Customer Reviews

Nekromantik 2

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

After hearing about Nekromantic and its sequel under review here, I finally had a chance to check it out. I've heard everything from "the sickest film ever made" to Jorg Buttgereit being described as an "art house director". I'm writing this review has both a student of serious art film and as an avid viewer of exploitation, b-movies, and trash cinema (hey - you can't watch Godard all the time!).

First of all, I found "Nekromantic 2" uneven. It fluctuates between genuine, surreal imagination; depraved, uninhibited sickness; and incredibly vapid filler. There are some scenes that are nearly worthy of Bunuel such as the naked people on the roof top eating eggs and talking about ornithology for nearly ten minutes or the bizarre dream sequences. Some scenes go WAY over the top with blood and gore. I'm not going to defend it artistically, but that's beside the point anyway - exploitation isn't artistic, it's just fun!

Finally, and this is what kills the film for me, there is a huge amount of filler. I know the movie can't ALL be sex with dead people, but do we really need to spend TWENTY MINUTES following two lovers around a carnival? Do we need to watch uninteresting characters go about their daily monotony in extended takes? Do we need to watch the heroine dig for a full five minutes to unearth a body? While it's extremely funny to see a frail woman (in high heels no less!) exhume a corps, the scene is way too long.

This leads me to the conclusion that Buttgereit is most definitely not an art house director. Maybe this seems obvious to some, but there are some great moments in this film. The aforementioned roof-top scene is straight out of "Un Chien Andalou" or one of Duchamp's Dada films not to mention the grand finale (I won't give it away). You might be tempted to think Buttgereit is better than he really is. However, these scenes make up less than half of the film. Nektromantic 2 is a 40 minute film that runs and hour and 40 minutes. If you edit out all the filler and keep only the scenes that are justified by the narrative, you're left with a very disturbing and engaging short film. It would be a classic, no contest. As it stands though, it's just too long and the good doesn't always out-weight the bad.

One final criticism: the dream sequence where the male lead (the living one) sees himself buried up to his neck is straight out of Arrabal's "Viva la Meurte". It's effective, but completely derivative. No points for Buttgereit on that one.

Overall, if you're a fan of exploitation or extreme perversion, you'll want to see this. It's not great and you may want to fast forward through large portions, but it IS fairly unique. I wouldn't say it's overly disturbing. I still think "Last House on the Left" is about as disturbing as possible because it handles its material in an infinitely more sophisticated and thoughtful way.

Essentially, this is like many Herschell Gordon Lewis films - great moments of exploitation between lots of bland, boring, poorly filmed walking around and talking. HGL always said that he needed to get his films to 69 minutes so they could qualify as "feature length". I think Buttgereit should have stopped there as well.

I don't want to be too hard on the film, but I also don't want it being called an art film. I know art film and this is not it. It's just sick fun. If you like that, give this a shot.

Five stars for some of the scenes *****
Two stars for the rest **

Overall - Three stars (for making me waste so much time on filler.

gruesome! totally disturbed! it doesn't get more depraved then a low budget german film about necrophilia. just bought the first one finaly and will have to compare. this is a film made by nuts for nuts. the first ten or fifteen minutes doesn't even have any talking. wow. my girl friend was wary of me after i made her watch this. barrel entertainment did an excellent job with presenting this. get it you freek.

I try to enjoy this film but it wouldn't let me. It had it's moments but it took so long to get there. I haven't seen the first one due to it's availability but went straight to this one. In here we have a German necrophiliac by the name of Betty (Monika M) who feels torn between her living boyfriend and the corpse of her dead ex in the follow-up to Nekromantik. Her former lover, Rob (Daktari Lorenz), committed spectacular erotic suicide after she abandoned him capriciously in the previous film. Digging up Rob's corpse and making love to it in her home, Betty nonetheless stumbles into a more conventional romance with Mark (Mark Reeder), who makes his living providing sound effects for porn films. Alarmed by Betty's insistence that he remain perfectly motionless during sex, Mark considers leaving his paramour -- especially after finding Rob's withered body part in the refrigerator and witnessing Betty and her girlfriends watching videos of animal cruelty just for kicks. Betty, meanwhile, Betty set the stage for another of over-the-top finale. After watching this film I was disappointed by the outcome of the film. The first and the last scene was what really kept me awake. The scene first scene in particular because it was probably the funniest and best suicide scene ever shot.

