Schramm (1993)

Schramm is a movie that really impressed me. It's one of those rare movies that stand above the typical serial killer movie. I would say that it definitely belongs to the best within the genre.It's not a movie with a typical story line. Instead, we are dragged in to Lothar Schramm's mad mind. The soundtrack, the grain of the film, the camera-work, it all adds to a grim and disturbed feeling of madness and desolation.*Spoilers*Lothar Schramm is a very lonely man. On one hand, he is quite modest, charming and even protective in his normal contact with his befriended neighbor, a prostitute. Secretly though, he lusts for her, but he can't find a normal way to make it work. So, when he gets the chance he abuses her, but without her knowing about it. Still, she comes off pretty well, as other people get brutally slaughtered by him. His only way to get intimacy is with the dead or unconscious. And for sure he is not left cold by this, as multiple scenes make very clear that he is struggling with himself big time. He also punishes himself (and it is one brilliantly painful graphic scene.. very well done!) for what he is, for what he does.There is quite some metaphorical stuff. For example the cut-off and the fake leg. My idea of that, is that he sees himself as not capable to have both legs firmly on the ground. He is in a way handicapped, he is loosing control, and it shows through the image of the leg. At the end, it kills him. Lothar Schramm really fears female intimacy, and it's IMO the fear of being emotionally castrated which is shown in his hallucinations of the teethed vagina. * End of spoilers*This whole movie is not linear in time line. This only adds more to the madness of it. It is also a movie in which (repressed) sexuality and frustration have the constant overtone. Lust, frustration and, to a lesser extent but definitely there, rage. Schramms repressed sexuality seeps through in the whole movie, and I found this to be really strong and impressive. Jörg Buttgereit did a brilliant job in sucking us in to the deranged world of a sad and lonely, but also very disturbed and dangerous madman. This film is definitely not for everyone! What I do like about it, other people might totally dislike. The fact that it's not really a story for example, at least not in the way most plots are worked out. It's more a series of events, scrambled up. It's not as much a normal film, but more an experience. It also has an amateuristic feel to it which you may dislike, but which I think works perfectly for Schramm. It's never polished, it never just shines in cinematic perfection, it has no ambitions in being anything even close to a Hollywood production. Instead, it is raw, very raw. It's grainy, gritty, uncomfortable. And wow, did I like it!

More of an art-house film than a horror really. But this German "poetic" film really doesn't disappoint at all, it surprises! And it's not something that should not be missed. Often compared to such great serial killer films as "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" and "Maniac" probably because the movie wants to show us the story from the killers point of view. It tries to lead us into the mind of the murderer. Schramm does this in the best way, it's a really bizarre experience. This may seem weird, but the movie is actually very beautiful. Of course not everything in it is. But some of the scenes in Schramm have such wonderful cinematography that really hard to imagine that it's such a low budget film. Buttgereit really has a great artistic style.Many people think that the film is just another gore film, from the guy who made "Nekromantic", well I can tell them that they're wrong. This film is not something you would see for gore and blood. Even there are a few really nasty scenes, which are really nasty.Now the music is one of the best highlights of the movie, it really has a special atmosphere, a very dark and weird atmosphere too. And if you get the 2-disc DVD you get the movie soundtrack on a CD which I personally recommend.Not for the general horror fan, but defiantly for any Buttgereit fans. Some would say that the movie is a little slow, but I don't agree. Watch it twice.

MINOR SPOILERSGoing into this movie I knew a couple things. I knew that it was directed by the same guy who made Nekromantik, I knew that it was about a serial killer and I also knew that it contained a pretty gross scene involving a hammer. Whenever I read what people had to say about Schramm, they always spoke somewhat highly of it. And now you can add me to that list of people. Schramm is about a serial killer who through his own nightmarish faults has fallen off a ladder and has knocked himself out. You don't know if he's seriously hurt or just out cold. In the meantime you're shown flashbacks of some of his recent days, murdering, freaking out, and masturbating. Three things that I would say the average maniac killer does on a consistent basis. Schramm seems to have a couple loves in his life, one being running and two being his next door prostitute neighbor. And unfortunately for him, his mind makes him see awful things that are related to these passions. Anyways, Schramm plays out in a artsy way that I thought really worked. And at around an hour long the movie plays out very well. I actually felt for his character a little bit, even though he'd probably kill me in a split second if I rang his doorbell. Well after asking me if I'd like something to drink.Schramm was pretty violent, pretty disturbing and pretty cool. It's definitely one of the stranger flicks on serial killers I've ever seen and also one of the best. If you're looking for a different take on this genre and you can stand a couple graphic scenes, by all means give this a go.

I write reviews under the nickname of Gorehound-1, but I also write reviews under the nickname of ~PL~. My reviews, as Gorehound-1, are there to give hints to gore fans, to help them in their choices for viewing or buying a gore movie. I advise you that I am a very strong stomach, and it's almost impossible to gross me out. My ratings are a mark between 0 and 10 for the gore (its quality and amount), the violence, the sadism, and the brutality.(Spoilers warning)Gore quality 8/10: Okay, the throat slitting scene is not wonderfully rendered, it is not very graphic, and the other murder consisting of hammer hits on the head of a woman could have been more gory. The scene where Schramm wakes up in his bed and has a severed leg is pretty nice, as well as the scene in which a dentist removes one of his eyes from its socket...that particular scene is very nice, let me tell you that it is very realistic. Also, THE scene in the film that is the worst to watch and that is extremely realistic is when Schramm nails his penis to a chair with about 5 nails. Pretty gross. Another scene in which his head seems to be opened and we see his exposed brain, but it is not very convincing. Gore amount 10/10: For a serial killer film, there would be enough, but for a Jorg Buttgereit film, I was expecting more. It seems that Buttgereit puts the emphasis on realism in the gore scenes instead of putting an incredible amount of them.Violence 7/10: The only two murders in the whole film are very violent, and the parts that involve self-mutilation are pretty violent as well.Sadism 6/10: Schramm kills and seems to enjoy it, and when he kidnaps the prostitute, he strips her and takes photos of her, as well as photos of his other victims. Brutality 6/10: The hammer hits to the head are brutal, yes, and so is the throat slitting. But there is also brutality in the sexuality, especially when Schramm starts humping an inflatable torso.Gore film to rent 6/10: As a GORE film, this has its VERY nice scenes, but only a few of them...The film is excellent, yes, but it is not the kind of entertainment you'd expect on friday night with beer and friends...and don't forget that this one lasts only 65 minutes.Gore film to buy 9/10: A good buy, because you will want to watch it over and over again. The gore is very nice, even though there is not a lot of it, but the film itself is great, it really is beautiful and disturbing, something that most gore films fail to do almost every time.MPAA says: UNRATEDGH1 says: should be rated NC-17 for abherrant violence/gore including graphic self-mutilation, pervasive nudity, sexuality and some language.