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German movies of the 1970s will forever be linked with the New German Cinema movement, the auteur directors — led by the likes of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, Margarethe von Trotta and Volker Schlöndorff — who shook the country out of its postwar stupor. “Papa’s Kino ist tot” (‘Papa’s cinema’s is dead’) was their motto, and they held radical new visions of what movies could do.

But alongside this art house wave, ’70s Germany also was a breeding ground for a cruder, more commercial strain of cinema, one that took inspiration from sexploitation and spaghetti Westerns, biker films and grindhouse horror and grafted it onto the zeitgeist-y themes of political upheaval and sexual liberation. The Berlinale pays tribute to this seldom-seen oeuvre of German genre cinema in its 2025 retrospective, which features 15 titles — cult classics and curios from both East and West Germany — that prove that German film could also be “wild,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Author: The Jt Leroy Story (Jeff Feuerzeig)

Author: The Jt LeRoy Story relives the literary hoax of the early aughts, the truly weird and out of control tale of Jt LeRoy. An allegedly gender-fluid HIV positive son of a West Virginia truck stop hooker, he rose to the heights of indie stardom befriending the likes of Courtney Love, Shirley Manson, Lou Reed, Michael Pitt, Billy Corgan and filmmakers Gus Van...

An ongoing column that draws clear lines between high art cinema and low trash exploitation. Genre cinema has often been thought to be the antithesis of the arthouse. Sure, people accept that there are artistically inclined genre films but these are often thought to be the exception and not the rule. While these lines have…

The post The Art of Trash: Ulli Lommel’s The Tenderness Of The Wolves appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

or, Savant picks The Most Impressive Discs of 2015

This is the actual view from Savant Central, looking due North.

What a year! I was able to take one very nice trip back East too see Washington D.C. for the first time, or at least as much as two days' walking in the hot sun and then cool rain would allow. Back home in Los Angeles, we've had a year of extreme drought -- my lawn is looking patriotically ratty -- and we're expecting something called El Niño, that's supposed to be just shy of Old-Testament build-me-an-ark intensity. We withstood heat waves like those in Day the Earth Caught Fire, and now we'll get the storms part. This has been a wild year for DVD Savant, which is still a little unsettled. DVDtalk has been very patient and generous, and so have Stuart Galbraith & Joe Dante; so far everything...

At long last, a worthy digital transfer has been granted the rather grim and horrific Tenderness of the Wolves, an obscure title from the extensive universe of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, here serving as producer. The fourth title assembled under Fassbinder’s production company Tango-Film, Ulli Lommel takes on directorial duty for what stands as the his most notable title. But Lommel’s contributions take a back seat to leading star and screenwriter Kurt Raab. Both members of Fassbinder’s extensive cinematic troupe, having starred in 1969’s Love is Colder Than Death, along with several future affiliations, the film’s production history proves to have its own potent elements dictating the final memorable outcome.

Padded out with a ton of notable Fassbinder faces, it’s a wonder this title isn’t more well-known, even as a cult favorite. But its explicit homosexual content, derided as harmful and negative at the time,...

The catalyst behind Ulli Lommel's perverse horror masterpiece might be writer-actor-art director Kurt Raab. He's almost too convincing as Fritz Haarmann, an infamous real-life serial killer of young men who masks his abominable activities behind a snitch relationship with the police. He's an obscene cross between Peter Lorre's child-murderer and the ghoul Nosferatu. Tenderness of the Wolves Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD Arrow Video (UK) 1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 80 min. / Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe / Street Date November 2, 2015 / £12.99 Starring Kurt Raab, Jeff Roden, Margit Carstensen, Ingrid Caven, Wolfgang Schenck, Brigitte Mira, Rainer Hauer, Barbara Bertram, Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Cinematography Jürgen Jürges Production Design Kurt Raab Makeup Elfie Kruse Editing Thea Eymèsz Original Music Peter Raben Written by Kurt Raab Produced by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Michael Fengler Directed by Ulli Lommel

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Movie horrors can't compete with real life any more, in an overcrowded, often hostile world that seems to encourage terrible crimes.

