Customer Reviews

Tenderness of the Wolves [VHS]

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TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES is an adaptation of the life & crimes of one of Germany's most horrific serial killers, Fritz Haarman. Haarman was a homosexual pedophile, police informant,& black marketeer. He was also a butcher of young men & boys & after he has had his way with them, he would dismember them & sell their body parts as meat on unsuspecting customers. He was caught & was convicted of killing 27 victims, though he would confess that he has killed over 40 or 50. He sentenced to die by the guillotine. TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES is not a very easy film to watch. There is very little in terms of sheer horror or violence, but the movie shows very graphic homosexual scenes & overtones. The film doesn't hide the fact that Haarman's world is full of depravity. He is surrounded by the scum of Germany's society. The film doesn't show Haarman butchering his victims, you only hear of chopping sounds through the walls of his neighbors as they wonder what Haarman is preparing for them. TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES is a very creepy, dark, disturbing film about a man so full of evil & perverted that the viewer is left feeling wretched & dirty after viewing this film. This film is DEFINATELY NOT for everyone.

Dark retelling of the story of Fritz Haarmann, the "Hanover Vampire," and an interesting blend of true crime drama, serial killer mystery, and homage to such films as Fritz Lang's "M." Kurt Raab is eerie as Haarmann, with his bald head, bulging eyes, and sinister calm manner. A good amount of factual evidence from this case is included in the movie, and much of the atmosphere is left to the imagination - the warning of "graphic violence" on the box reverse side seems unnecessary, since only one murder and one attack are actually filmed. (Perhaps in 1973, this was considered "graphic," but it is tame by today's standards.) All in all, a very creepy movie.

In post World War I in Germany, Fritz Haarmann was/is known as the Butcher of Hanover. This is a historical fact.

The Tenderness of Wolves shows us just how this monster actually operated. Director Ulli Lommel, his hand guided by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, provides us with a truly disturbing film.

Kurt Raab as Haarmann actually appears to be playing Peter Lorre playing Haarmann in the (far superior) M. Raab seems, at times, to be channelling Lorre.

The plot is not entirely cohesive and it cannot withstand itself through the middle. However, the beginning and ending of this film far make up for the deficit of the middle.

Haarman lured young children away from desolate life with a promise of a hot meal and warm place to sleep. Instead he offered them rape, murder, mutilation, and eventually cannibalism.

This is an arthouse film masquerading as a horror/thriller/drama. It is definitely worth your time, but it is not for the faint of heart.

A good film.

Tenderness of the Wolves (Ulli Lommel, 1973)

Produced by the legendary Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Gods of the Plague, Chinese Roulette, etc.) and written by lead actor Kurt Raab, Ulli Lommel's Tenderness of the Wolves has emblazoned on its box "inspired by Fritz Lang's M." Yeah, in the same way John Carpenter's The Thing was inspired by Christian Nyby's version. In both cases, the later crew went back to the original source material to create something more faithful than the first film. M is great filmmaking, and it would be hard to categorize Tenderness of the Wolves as a clear improvement over M, but it's certainly closer to the original story.

Raab (The Magic Mountain, Bitter Harvest) is Fritz Haarmann, the Werewolf of Hanover (as he was popularly known). Haarman's MO was to pick up runaway teen boys at the train station, take them back to his room, kill them, and sell them to the unsuspecting population of Dusseldorf as grade-A pork. Amusingly, during the time he committed most of his murders (those, at least, which authorities verified were his handiwork), he was also a police informant, and used his connections to the authorities as part of his pickup line. None of this was present in M; all of it at least makes an appearance in Tenderness.

The movie is carried, for the most part, by Raab's performance. The man is, quite simply, creepy looking. Lommel (The Blank Generation) uses Raab's creepiness to maximum effect, to the extent of deprecating the other major players in the film (Haarmann's accomplice, Hans Grans, gets about a quarter the screen time he probably should, from all accounts). Staying focused on Haarmann and his activities most of the time gives the film a clarity which it might not have otherwise had, and has been lacking in many of Lommel's later horror flicks. Everything comes together quite nicely, and aside from the nits serial killer groupies are going to pick (e.g., the lack of mention of the infamous "head behind the stove"), it works quite well.

One of Lommel's best films, and a must-see for fans of the serial killer genre. *** 1/2

TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES, director Ulli Lommel's rare first film, finally comes to video. Best known as an actor for director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Lommel and Fassbinder teamed up for this shocking film about a serial killer, with Fassbinder serving as producer. Following this collaboration, Lommel moves to America where he helmed the cult classic COCAINE COWBOYS starring Andy Warhol before filming a series of horror movies including THE BOGEY MAN and BRAIN WAVES.

