Absolute Evil

I'm not certain how Ulli Lommel's empty thriller Absolute Evil got into the Berlin film festival, but after the woeful Daniel the Magician from a few years ago, I'm surprised, very surprised. Toplined David Carradine plays a jovial sort of gangster which is a small role in this home-made thriller film. The story has a woman chasing after her father's killers about 15 years too late. A torture/waterboarding scene is the primal image in Absolute Evil -- it is the scene that Lommel cuts back to frequently, and becomes the symbol of how this movie grates on the nerves.

Absolute Evil borrows from such films as Kill Bill and Planet of the Apes, but steals more heavily from Lommel's own C-grade horror efforts, such as The Boogeyman, BTK Killer, Green River Killer, Killer Pickton, and Mummy Maniac.

In other words, Absolute Evil borrows extensively from other filmmakers. There are a few fancy cinematic moments in Absolute Evil, and if one looked carefully one might find these, too, have been borrowed from other movies.

Absolute Evil is technically terrible -- the lighting and sound are in particular abysmal. The reviewer for Hollywood Reporter got it right when he said, the film "is quite simply excruciating to watch." Whoever wrote in the IMDb comments that this was a great movie must have mistaken Absolute Evil for some other flick.

What a pathetic excuse for a film. Ulli Lommel is infamous for his zero-budget slasher flicks, so incompetently made that even Aunt Martha's home movies look like Kurosawa, but with this abomination Lommel really hit rock bottom. The script and dialog is nonsensical and ridiculous and the "photography" doesn't deserve to be called that (just put the camera in a corner on auto setting, push record and pray for the best). Seeing other "reviewers" compare it to Fassbinder is a joke. It is obvious that the persons responsible for this laughable excuse for a movie have absolutely zero clue about film-making, framing, acting, writing, structure or taste. To be avoided at all cost.

The film played at Berlinale film festival in Berlin and the premiere was on February 8th. I got the ticket to the premiere the day before and later I heard that the screening was sold out!

It's a nice movie about love, hate, forgiveness and murder. The main roles are played by new talents like Carolyn Neff and Rusty Joiner, but there is also 'veteran actors' like Ulli Lommel, Chris Kriesa and David Carradine. I think Lommel makes his best performance in years plus Kriesa and Carradine were great choices to their roles such as Neff and Joiner.

I hope it will be released on DVD soon, so I can buy it!

It was a great surprise to see ABSOLUTE EVIL at the Berlin Film Festival. At first I had reservations, because I did not like Lommel's recent horror flicks. But with this thrilling and inspiring film noir he returns to the formidable strength of his earlier works like BOOGEYMAN and TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES. I overheard people at the festival in Berlin comparing it to Quentin Tarentino's work, some even suggested it was a rip-off, but I totally disagree. ABSOLUTE EVIL is one of the most entertaining films I have seen in a long time, but you need to have brains and be able to speak English fluently in order to enjoy this film. It is not a dumb horror flick. The story is about love, forgiveness, redemption and revenge. And David Carradine as aging gang leader is a special treat. When the film is released, try to watch the original version. Highly recommendable!

I saw "Absolute Evil' at Berlin International Film Festival in Zoo Palast theater. The premiere and the next screening of the movie were sold out and it's one of the biggest theaters - if not the biggest - in Berlin. It had a great review on a German magazine so I wanted to see it and I was lucky enough to get the ticket.

"Absolute Evil' is simply the best film Ulli Lommel has made since 1980s. And the important thing is that it proofs that the director still has his talent after all these serial killer movies and everything.

The movie tells a story about Savannah (Carolyn Neff) who's boyfriend Cooper (Rusty Joiner) gets killed after she finds out who Cooper really is. She wants to find out the killer of Cooper, and things leads to the old leader of 17th street gang, Raf (David Carradine). I don't want to tell too much about the movie, so that's all I say about the story.

There is some great performances by the actors. Neff is beautiful, believable and good in her first big film role, Joiner gives a touching performance and the "old stars" Christopher Kriesa, Ulli Lommel and David Carradine are as good as always. It's nice to see that Carradine has made at least one good movie after "Kill Bill" films.

It's a must see and it was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l on the big screen in a theater with 1,000 people.