Shatter Dead on an internet streaming website hosted by one of my friends from the US, and ever since seeing it I've been obsessed with it in an unnatural way. Shatter dead is very much a b-movie that has a Dogme 95 feel to it (mainly due to a low budget) with scenes that are both amazing yet sickening. 

We are introduced to an Earth where the dead are alive and walking around with the living. Susan, the main character of the film, is walking down town to her car with some groceries she has picked up, and passes by a number of undead who ask her for money. One asks her for money to get surgery on his [badly prosthetic wearing] face which has been terribly marked, she gives in and he blesses her for her kind behavior (which seems to be a rare occurrence between the living and the undead in this World). She goes to a payphone just by her car to make a call (which we later realise is to her boyfriend). As she does this, the first undead to ask her for cash tried to empty her fuel tank but before he gets away with the hole tank Susan catches him and shoots at him, causing the fuel tank to explode, and set him on fire (which is one of the best technical effects of the film).

Susan retreats after being threatened by a bible basher to a nearby house which a fellow living soul informs her about. In this house we see mostly undead staying there with the occational living, like Susan, there too. Susan retreats to her room, which she shares with an undead who asks to borrow her soap to cover the smell of her flesh decaying. We then learn why so many people have chose to be undead since the world became a place in which you lived even after you have died; to have youth, strength and to remain attractive with no real human waste or consumption*

After this a wild group of reckless people turn up at the house and shoot it up, disfiguring the undead (since they can't heal) and 'killing' the living, apart from Susan. At this point we see a bad yet still gruesome part where a pregnant mother gets shot in the belly and her unborn spawn (which is totally convincing... if you're a 2 year old) half comes out of the open wound. This scene is full of blood and bath scenes, which you all know I am a huge fan of, which carrys on to the next, and more or less ending of the film. 

Susan finally gets to her boyfriend's apartment, where she finds a bathtub full of blood (ugh, it was the most aesthetically pleasing shots of the film for me) and her lover sitting in a dressing gown in the kitchen. She asks why he did it and how it felt to die, which he expresses, and after a not too long reintroduction and a understanding of the situation, they express the desire to have sex (oh hi darling, you're dead? Oh... Let's fuck!)

He basically tells her without any blood, he can't get an erection, and so her first thought is to get her trusty gun out and strap it to him (who wouldn't want to stick something inside them that can go off at any minute and kill them?) Anyway, we see the love making happen, in some versions we actually see the gun thrust in an out of Susan, and after the sweet lovemaking session the boyfriend puts poison in her milk and tells her she's going to die. Susan is very displeased with his actions, understandably and pushes him out of the window (a beautiful act of revenge!). Here we see the bible basher help him up via wood planks, that amazingly replicates Jesus on the cross, and takes him back up to his house. Here we see Susan die and come back to life and look at her newly undead skin disappointingly in a mirror.

Shatter Dead is a mix of things for me. I love the way it is shot, the characters (even through the less than A class acting), the, in my opinion, necessary gore and to some extent the plot, even though it isn't exactly new age or unique. The length (1h 24 mins) is perfect for you to understand the plot and understand it all fully whilst getting the links to actual world paranoia and not being too grossed out by the explicit scenes of nakedness, lesbianism (with a hint of antichrist theory?) and despair over the amount of hopeless and potentially tragic outcomes of the World. 

Shatter Dead is a film I love, and will continue to love for a long time. 

Until next time, 

Jessiefer.  

*I have noticed that many horror films have links to real world worries in them throughout the era's recently, such as the boom of monsters in the 30-40's which symbolise the nazi's and other enemies the World had, through to zombies, which coincides with mass hysteria over the unknown information about everyday chemical's (such as fluorine in our drinking water) that our governments' hide from us. and ghosts which express that an unknown force, who we are powerless against will eventually get us.

Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist.

