Flashback

Ik like Horror movies very much. And I rented this movie because I liked the story. The movie is spoken in German, but that doesn´t mind me. I like story with big houses and this is one of them. The movie isn´t very scary but it is much fun to watch. 8 of 10

This film was an average slasher film that heavily copies other films already done in the genre. It isn't bad, but it's not great and there's really nothing new. The high point would have to be Elke Sommer playing the character of Frau Lust (that's pronounced Loost).

The visuals in the movie are outstanding, if it deserves some praise then it is for the above average cinematography. The audio, on the DVD at least, is presented in it's original German format or a dubbed English format. I watched a few minutes in the German audio and it just didn't do much for me, and i enjoy native language films with subtitles. I can understand German very well, but i switched over to the English dub and enjoyed it much more. It's almost comical at times in the English format and i would recommend viewing it that way...it's just a touch over the top and adds to the whole experience.

Another thing is...BLOOD, BLOOD, BLOOD. The annoying teenage idiots in the movie make you want to hate them and cheer for the killer hunting them down near the end.

The ending? In one word, dumb. Why is it that every movie these days has to have some lame "Sixth Sense" shocker ending that makes little sense. It seems to be the trend these days and it's getting old.

Conclusion: I give it a 5 out of 10. This is worth a single viewing for fans of the genre. I really don't have the urge to watch it again anytime soon, but i wasn't bored. People who are not fans of the genre will probably hate it...

This is the german attempt to do a horror movie. Since the horror genre was very popular in the late ninety's (consider the scream series) they tried to copy the concept and changed the setting to a small village in the austrian alpes. First of all I think it's much too late for this. There are too much better horror movies. Everything in this movie is stereotype, a lonely village, some stupid cops etc... It's a bit boring, nothing new. It's just a film which was not necessary. The only plus is the good playing of the main actress (the nice and cute Valerie Niehaus) and that the film does not take itself too serious. Some funny scenes. And a unusual ending. I'll give 6/10. If you want some popcorn horror-cinema go out for the US Productions. They did it a lot better...

The first German try to make a commercial horror film was "Anatomie". It was very successful at the cinemas (over 2 million visitors, I think...), but at least this movie was a disappointment: there was too much talk and less suspense in it. I always had the feeling, that it was much more suited for television then for the big screen. Some months later they released "Flashback" and my expectations were not too high. I finally saw it on video and I must say that it´s better then his predecessor. "Flashback" is according much more to its American examples like "Friday the 13th", "Scream" or "I know what you did last summer...": it´s a simple slasher movie were the protagonists get killed in order of disappearance. The most positive aspect is, that this film doesn´t take itself too serious. The scene with the dead body in the cable car for example is a plain sideswipe against the yellow press. Otherwise "Flashback" contains more action and suspense then "Anatomie", because it´s not trying so hard to tell a difficult (or demanding...) story. The film goes straight forward and there are also many gory scenes, so I´m sure that all splatter fans will really like this one. The script author seems to have a sense for very dark humor, because the body count is very high and there are also some innocent little pets dying (...what an animal lover like me naturally can´t tolerate! Grrr..!!!). Fortunately, the end is pretty surprising and macabre. It´s like the one in "Scream", something you really wouldn´t expect... Finally, I left this film with the good feeling, that the Germans are able to make good horror films yet. Watch out for the up coming "The Experiment" (starring Moritz Bleibtreu) which also got a lot of good reviews..! My IMDb rating for "Flashback": 8 out of 10 points.

* minor spoiler * The director of this movie apparently helmed a lot of TV-movies in Germany and it sure shows. This German slasher tries very hard to be stylish looking in a "gallic" way, but seldom succeeds. The look is distinctly like a German TV-movie with harsh lighting in the night scenes and a rather flat look in the daytime scenes. The plot however is very "giallo" with twists and turns. The screenwriters really try to fool the viewer, but since everything is telegraphed in advance in different ways, I was rarely surprised and saw the outcome miles away in advance.

Also hurtful is the way the characters are presented. We can feel no sympathy for these young spoiled brats as they meet their bloody ends. The awful dubbing on the DVD I saw was also a big drawback. At best it's amusing, for the most part it's irritating. However, everything is not bad. The scenery is awesome, we get some nice killings with a sickle and Elke Sommer does a quite nice turn as the stern housekeeper (it would have been nice if she had been the villain of this movie, but alas...), still looking quite good for her age.

This movie also contains quite a few comedic scenes, rarely found in American or Italian slashers. They mostly involve some bumbling cops and if you like that or not is a matter of taste. Quite a few scenes border on farce actually, even a few bloody ones. Especially as they are accompanied by some really strange and in-appropriate music.

So "Flashback" is a decent time waster, but I wouldn't pay too much to see it.