Nekromantik 2

Rating:
Summary: Sickly Sweet
Review: Here's your average tale of girl meets corpse, girl meets boy, girl has to choose between corpse and boy. First time I saw this I was quite offended by two scenes. Firstly, when Monika and Mark visit the cinema, there is a gratuitously pretentious ornithological rooftop garden scene that seems to go on forever. Then, later, the film is interrupted by some pop video of Monika singing (with no subtitles!) accompanied by some pony-tailed pianist while a skull revolves in the background. I thought the film was poorly paced anyway without this interruption!

However, on 2nd viewing, I came to appreciate it. I think this is due to some inspired casting, plus there's a freshness that comes with the script being written on a single page of A4 paper. This fact emerged in the entertaining audio commentary (featuring the 2 main stars, director and producer) where it sounds like the making of the film was an enjoyable experience for all concerned. I like the sound of Buttgereit's direction. On the commentary the actor Mark says of a scene in a coffee shop towards the end of the film that he asked Buttgereit what he should be saying to the other cast member and the director told him to make something up. Eventually, director and producer disappear to scribble some lines of dialogue that are stragegically placed in an eggcup for Mark to read from.

I still think it's a bit slow, but it does have plenty of moments of quirky charm. I wouldn't say it's depraved, but I don't think the rating of "unrated" is quite appropriate, as this sounds like "suitable for all". I'd have classified it at the very least a PG and it would probably get an 18 certificate if released in the UK.

Rating:
Summary: Love Story?
Review: If you are expecting a retread of "Nekromantik" and its intense, disturbing scenes, you will be disappointed. This sequel contains very little of the imagery of disgust that was at the forefront of the first film, choosing instead to focus on the blossoming love story of a female necrophile, her living lover, and the torment experienced over the fact that she is more attracted to a corpse. That said, "Nekromantik 2" is still a prime example of decadent German cinema and the peculiar workings of director Jorg Buttgereit. It contains all the nuances of his other work although scenes seem to go on too long, indicating that some tightened editing was in order. This is even more evident in the excellent audio commentary track where the director and others mention the editing issues. The DVD presentation is superb and contains the usual trailers, biographies and interesting behind the scenes footage. This version also contains a "bonus" CD of the soundtrack for both films. In all, I would recommend "Nekromantik 2" to fans of the first film, those who are really into German cinema, and to those looking for truly depraved video. It is unfortunate that, for whatever reason, Amazon does not carry the first film.

Rating:
Summary: Life after death? How about love after death...
Review: In 1987, German art-house director Jorg Buttgereit unleashed "Nekromantik" on an unsuspecting festival circuit provoking waves of outrage and the film to be banned in several countries, including his own. Meanwhile, the film was gaining a rabid cult following from fans of depraved and trash cinema who clamored for a sequel. In 1991 Buttgereit submitted to the demands of the underground and filmed Nekromantik 2, a film so depraved and dangerous in its insinuations it was actually seized by German authorities folowing its premiere back in 1991. Having seen the original Nekromantik several years ago, I never bothered trying to find the sequel due to the profound unease the first film had left on me. Given Barrel entertainment's recent packaging of Nekromantik 2 in a 2-disc deluxe edition, curiosity got the best of me and I knew I had to give it a try.

Nekromantik 2 opens up with a flashback of the climactic scene of the first film, where Rob commits suicide. That scene is replayed in all its glory, and it remains quite the shocker. Meanwhile, a young single lady living in Berlin (the gorgeous Monika M.) has been reading several newspaper clippings about Rob's suicide and decides to dig up his body from the morgue. She drags the corpse back to her place, making love to it on a regular basis and lavishing all of her attentions on it. Unil one day she meets a guy named Mark, a reclusive type who earns his life dubbing adult films. As their romance blossoms, Monika's anguish over her having to choose between her two lovers escalates. Monika's torment and final "decision" leads to one of the most shocking climaxes ever put on film, a scene of bodily violation so intense that I found it even more shocking than the one in "Cuting Moments" and perhaps even Nacho Cerda's "Aftermath".

Nekromantik 2 has much of the same art-house feel that the first one does but on a noticeably higher budget. Many scenes of necromancy are played in a slow-motion dream-like haze with a beautiful piano score in the background. This technique works quite well in decreasing viewer disgust, almost convincing the viewer that loving the dead can be...well, beautiful. Sometimes, however, I found the artistic touches to be a little too forceful. In one scene, the camera zooms in on a snail as we watch it inch by inch crawling across a tombstone in the graveyard. The scene is well done but one has to wonder what the point of it really is. Most pretentious of all is the inclusion of a short and utterly strange black and white film about two people discussing the evolution of birds. While watching this drawn-out scene, I could practically imagine Buttgereit frantically yelling in his director's chair "ART! ART!".

There was something strangely appealing about watching Rob, the jilted suicidal wanker of the first film, finally finding true love as a corpse. I also liked the character of Mark. Although the guy earns his living dubbing adult films, he might be the only Buttgereitt character ever to not come across as a degenerate sicko but instead is a warm, caring soul who believes in true love. Even through some of the glitches, I couldn't help but feel that I was witnessing the work of a truly gifted artist. The problem with the Nekromantik films though is that they're such sick cinematic puppies that lavishing too high praise could be misinterpreted by others as tantamount to endorsing necromancy, cat-bashing, rabbit-skinning and seal clubbing. Although I believe Buttgereitt went a little too far by including real-life seal autopsy footage in the film, I still admire his unwillingness to tone down his style in the face of the huge protest his films have garnered in his country.

The second disc is packed with extra features such as theatrical trailers for all of Butgereitt's films, interviews with cast and crew, the amazing musical scores to both Nekromantik films and 25-minutes of behind-the-scenes footage where Buttgereitt and crew explain in fascinating detail how they created the corpse and managed to make it look so authentic.

Rating:
Summary: Does not have the same tone as it's predecessor
Review: This sequal picks up where the last film left off with a young nurse who moonlights as a necrophile, she reads about Rob's death and goes straight to the grave to dig up the remains and take him back to her flat. Sick scenes of corpes bonking follows but one night she meets a young porno film dubber who is goofy looking and she falls in love, but all this romance leads to a shocking climax. the film is well made but it is ruined by us being subject to real life footage of dead seals being cut open, the cover is nice and we also get a nice CD with it too.