                    

Back in 2012, I went to see Sick: The life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist (which I have been waiting to see for a while, but was always to scared of looking at the ridiculously high prices of original VHS copies) at the BFI to celebrate their long awaited UK re-release of the film onto DVD. Having only heard of Flanagan in the last two months or so before this re-release, I was extremely intrigued by his practice whilst reading about his works, but was very disappointed to discover that documentation was very scarce on the internet and throughout the University Library (which surprised and bemused me). I then found out about this film which as directed by Kirby Dick and Flanagan's long term partner Sheree Rose, and just had to see it, not only to see the works which were said to be shown in the film, but for the back story that aided Flanagan's journey into the art World. 

The introductory scene more or less sets the audience up for what will be shown in the film. It contains Flanagan being force fed different liquids from several different containers and a solid substance that resembles a certain by product of the body, being slapped in the face by leather gloved hand, as well as a custard pie (a brilliant link to slap stick comedy, I thought) and Bob furiously coughing due to his cystic fibrosis, the main catalyst for Flanagan's work and the main feature running throughout this film. The pace of the film then changes, and shows Flanagan reading out a eulogy type statement about himself, which really takes you a back, and contrasts between the fast paced humorous snippets of the opening montage. This change of pace continues throughout the film, reflecting the changing emotions and physical state of Flanagan throughout the final years of Bob's life, whilst keeping the audience on their toes. 

 Flanagan's history of having cystic fibrosis, and the beginnings of his masochistic discoveries are also expressed in these opening scenes, and sheds more light on the disease as a whole, as well as why Flanagan got into, and is still apart of the S&M scene. We also hear about how Sheree and Bob first met, and the promises they made to one another and occasionally see some of the documentation of the 'play' that the pair would carry out together. This part really opens your mind, and is the introductory step into understanding the couple, their practise and sets up the rest of the film perfectly. 

A wide range of Flanagan's work is expressed in the film, from his poems and songs, to home videos Sheree took, to his well known performances. All the pieces featured in the film worked so perfectly together with the footage that Dick captured, and it was extremely nice to see the 'behind the scenes' action of the two artists (and friends, critics, fans) behind the work. One piece that I found to be the shining light and the most painful scene (mostly for the fella's who were watching with me) to be shown is the work 'Nailed' (1989), where Flanagan literally nails his penis into a wooden board. This redo of his most well known piece was exciting to see, and showed the extremes that your body can go through (without delving into the S&M aspect that Flanagan and Rose explored in their personal lives and artistic endeavours) without serious harm. It also reflects the pain that Flanagan felt on a day to day basis with his cystic fibrosis - which Flanagan expressed could have been the main reason why he was masochistic.  

Throughout the film Flanagan's coughs and the sometimes gruesome retches he uses to get the mucus up from his lungs are present, which makes you face the harsh reality (usually after humorous parts of the film) that he will inevitable die because of cystic fibrosis, which he has had since he was born. One of the subtle little things about the coughing scenes, which I think would only be noticed in the cinema setting was that whenever there was a scene that contained lots of Flanagan coughing, the audience would start coughing along with him. I don't know whether this was something the directors thought about (or saw for themselves) whilst making or editing the film, but it made me chuckle to myself as it seemed to mimic Flanagan's sense of humour.  I would also suggest that this unconscious mimicking shows how attached the audience was to Flanagan during the film, as he is a very bold and brass individual full of life, even though he doesn't have much left (in retrospective), who you just connect with instantly.

Nearing the end of the film, we see Flanagan's continuing deterioration finally catch up with him and are placed in a very sombre mood, as someone that entertained us, and hundreds of other people Worldwide, is actually dying right in front of us. The ending scene is beautifully captured, even though it is upsetting and is a very different and bold movement for film to capture in general. This ending is what Flanagan wanted, and again shows us so much about his personality, his work and his personal ethics and beliefs that although it's very hard to watch, it just is so right for this film. 

So if you're interested in pushing your boundaries, opening your mind and hearing some amazing gags that will stick with you for a long time, and see into the World of a sick masochist then I wholeheartedly recommend this film. It might be totally different from the usual films you endeavor to watch, but this one changes your outlook on life and adds knowledge of a wonderful man who never gave up and challenged the art world for the better. Just be aware that you shouldn't eat before seeing this. Men, you might also need to cross your legs a few times too. 

Until next time, 
Jessiefer.