Schramm

Rating:
Summary: Must be seen to be believed
Review: *Please note this low budget German art house film is just over an hour long.*
SCHRAAM is a quiet young man who lives alone in his apartment - his neighbour is a prostitute who accidentally helps fixates his fantasies (a pension for obscene sexual allure to inanimate objects) who decides to go on a violent killing spree. The film plays backwards in that in the opening sequence we learn that the `Lipstick Killer', Schraam, has been found dead in his home and everything plays backwards out from there.

SCHRAAM has to be probably one of the most upsetting experiences you will have watching an art house film. To be honest "Irreversible" made me cringe, "Last House on the Left" uncut was pretty heavy going, "Man Bites Dog" was a contemporary media play on snuff and even the awful "I Spit on Your Grave" had its shocking moments, but SCHRAAM manages to surpass them all by just delivering on your most hair raising nightmares at the worse possible time by cutting in minutes of slow tracking bliss suddenly followed up on by an unprecedented in your face sledgehammer of a horrific sequence, but never seems sleazy or gratuitous or goes outside of its art house appeal.

SCHRAAM is like "Begotten", the director's own "Nekromantik 1 + 2", Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" or Gaspar Noé "I Stand Alone" in that the concept of Hollywood horror is as far away as you can likely get and the budget so restricted that you could ultimately make a film like this if you had some fake blood and a nice 16mm camera. What makes SCHRAAM interesting is that there are a number of highly imaginative sequences done in this 1993 production that have been used in more modern productions, like Schraam's workout rotating camera sequence or the jump cuts that are now all too common in art house cinema.

SCHRAAM is actually banned in most places around the globe, although to be honest you have seen much more objectionable than this and it is arguable that films such as "Last House on the Left" and the awful "I Spit on Your Grave" are much more sinister in their presentation of the subject matter. SCHRAAM never deviates from trying to show this killer for what he is, sad, never glorifying what he does, murder, but filming it in such a way that it cuts you like a knife. The hammer and nails scene with a genital is certainly going to fling a lot of hands up to the eyes.

A very interesting art house serial killer movie than beats the pants off most offerings.

Rating:
Summary: Compulsive and Repulsive!
Review: Buttgereit, infamous for 'Nekromantik', delivers us a poetic masterpiece and a hideous journey into the mind of Lothar Schramm, the Lipstick killer. It is a brutal and intriguing display and details many fascinating characters in abstract flashback. This is what real extreme cinema is all about.

As usual, Buttgereit delivers images full of visceral insanity, so gory and vicious that unless you're familiar with either his works or those of his peers, this little piece might be a bit much. Barrel Entertainment have done an incredible job, the print is almost perfect and the extras tantilising (commentaries, trailers and a special 'making of'). Sad to see that this one is becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of - buy this one now, while you still can.

Rating:
Summary: A Buttgereit movie...What more can I say?
Review: If you interest in Buttgereit's movies,you know how he shows his charecters' minds and how he gets you in the story-Perfectly-.In this movie Buttgereit tells us the whole story from a serial killer's mind(The Lipstick Killer-Florian Koerner von Gustorf).A serial killer who is in love with his neighbour,a whore.(Monika M.)A serial killer who is rotting under schzophrenia.A serial killer who lives with endless hate,endless fear..There are many other things you can find in the story.If you buy this DVD you will also have some answers about Buttgereits' past and the roots of his movies at the Bonus material section.Just click on his other shorttime movie "Mein Papi"

Rating:
Summary: The ghastly pleasures of DVD
Review: It's truly amazing how the times have changed. Over 10 years ago I bought my first two bootleg films, Cannibal Holocaust and Nekromantik. They were poor looking copies at best. Cannibal Holocaust was censored and the subtitles on Nekromantik were to blurry to read. But I was thankful. I swear I was. There was no other way to see such films. Today, we have DVD. Ah, the pleasures of DVD. Everything is being released on DVD. How many of them I can buy for the price of one shoddy looking laserdisc. Young horror fans have it good today, I tells ya. I believe the fine folks at Barrel Entertainment must have come from a similar film-related background. They did a superb almost beyond the call of duty tranfer on their DVD release of Nekromantik and they have done the same with Schramm. Years ago, Film Threat released this and other Buttgereit films on video. The videos looked awful, Schramm being the worst. I am delighted to report that this DVD makes up where Film Threat failed. With the commentaries, interviews, trailers, and short films you the lucky viewer are looking at hours worth of footage for one amazing price. Incidentally those boots cost a lot. I was shocked that the film could look as good as it does. Schramm is a seriously depressing, morbid, and arty portraiture of a serial killer. Buttgereit points out in his commentary that he had never seen a film about serial killers. Just as soon as I thought of Silence of the Lambs he brings up the fact that though Silence... is very good it is more like a commercial for the FBI than a depiction of what life is like for a serial killer. For me, this movie nails the topic on the head (no pun intended). Schramm is not a Hollywood version of madness. The journey into this killers distorted mind is so visual and realistic that I am reminded of Henry (Ray Liotta) introducing the other mobsters in Scorsese's Goodfellas. The point of view camera glides through the bar as Henry introduces everyone. The camera moves so naturally and perfect that you feel like you are there. Buttgereit does the same througout Schramm's 65 minute running time. Not an easy task. I raise my glass to this vile film and to Buttgereit and Barrel Entertaiment.