This week on Off The Shelf, Ryan is joined by Brian Saur to take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for the week of October 27th, 2015, and chat about some follow-up and home video news.

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Episode Links & Notes Follow-up Sony Supreme Cinema Blu-rays Wireless Headphones News Arrow Video: American Horror Film Box Set Scream Factory: Manhunter… Warner Archive November Titles BFI 2016 Titles Kino Lorber Studio Classics New Releases The 10th Kingdom – 15th Anniversary Special Edition The Beatles 1 Bloodsucking Bastards Doctor Who: Series 9 Part 1 Eclipse Series 44: Julien Duvivier in the Thirties The End of the Tour Flight of the Conchords Hardware Wars Inside Out The Love Butcher Mannequin Worricker: The Complete Series Mobile Suit Gundam (First Gundam) Part 1 Roar Secret Squirrel Show Complete Collection The Spikes Gang Tenderness Of The Wolves Toy Story that Time Forgot Episode Credits Ryan Gallagher...

Halloween may be over, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t great horror and sci-fi movies arriving this Tuesday on Blu-ray and DVD. Scream Factory is keeping themselves busy with the release of both Bloodsucking Bastards and Stung (the latter in conjunction with IFC Midnight), and for those of you creature feature fans out there, Lavalantula comes home on November 3rd.

Other notable releases this week include México Barbaro, The Diabolical, Arrow’s special edition Blu for Tenderness of the Wolves, and The Diabolical.

Bloodsucking Bastards (Scream Factory Blu-ray & DVD)

Bloodsucking Bastards stars Fran Kranz as Evan Sanders, a low-level, dutiful employee stuck in a boring job at a soul-killing every corporation. Evan’s the kind of guy who does all the work and gets none of the credit, but at least he gets to spend his days with his beautiful co-worker/girlfriend Amanda (Emma Fitzpatrick) and...

To mark the release of Tenderness of the Wolves on 2nd November, we’ve been given 3 copies to give away on Blu-ray. Fritz Haarmann, aka the Butcher of Hanover and the Vampire of Hanover, was a German serial killer responsible for the murders of two dozen boys and young men during the so-called ‘years of

The post Win Tenderness of The Wolves of Blu-ray appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Stars: Kurt Raab, Jeff Roden, Margit Carstensen, Ingrid Caven, Wolfgang Schenck, Brigitte Mira, Rainer Hauer, Barbara Bertram, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Heinrich Giskes, Friedrich Karl Praetorius | Written by Kurt Raab | Directed by Uli Lommel

Normally films about serial killers focus on the creation of a monster, often focusing on the hero hunting them down and stopping them. What if the serial killer is somebody we become sympathetic to? That is the focus of Tenderness of the Wolves, aka Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe, the latest film to get the Arrow Video Blu-ray treatment…

Tenderness of the Wolves is based on the real life story of Fritz Haarmann a known thief and known gay man, at a time when it was illegal to be in Germany. Given a special license by the police to act for them as an informer, his illegal actions were often ignored. When too many young men were going...

Disturbing and Terror-ific Blurays – New from Arrow Video Us

New from Arrow Video Us Edgar Allan Poe’s Black Cats: Two Adaptations By Sergio Martino & Lucio Fulci, Tenderness Of The Wolves, and Borowczyk’s Immoral Tales and The Beast via Mvd Entertainment Group Mvd Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of Arrow Video in the Us with a strong schedule of new titles for September and October… Tenderness of the Wolves ...

Hnn | Horrornews.net - Official News Site...

After the announcement of the Fightfest’s opening and closing films a week ago, the UK’s premiere horror festival has announced its complete line-up… And they’re not making it easy for us to bring you reviews of the majority of the films screening this year!

Yes, not only is Frightfest taking over the Vue cinema on Leicester Square again this year but they’re also taking over an extra screen, Screen 1, at the old home of Frightfest, The Prince Charles Cinema – which will be the location of Another “Discovery” screen strand.

From the press release:

Bigger, bolder, bloodier…Film4 FrightFest 2015 marks its 16th year with its largest line-up ever. From Thurs 27 August to Mon 31 August, the UK’s leading event for genre fans will return to the Vue West End, Leicester Square to present seventy-six films across five screens, plus a host of special events. There are eighteen...