The film's direction is perhaps its greatest flaw. Buttgereit opens the film with a twenty-minute sequence with no dialogue (which I have no problem with). He spends minutes panning aimlessly around Monika's apartment when a simple establishing shot would convey the same information. Worst of all, we're treated to numerous scenes where his characters do nothing--they sit on screen and ponder thoughts that the audience has no access to. There's no voice-over here, nothing save for a character staring off into space. It's mind-numbingly boring to watch. Essentially, it takes what should be a fifty-minute movie and doubles the running time--all without adding anything to the story.

The film has little in the way of FX. Aside from the corpse itself and the climax sequence, there's not much here to comment on, which is a shame, because the FX work in the first film was its one strong point. The performances are bland and uninspired, particularly that of Monika M. and Mark Reeder. Of course, it's hard to gauge whether they were just poor actors, or their performances were what Buttgereit was looking for. Either way, neither of these two is likely to blow you away or inspire you to seek out their other work.

"Nekromantik 2" is a dull film that commits what is perhaps the gravest story telling sin of all--it takes something that's taboo and intriguing and makes it boring. It's little more than a poor attempt at making a serious art film...one that few art film fans would be interested in seeing to begin with. Of course, there's nothing here for the gore-hounds, horror enthusiasts, or trash/exploitation lovers either. It's a film without a fan base, save for the small band of Buttgereit followers--of which I am not a member. Watching this film is like getting poked in the eye with a sharp stick--repeatedly, give it a shot if your still curious.

This and the first "Nekromantik" movie are two of the most screwed up flicks to have ever been made!(oh yeah, "Schramm" too). Jorg Buttgeriet is a true horror movie fan, opposed to a lot of Italian and American movies that were trying to make a couple of dollars, and I feel that "Nekro" 1&2 are the only movies that hold a flame to the mighty "Cannibal Holocaust". Two is not as good as the first but very close. A lot of critics put this down just because of how far it went, but thats why I like it. If you want extreme gore buy this movie.

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.

I can attest that Jörg Buttgereit's original Nekromantik is one of the best foreign or horror films I've ever seen. OK, we'll call it horror if we must although I see this series as more of a psychological meditation on the fear of death and the fascination with all things dead. Although there is plenty of darkness and morbidity, I still say Buttgereit's artistry is worthy of more than just your average cringe-inducing slasher flick. Having said that, it's easy to understand why the film has had such a shelf life or a much deserved yet underground cult status.

Nekromantik ended on a rather somber note. Hey, it's the nature of a beast. If you make a film about necrophilia, you are bound to witness some unbearable tragedy as does our lead character Rob in the original film. Nekromantik 2 replays the rather graphic if not bloody suicide although this time around the montage is absent of color. I would strongly suggest watching the original first or you're going to be a tad disenfranchised or rather confused for a few moments.

Monika (Monica M.) slowly makes her way through the graveyard to dig up our fresh, young corpse. Initially, we are unsure whether Betty's character(Rob's girlfriend in the first film) has been replaced by a different actress or if we are being introduced to a new female character altogether this time around with similar characteristics. Later on, we do see Betty visit Rob's grave only to discover it has already been robbed which helps the viewer. We then realize that Monica M is Buttgereit's new creation & we are about to take on yet another journey into the realms of darkness.

After bringing Rob's corpse back to her apartment, Monika proceeds to undress the cadaver and my readers can guess the rest. I won't go into specifics here but I think it's fair to say you already know what to expect if you're reading this review. Upon cleaning the corpse, she then decides to take a few Polaroids of herself with our deceased Rob.

