Vengeances

This six part Austrian series is centred on Brunhilde Blum, the owner of a funeral home high in the Alps. In the opening scenes we see how her parents drowned while she slept on their boat's deck when she was much younger. Now she is married to a policeman who appears to be contacting another woman behind her back. The first she learns of this is when she finds his second phone after he is killed in an apparent hit-and-run accident. She manages to find the other woman and discovers something much worse than a suspected affair. It looks as though powerful people had reasons for wanting her husband dead. She is determined to get to the truth even though it puts her in danger.

I thought this was an impressive drama. The story didn't go quite as I expected, which was a pleasant surprise and, as well as an interesting mystery and revenge story, there are some delightfully dark comic moments. Brunhilde is a fine central character and Anna Maria Mühe does a great job in the role. The rest of the cast are solid too. The alpine location is scenic and adds to the cold atmosphere of the series. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to fans of European crime dramas.

These comments are based on watching the series in German with English subtitles.

A surprisingly remarkable Austrian film. I've watched revenge movies before but this one is something new to offer by way of an intriguing storyline.

It's a great character study. Brunhilde Blum's journey from a quiet, contented wife and mortician to a remorseless avenger is compelling. You feel her quiet rage as she proceeds to hunt down, one by one, those respectable people responsible for the murder of her dear husband. All this taking place while she cares for her children and managing her funeral home. And the revenge is spectacular.

That she's able to talk to dead people as sounding board, whilst not a unique plot device, is darkly humorous as done here.

Quite competent actors. And the mountainscape as captured in film is short of mesmerizing.

Moralists might be disturbed by the message of the film as it seems to glorify impunity. But life is never easy; never black or white. Each is answerable ultimately for his/her actions.

Just finished binge watching this from start to finish. Although a tad predictable (at least for me) I found myself geared in and fully engaged in the story and the acting even though it's not in English (watched the VO English version).

I liked how the main character is dark and the revenge factor is really the driving force with no holds barred. That's what makes it effective. It also is gory and it does evoke happiness when revenge is enacted.

Overall for a VO show I finished it in one sitting, completely engrossed in the plot. It won't blow you away but it's very well directed, the score is good and the actors carry it well. 7/10.

Totenfrau is a worthwhile series, but why so many strange mistakes in such a series? In the first episode, a Ducati is hit at high speed, killing the rider. The car, which would normally have been badly damaged by a collision with a motorcycle weighing more than 200 kilos, drives away as if nothing had happened. The motorcycle can be repaired and will be picked up by the victim's wife. We see the woman in her fashionable tweed jacket, which flutters open in the wind, without gloves on, riding off on the Ducati through a snowy landscape. Normally, as a motorcyclist, you stop in this situation after 5 kilometers because your fingers are frozen off and your throat is swollen. Otherwise reasonable series.

I liked the main character and binge watched the whole series, I wasn't disappointed. There's many layers to the plot and I don't think I could have predicted where it went. It's not just about revenge but also about a woman who is hell bent on revenge trying to juggle her family at the same time. She has her own personal issues too. I'd love to see another series in the future, I would certainly watch it. It's probably not aimed at the younger generation but an older one. It's more like midsummer murders on steroids. The scenery is beautiful and all the characters play their parts well. I enjoyed it.