Rating:
Summary: Gloomy and Grimy
Review: Not much plot, not much supposed insight into the mind of the serial killer. It's not based on any true case. My impression was that the gory scenes were thought up first and the film was written around them. Perhaps Mr Buttgereit felt he had to deliver what his hardcore fans wanted after the mixed response to Nekromantik 2. This could have been an intriguing short film. It's sluggishly paced, and feels too long even at a mere 60 minutes. The "Making of" documentary is in German, with no subtitles. I would instead recommend "I Stand Alone", somewhat similar subject matter, but more characterisation.

Rating:
Summary: More of an Art Film than Splatter
Review: Schramm is Jörg Buttgereit's insight into the mind of a serial killer. After the Nekromantik movies, one might expect another splatter movie, filled with gore(be it quality gore or cheesy effects). However, in Schramm you get more of an art film than the splatter that he has done before. Don't get me wrong, there are still a few gore scenes in the movie, but it is inserted into an art film. There are also a few scenes put in to shock, but once again...those are in the context of an art film.

The movie can be enjoyed by anyone willing to pay attention to a movie, and try to figure out what some of the images mean. You also need to be willing to tolerate the shocking and gory parts, although you could look away during those scenes if you had to, and it probably wouldn't take away from the overall movie.

It can be confusing at times, and downright nonsense at others...but, if you look at some of the early short films that the director has done before...he has come a long way.

Rating:
Summary: More of an Art Film than Splatter
Review: Schramm is Jörg Buttgereit's insight into the mind of a serial killer. After the Nekromantik movies, one might expect another splatter movie, filled with gore(be it quality gore or cheesy effects). However, in Schramm you get more of an art film than the splatter that he has done before. Don't get me wrong, there are still a few gore scenes in the movie, but it is inserted into an art film. There are also a few scenes put in to shock, but once again...those are in the context of an art film.

The movie can be enjoyed by anyone willing to pay attention to a movie, and try to figure out what some of the images mean. You also need to be willing to tolerate the shocking and gory parts, although you could look away during those scenes if you had to, and it probably wouldn't take away from the overall movie.

It can be confusing at times, and downright nonsense at others...but, if you look at some of the early short films that the director has done before...he has come a long way.

Rating:
Summary: Into the mind of a serial killer...
Review: What a brutal, gory movie - for intense gore fans ONLY. Do not get this DVD if you're the LEAST bit squeamish. Brought to you by Joerg Buttgereit, creator of "Nekromantik", this is a raw, bloody look at a pretty twisted guy named Lothar Schramm. Though the movie itself is relatively short (only a little over an hour), this DVD is packed with goodness - extras aplenty here, folks. I'm rather pleasantly surprised it's even here, as Nekromantik wasn't available here last I checked. In conclusion, if you think you can handle the rather disturbing subject matter of the film, by all means, grab this baby while you can... it'll be worth your money.

Rating:
Summary: Into the mind of a serial killer...
Review: What a brutal, gory movie - for intense gore fans ONLY. Do not get this DVD if you're the LEAST bit squeamish. Brought to you by Joerg Buttgereit, creator of "Nekromantik", this is a raw, bloody look at a pretty twisted guy named Lothar Schramm. Though the movie itself is relatively short (only a little over an hour), this DVD is packed with goodness - extras aplenty here, folks. I'm rather pleasantly surprised it's even here, as Nekromantik wasn't available here last I checked. In conclusion, if you think you can handle the rather disturbing subject matter of the film, by all means, grab this baby while you can... it'll be worth your money.