Not long after spending time with the deceased, Monika meets Mark at the local theater where his date has stood him up yet once again. He offers her the ticket as a courtesy and it would the two of them have hit it off or things might take a turn for the better. Mark earns his keep dubbing porn for a living but appreciates the avantguard cinema as it has nothing to with his line of work. He knows nothing of Monika nor her extreme fascination with death.

Shortly after establishing what would seem to be a solid relationship with Mark, Monika then proceeds to dispose of Rob's human remains save the head and the genitals.

Even though the viewer still feels a bit uneasy about the newfound relationship, many will believe that our lead has finally found true love at last and will eventually give up on copulating with the recently deceased. Sadly, her fascination with the dead or dying actually increases and Mark begins to notice things aren't quite as kosher with his new lady friend as he would like. Unfortunately, he's in love and is well past the point of no return.

While not as good nor as well paced as the original, I really applaud Buttgereit for not retreading the same territory on the second time around. I also give him kudos for touching upon the feminist aspect while actually giving the viewer what they really want. SEX AND GORE. Not to say that Nekromantik 2 is just a filthy blood bath as the film continues to carefully examine & clearly define the unnatural ways that people themselves deal with death or their feelings about intimacy. Nekromantik is a bold series and I only wish our director would've granted us one more film for the road although I can't really imagine what more he could possibly do with the given material.

Nekromantik 2 also strays from some of the dark humor of the original although the hallucinogenic scenes are still to be found as well as a few montages of animal cruelty. In Buttgereit's defense, these shots of animal cruelty weren't made exclusively for the Nekromantik series and we shouldn't indite the director for such. These shots were made of humans destroying animals in situations that take place everyday. While I do not condone the torture or killing of animals, I strongly believe that Buttgereit uses this footage to further elucidate the madness of his lead characters.

Ironically, Daktori Larenz (lead actor in the first Nekromantik) lends his scope of expertise to the soundtrack here which is quite brilliant. The music is neither campy nor too creepy but gives the perfect pitch to induce a rather moody atmosphere. I only wish I could buy a legit copy of this film on DVD just to obtain the soundtrack which exists on the second disc.

Not a film for all tastes of course as much of the material would only appeal to weirdos like myself who have that acquired taste but Nekromantik 2 is definitely not a waste of time either. Grab it if you can still find it. It's getting to be harder and harder to find in local markets these days. Sad.

All the reviews I read about this movie were pretty much dead on. This is the most depressing and disturbing movie I've ever seen. I've seen a multitude of horror-gore movies in my time(35+years) and considered myself unshockable, but this movie proved me wrong. I've watched it once and have no desire for another viewing. Watch it if you feel you need to as I did, but I imagine once will be enough.

One wasn't enough? Had to drudge further into the demented, unstable minds of women with a sickening desire to have sex with corpses, huh? BRAVO!!! Mark and Monika, what a cute couple. Mark dubs old porn films and Monika is a nurse who can't get off unless it's with a dead body. Need I say more? Sure, the SPFX on the corpse in this film are fantastic, very realistic and gnarly. The love scenes are ghastly, following suit of part 1, and the subject matter is just as explicit. The downfall of this film is the filler, the filler in the original didn't quite tie in but it served it's purpose by darkening the mood without losing the audience's attention. This filler is just that, filler. It somewhat drags the film a lot longer than it should have been, mostly through the middle. The end of this film will blow your mind, just takes a little while to get there. Nekromantik 2 (Limited Edition, 2-Disc Unrated Set) runs about 103 min and is filled with extras, outtakes and the making of. The very well done goremantic sex scenes are superb and the body parts and ground meat look like they came from the butcher shop, very, very nice! Of course, this film is definitely not suited for everyone obviously, be sure you are ready to handle this kind of subject matter as well as your audience! 4 stars for the shear shock value that is delivered here.

Enjoy more of the forbidden, black art of rotten sex and soak in all the decaying tissues, bodily fluids and gases that this film has to offer!!!