No Reason

German underground horror (basically raw or extreme) director Olaf Ittenbach first came onto my radar with Premutos: The Fallen Angel. The gore was excellent but the rest really lack luster. This brings us to No Reason (2010), which was only recently released outside the festival scene). Again the gore was spectacular, and I mean almost on par with Marian Dora, spectacular. The cinematography and editing worked well with the Hellraiser meets Raw atmosphere. Irene Holzfurtner delivered an extremely strong performance. This brings us to the story, which with Ittenbach we do not expect to be there at all. Ironically there is a bit of a story and it is rather cleverly conveyed, mostly through the prologue and references to the book Holzfurtner's character is forced to read. A better script and tighter directing would have made it a really good film.

If you watched this movie for a plot shame on you. If you came to cringe and be grossed out, this is the film for you. Part German Sheisbe film, part pointless graphic murders, all blood, gore and guts. If you could watch the scissor scene and chomp scene without a butt clench and a giant squirm in your seat, you're more a man than I'll ever be. The ending is kind of anticlimactic after blood fueled trip the director took us through. A slow walk through Hell , when I wanted to run as fast as I could.

This movie wastes no time getting into gear exposing full frontal female nudity and excessive gore. This movie reminded me of some great horror films of 2010 such as The Farmhouse, Blood River and Devil but unfortunately for this German export, it didn't live up to its potential. The problem with this film is that it is too confusing and convoluted for the average gore fan. The acting is tenuous at best and the ending seems a little rushed although i did like the conclusion. Other negatives to this film were the special effects and the audio. Some effects were so bad and obviously fake that it took a bit of the gore authenticity away from the proceedings. The audio sounded like it came from another film at times and was badly recorded into this picture. It's not all doom and gloom for this picture, the pacing is good and moves along at a very crisp pace and for the budget I think the heart of this film was in right place. It also had a grimy '70's grind house feel reminiscent of great 1970's exploitation sleaze such as Malabimba and one of my all time favourite's Alucarda. So for those of you that love grisly gore and nudity running amok...proceed, the rest of you stay far far away.....

I spent a considerable amount of time trying to get ahold of this, so I was delighted to finally see the original movie (with eng subs) once I had procured it here in the states!

Olaf Ittenbach makes really cool and crazy over-the-top-not-necessary- but-now-that-you-mention-it-that's-kind-of-awesome type horror movies. He executes special effects with unquestionable brilliance - I dare any of you to create a CGI that has a comparable effect. - And the movies he directs often dispatch a rather generic plot that allows for such gore and action sequences to be thread together. Personally, I really enjoy his style and totally grasp where he's going with it.

This movie in particular shines for multiple reasons. The special effects and Gore in this film are abundant. In addition to that, it actually has a pretty good plot and interesting main character as well (who also happens to be completely nude for almost the entire film.)

It explores things like Drug Addiction, Mood & Mental Disorders, Heaven & Hell, Sensory Perception & Colors, while piecing together the heroine's memory and contrasting that with what ends up being the reality. It is somewhat self-important but it works for this film.

The musical score is EFFECTIVE, creepy, and surprisingly poignant considering the genre of film. While this movie did not reinvent the wheel, It certainly captures the elements necessary to make something resonate as creepy/scary/disturbing. This movie would STILL be very creepy without all the over-the-top violence and blood/gutspilling - However; The fact that it is there makes it even that much more delightful. Buy/Rent It ;)

No Reason is a film that lives up to its title - not in a clever, ironic way, but in the sense that there seems to be no reason for most of what happens on screen. Directed by Olaf Ittenbach, this German horror film leans hard into gore, surrealism, and shock value, but forgets to bring along a coherent plot, engaging characters, or meaningful purpose.

Clocking in at 75 minutes, the film feels much longer, dragged down by endless sequences of over-the-top, stomach-churning body horror that lacks emotional weight or context. The protagonist, Jennifer, wanders through grotesque hellscapes, encountering increasingly bizarre and disturbing scenes, but without a narrative thread strong enough to justify the journey.

The visuals are clearly where the budget and effort went - practical effects fans might find moments of interest - but without a strong story or characters to invest in, the gore becomes numbing rather than effective. Dialogue is minimal and often stilted, performances are wooden, and the philosophical themes the film seems to hint at are buried under piles of meaningless carnage.

In the end, No Reason feels more like an art school horror experiment than a satisfying film. Disturbing for the sake of being disturbing, it lacks the substance, structure, or subtlety needed to make any of its horror land with impact.