Anatomy (2000)

A young med student by the name of "Paula Henning" (Franka Potente) is thrilled to learn that she has been accepted into the University of Heidelberg. Another female student by the name of "Gretchen" (Anna Loos) has also been accepted and becomes her roommate. While traveling from Munich to Heidelberg they encounter a young man named "David" (Arndt Schwering-Sohnrev) who has heart problems and passes out on the train. Paula administers CPR and manages to revive him. However, once they begin their anatomy course they find his body laid out for dissection. Thinking something is wrong Paula sends some blood and tissue samples to a friend for analysis. At any rate, rather than reveal the rest of the story, I'll just say that this is an exciting horror-mystery movie with good suspense and a couple of twists at the end. Although originally filmed in German, the version I saw was dubbed in English and may require some people to make allowances. Even so, I found it to be quite enjoyable. I also liked the performances of Franka Potente, Anna Loos and Sebastian Blomberg (who played the role of Paula's boyfriend, "Caspar"). As a side note, it won the "Audience Award" for "German Film of the Year" at the German Film Awards. And while that's certainly not as impressive as an Academy Award, it is a good indicator that this could be a film that fans of horror or mystery might find interesting.

Every horror fan should feel excited at the very least when they read the premise of this movie. It's something that seems fit for a "Saw" movie or an Eli Roth movie perhaps. It makes it all the more a shame that the film-makers seemed oblivious for the great material they were granted to work with. They all too obviously were not at ease within the horror genre and basically had no idea what they were doing.Not to make it sounds like the worst horror movie of all time but it's just such a shame to see how they waste all potential, by taking a completely wrong and stupid approach to its story.Problem is that this an horror movie, that has not idea how to handle or build up its tension or mystery. Or rather said; it doesn't seem to care about its mystery or tension at all. It's more busy with the soap series like developments and problems of the characters, that are more drama related than anything else really. I don't even think you could call this a thriller, since there is complete lack of the right required type of build-up.It causes you not to be grabbed by any of the movie its tension or mystery, which in return also makes you less interested in the overall movie and all of its characters. Another strange thing is that the main character, played by Franka Potente, disappears for too long out of the story a couple of times throughout the movie. All things that show how poorly told this movie is and how lacking its approach by director Stefan Ruzowitzky is.Of course the movie is not without its gore and it also has a pretty good atmosphere but the rest of the movie really brings it all down. As a genre lover I really wouldn't recommend this movie, despite its great (sounding) concept.If you are still looking for a movie to watch on Halloween...this is not the one.5/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Before Franka Potente became famous with the Bourne trilogy she made this German movie. As a student in, you guessed it, anatomy she has to go to the most important school to learn that but there is a secret. Some people joined a kind of mason. She notices that something is terrible wrong in the school and she starts to investigate. Wrong. What happens next isn't really horror it's more some kind of thriller but you really have to watch it for the effects. A few years ago it was a hype to see the exhibition Kopferwelten. What you saw there is what we have here only they didn't used real bodies but it was so nicely done that it could be used in classes. It never becomes gory or even bloody, it is really the atmosphere that creates the movie. But it is one that you must have seen because, some people fears that it could happen to you....

If you're looking for a horror story with plenty of gore, fright, shock cuts, helpless young women, pursuits through dark hospital corridors, conspiracies at high levels, and an innocent student (Franka Potente) who gradually becomes aware of and finally unravels the Anti-Hippocratic plot, this is your meat. The meat may be drained of all proteins and lipids and thoroughly plasticized, but it's still meat -- of a kind.I thought it was unworthy of the writers to victimize Franka Potente's roommate at this elite medical institution in Heidelberg. Not so much because she was a flamboyantly feminine nymphomaniac but because she had an IQ of 150. At the moment, the world needs all the geniuses it can find. (On the other hand, her taste in music was execrable, so maybe it evens out.) Franka Potente is the only thing I found worth watching in the film. She's very touching as a naive who goes about discovering evil. She's relatively chaste and vulnerable. And she's not drop-dead gorgeous by Hollywood standards either, looking as she does something like Lilly Taylor, but she's a fine actress. I can say that because she shown her aptitude elsewhere, as in "Lola Rennt" and "The Bourne Identity." You can't really judge her talent from this film because her voice is horribly dubbed, along with everyone else's. It's hard to imagine why, because she speaks perfect English.I didn't bother watching the end of the film but if you like this sort of thing -- it holds no surprises whatever -- you'll probably enjoy it.