Schramm

Schramm is the story of a serial killer that goes by the name of 'The Lipstick Killer'. The camera work and editing are completely amazing, and the story never gets old. Lothar Schramm is a man who is sexually deprived, and as far as I can tell, afraid of women. This isnt such a good thing for his next door neighbor, a prostitute. This movie is almost in the vein of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, but it is much more graphic and poetic then Henry could ever imagine. Now, I had read ALOT about this movie (as I am a big Jorg Buttgereit fan) so I knew what the movie was about, and how it was going to end, and blah blah blah. But when I actually bought a copy of it and sat down and watched it, I was completely blown away. It wasnt ANYTHING what I thought it was going to be, and I mean that in an extremely good way! If you want to see a beautifuly-Ugly film, with an amazing/twisted love story, Gorgeous camera-work, and an extremely dedicated director, Please rent this.

I actually sought this movie based on the great reviews from the other members of IMDB only to be sorely disappointed. A little more than an hour long, this comes of nothing more than a cheaply shot art house thriller. How is the viewer supposed to assume the main character is a 'serial killer' (known as The Lipstick Killer) - when we only see him murder 2 people throughout the entire movie? Labeling a movie as a film about a serial killer should at least (not to sound morbid) have more than 2 murders throughout the movie. Necrophilia? Were these viewers confusing this yawn fest with Nekromantic? Shocking scenes of murder? Where? The only 2 murders were less shocking than anything a Friday the 13th movie has shown a thousand times. The violence/gore is (minus one scene)very minimal, if any at all. - The direction itself almost seems as if its out to confuse the viewer. Save your time and money - If you're seeking a violent movie about a serial killer that delivers, search for "The Untold Story" with Anthony Wong.

Well, this one's pretty hard to describe. Some people might say, this is one of those movies you either love or hate. Some might ask, if it's art or trash. First of all it's a movie about a serial killer. But in my opinion it can't be compared with other serial killer movies, because it's too different. And it's supposed to be. If you like to watch a story like the ones about Ted Bundy or Jeff Dahmer you better let this one pass by. In the mood for some funny, gory horror-stuff to watch with your friends having some beer and some laughs? Wrong choice! "Schramm" is weird, disturbing, almost bizarr. Or do you think, every man should for once in his life pin down his penis on a table using 2-inch-nails? Schramm does. If you like stuff like David Lynch's "Eraserhead" or the Japanese "Tetsuo" you might probably love "Schramm". And even if it serves some gore it might be stuff to think about for some among you. Try to get its message...- it's worth a watch!

Schramm (1993)

*** (out of 4)

Lothar Schramm (Florian Koemer von Gustorf) is lying in a pool of his own blood where she's slowly dying. Through flashbacks we take a look at his relationship with a neighbor (Monika M) and learn how he became a serial killer.

SCHRAMM comes from German director Jorg Buttgereit and in many ways you could probably argue that it's the best of his early films. As with NEKROMANTIK, its sequel and DER TODESKING, this one here deals with the typical stuff like violence, sex, mutilation and murder. This one here also comes across more like an art film than just some cheap direct-to-video horror film. This one manages to work once again because the director clearly has talent and makes you realize it even if you might be turned off by the subject matter.

This one here clocks in at just 66-minutes so there's really no fat or scenes that are just dragged out for no reason. I really thought the director did a fine job at getting us into the mind of this killer and you can tell what a messed up person he is. I thought the relationship with the neighbor, who just happens to be a hooker, was quite believable and in a strange way you care for both of them. Both von Gustorf and Monika are good in their roles and this certainly helps.

SCHRAMM certainly isn't a movie that's going to appeal to everyone as there's a lot of blood, some really graphic violence and of course some bizarre sexual stuff. If you're a fan of the director's work then you should enjoy the picture, or at least enjoy it as far as your stomach can take.

I must say that out of all the Jörg Buttgereit movies I have seen so far this is by far the best. It uses all of the same themes as his other movies (nudity, sex, mutilation, violence, killings, death) but it's more successful with it than usual, making this an artistic successful one, as well as an powerful one that is being effective with its themes.

The movie gives us a real look inside the head of a serial killer/rapist/necrophiliac. We see his weird fantasies of extreme violence and sex but we also see his fantasies of how he truly wants to be. The movie doesn't present its main character as a deranged psycho but more as a man who can't help being the way he is. He's struggling with it himself at points but in the end he just can't help being the man that he is. With self mutilation he tries to fight the feelings and punish himself for the deeds he has done but it's all in vein.

Yes, it's a quite odd movie, due to its themes and the way it's being brought to the screen. Jörg Buttgereit often picks the artistic approach and uses some symbolism and metaphors. For this movie he obviously got inspired by Luis Buñuel's work. Jörg Buttgereit is like the German Luis Buñuel and Takashi Miike, though not all of his movies work out as well as this one does.

It shows the world as a dirty place. Not only with it's extreme violence or people living in it but also with its almost depressing settings. The main characters apartment looks like it's an outdated '70's bachelor shack, in the middle of a bad and poor neighborhood.

It's a movie that works on so many levels with its themes and with the story it tries to tell. Jörg Buttgereit always aspires all of his movies to be like this but not all of his work works out as well and successful as this one does though.

9/10

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