The 16th edition of genre film festival unveils full line-up.

Film4 FrightFest will mark its 16th edition with its largest line-up ever, showcasing 76 films across five screens at the Vue West End in Leicester Square from Aug 27-31.

This year’s line-up features 20 world premieres, a record-breaking 16 European premieres and 26 UK premieres, with 18 countries represented. In addition, there will be a further ‘Discovery’ strand at The Prince Charles Cinema, marking a return to the festival’s original home.

As previously announced, the European premieres of Cherry Tree and Tales of Halloween will bookend this year’s edition.

World premieres at this year’s FrightFest include Paul Hyett’s creature feature Howl, anthology A Christmas Horror Story, Steve Oram’s comedy Aaaaaaaah! and Liam Regan’s revenge thriller Banjo, while European premieres include Ben Cresciman’s Sun Choke, Paz Brothers’ Jeruzalem and Adam Mason’s Hangman.

Bernard Rose’s Frankenstein, Ted Geoghegan’s haunted house throwback We Are Still Here, [link...

Shadow people, sharp-fanged co-workers, and insistent sinister spirits will just be a few of the monsters haunting the theaters at this year's Film4 FrightFest. The full lineup for the upcoming event is packed with 76 films aimed to unforgettably frighten audiences.

Press Release: "Film news (UK): Film4 FrightFest serves up a fearsome feast with a record 76 films, embracing 20 world and 42 UK & European premieres

Bigger, bolder, bloodier…Film4 FrightFest 2015 marks its 16th year with its largest line-up ever. From Thurs 27 August to Mon 31 August, the UK’s leading event for genre fans will return to the Vue West End, Leicester Square to present seventy-six films across five screens, plus a host of special events. There are eighteen countries representing five continents with a record-breaking sixteen European premieres and twenty-six UK premieres. In addition, there is a further ‘Discovery’ strand at The Prince Charles Cinema, signalling a welcome return to FrightFest’s spiritual home.

Much fun is to be had with inept directors, whether is is wetting yourself laughing at their terrible films or putting out a petition for them to retire. What is amusing to note about inept directors is their profligacy and intestinal fortitude. The critics may hate them but they keep on beavering away adding new inept films to their repertoire whether people like it or not.

Most of the directors in this list are cult directors. There may be terrible directors working in mainstream Hollywood. I don’t know mainstream so I can’t comment upon them, but I would be interested if you told me about them below. Feel free to add your very own inept director and enjoy the list!

10. Ulli Lommel

Given a break by Fassbinder as an actor, Lommel starred in many Fassbinder films which I quite enjoy, being a student of the German language. When Fassbinder died,...

Actor best known for her nuanced portrayal of a faded screen idol in Veronika Voss, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder

According to the German actor and writer Peter Berling, the most important thing for the director Rainer Werner Fassbinder was "to surround himself with people who needed him for their own survival … from the beginning he wanted to create a 'family', something he himself never had". One devoted member of this family was Rosel Zech, who has died of bone cancer aged 69.

Sadly, Veronika Voss (1982), in which Zech became a Fassbinder star, was the director's penultimate film, released less than four months before his death, at the age of 37, of a drug overdose. "I never felt so comfortable with any other director," Zech declared. "We were just at the beginning and had many plans together." One of these was a biopic of the writer and activist Rosa Luxemburg, the uncompleted...

I really am a glass is half full kind of guy. I look past director’s not-so amazing films and concentrate on when they were on fire and hitting their marks. Filmmaker Ulli Lommel was rocking and rolling in the 80′s with one diverse horror movie after another. There is nothing more exciting for me than introducing an obscure flick to a new audience. Ulli Lommel granted me a rare interview on The Devonsville Terror, a tale of witchcraft, which was quite daring at the time considering American audiences were in the midst of a slasher craze.

Jason Bene: Within the horror community you are best known for your 1980 film The Boogeyman. I have always had a soft spot for The Devonsville Terror and respected the fact that you were making something fresh and original. What made you decide to do a modern day witchcraft movie?

Ulli Lommel: I...