"Tenderness of the Wolves" is a superbly crafted tale of demented horror from German director Ulli Lommel (the classic "Boogeyman" and the modern "Zodiac Killer"). Beautifully filmed in Germany, this is the true life account of serial killer Fritz Haarman; after World War I, he lured impoverished boys and young men to his apartment where he had sex with them before killing them. A forerunner of Jeffrey Dahmer, Haarman would later chop them up and sell their tender flesh to a local restaurant. Because of budget constraints, the setting of "Tenderness of the Wolves" is post world War II.

This film is not as violent or bloody as I was led to believe by the warning on the DVD jacket. Much was left to the imagination. The victims are not shown being cut into pieces. The most disturbing scene is when the police, knowing Haarman was a pedophile, hired him to patrol the train stations where he had ready access to his prey. Also, his perverted friends overlooked Haarman's dark secret. Kurt Raab, an openly homosexual actor who later died of AIDS complications, gives a believable portrayal of the charming, but deceitful Haarman.

Anchor Bay Entertainment has given us an excellent presentation of "Tenderness of the Wolves." It has a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The audio and video are nearly flawless. An excellent theatrical trailer, talent bios, and an audio commentary with Lommel have all been provided. The audio is German with yellow, easy-to-read English subtitles. Since I am a big fan of foreign horror films such as Italian gialli (murder mysteries), I have grown accustomed to watching subtitles.

"Tenderness of the Wolves" is highly recommended for those who are intrigued by famous, real life serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer, John Gacy and Ted Bundy. Lommel seems obsessed with serial killers since he has directed numerous movies involving them such as "Son of Sam," "Green River Killer" and "B.T.K. Killer."

Kurt Raab, as Fritz Haarmann, brings sympathy and charm to an otherwise depraved and wretched human being. In Raab's performance we recognize not only the dark side of life and 'humanity,' we stare eyeball to meatball in that inescapable and horrible truth behind every human's existence; that fundamentally we are flesh eaters made of the same blood, meat and guts as all the other species who rip flesh from bone and devour the remains of dead animals in order to survive.


This film doesn't hide from those awful truths about man's bloody flesh ripping, drooling nature always ready to chow down on some carnivorous carcass in order to satisfy his tummy's every growl, and survive in this dog eat dog world of sanitized and civilized delights sizzling behind neon lights on seafood platters brimming with buttered and lemon fillets and scrumptiously grilled porter house steaks.


Some of the most beautiful men are used to represent Haarmann's victims. One young man especially stands out, the sensuous, handsome piano player who becomes central to the film's horrific/esthetic paradox; once so lovely and desirable, and then so easily and quickly reduced to a steakburger for some unsuspecting lover of juicy, dripping steaks, instead of that vital and desirable young piano player who only hours before played the piano, the type one would pay handsomely to have for the night.


Now that young piano player slithers and slides through the warm intestines of some average Joe or Jane who so hungrily gobbled his grilled or roasted remains with some wine and conversation over a scrumptious meat and potatoes dinner. And this is the awful truth, we, humans, are indistinguishably reduced to food and waste like any other animal, fish or bird who has been tenderly and lovingly marinated then served in the sizzling aroma and juices of a roasting pan, tempting and teasing its unsuspecting guests now salivating in the splash and wag of their anticipating tongues.


The horrific fate and truths behind the day to day survival of every living creature is unmasked. This film is not just about cannibalism and the grizzly delectable delights we devour every night, it is about how we view living creatures as our dinner until we discover that it is 'we' who may be the slab of meat sauteing in the roasting pan. How differently we now view a pound or two of prime rib when it's one of our own.


Truly an important and horrific and esthetic film.

Fassbinder and Lommel created a masterpiece that's been unavailable in the US for 25 years. It's the most shocking portayal of a serial killer I've ever seen. The mood and the performances are awsesome!

The video box claims this is inspired by the movie M. Not so. It is based on the life of Fritz Haarman. Wonderful retelling of this monster's life. During war time Europe, Fritz was a black market Butcher. He was also a Homosexual, and used to pick up young boys at the train station. He would take them home, try to have his way with them, and so not to waste anything, would use them in his black market business. I'll leave the rest to your imagination. The acting is top notch. If you like anything true crime, this is a must have video!