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Late To The Party – Nekromantik 1&2

Published

6 years ago

February 14, 2018

Valentine’s Day, a day that most of us use to fully express how much we care about the one(s) we love. Some give gifts like cards, flowers, or jewelry and go on dates. The card aisles are covered in hearts and my local Dollar Tree has way too many balloons hanging from the ceiling. So to celebrate Valentine’s Day I figured I would finally get around to watching Jörg Buttgereit’s tales of romancing with corpses, Nekromantik 1&2. Spoilers and taboos are a plenty.

NSFW WARNING! NSFW things will be in this piece

Some context on why Buttgereit made the film: it was to piss people off, especially the German censors. He set out to make an experimental romance film covering and showing taboos such as necrophilia, pornographic images, life/death with stock footage of a rabbit being skinned and people peeing. So going into this film expecting a horror film would be greatly misguided.

I first tried watching the Nekromantik a few years ago when I borrowed a copy from my job. I watched a good twenty minutes, was bored and shut it off. I went into expecting a horror film and instead got people peeing. I didn’t understand what Buttgereit’s intentions with the film were. So now its Valentine’s Day, my turn to do a Late to the Party, and I couldn’t come up with any other titles to watch for the first time. So here I am, once again, struggling to get through this film but with a new mindset.

Nekromantik follows the story of a road clean up crew worker who brings back corpses for him and his girlfriend to fool around with. His girlfriend leaves him and takes the corpse with her, sending him into a depression that ultimately ends in suicide. The film is about an hour and fifteen minutes long and I have officially fallen asleep during it on three separate occasions.

The film is low budget which kind of adds to realism of some of its more graphic bits, but is ultimately pretty damn boring. For me the scenes went on for ages and it wasn’t until the last 15 minutes did the film truly capture my attention with it’s literal climax. All in all, the film has its audience and its not me. Would I watch this again? Probably not. Am I looking forward to watching the second one? Kind of, yeah.

Four years after the original Nekromantik the sequel, Nekromantik 2: The Return of the Loving Dead was released. This time into a few actual theaters which lead to it being banned by the German government. In the sequel, we find the “hero” from first film’s corpse being taken by a nurse. She develops a relationship with the corpse while also dating a man who works in porn. As her and the living man’s relationship blossoms, they both must cope with the skeletons in her closet, or should I say, corpse in her apartment.

he Loving Dead is in many ways a better made film. Better pacing, effects, lighting, acting, all around its evident that there was a bit more of a budget and experience in the making of this film. The blood/gore are better and plentiful. The blossoming love triangle is much more of an interesting story than the previous film’s couple breaking up. The random stock footage of an animal (this time a seal) is contextualized with the characters watching the footage, there is a musical number and the climax is just as messing as the first. Still, the film didn’t do much for me. Both films kind of come off as that kind trying to show you fucked up things he found online in middle school. Sure there is some shock, but you get tired of it pretty quickly.

Overall, both films did what they set out to do. Showcasing taboos in a “romantic” style, but outside of its shock value there is little substance to the films. The finales for both are interesting, but other than that I am honestly OK with being late to this party. It wasn’t really my scene. If watching a German experimental film about necrophilia sounds like a a good time to you, then you probably should check it out. If not then go watch You Got Mail. Meg Ryan is delightful in that.

Tune in next week as Shaun watches 30 Days of Night!

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Netflix Releases First BTS ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen’ Footage

Published

6 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Timothy Rawles

It’s been three long years since Netflix unleashed the bloody, but enjoyable Fear Street on its platform. Released in a tryptic fashion, the streamer broke up the story into three episodes, each taking place in a different decade which by the finale were all tied together.

Now, the streamer is in production for its sequel Fear Street: Prom Queen which brings the story into the 80s. Netflix gives a synopsis of what to expect from Prom Queen on their blog site Tudum:

“Welcome back to Shadyside. In this next installment of the blood-soaked Fear Street franchise, prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.”

Based on R.L. Stine’s massive series of Fear Street novels and spin-offs, this chapter is number 15 in the series and was published in 1992.

FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN IS NOW IN PRODUCTION 🩸 Welcome to Shadyside High. We're gonna have a killer time. pic.twitter.com/jDl0zRa2CH
— Netflix (@netflix) April 30, 2024

Fear Street: Prom Queen features a killer ensemble cast, including India Fowler (The Nevers, Insomnia), Suzanna Son (Red Rocket, The Idol), Fina Strazza (Paper Girls, Above the Shadows), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty, Cinnamon), Ella Rubin (The Idea of You), Chris Klein (Sweet Magnolias, American Pie), Lili Taylor (Outer Range, Manhunt) and Katherine Waterston (The End We Start From, Perry Mason).

No word on when Netflix will drop the series into its catalog.

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Live Action Scooby-Doo Reboot Series In Works at Netflix

Published

7 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The ghosthunting Great Dane with an anxiety problem, Scooby-Doo, is getting a reboot and Netflix is picking up the tab. Variety is reporting that the iconic show is becoming an hour-long series for the streamer although no details have been confirmed. In fact, Netflix execs declined to comment.

If the project is a go, this would be the first live-action movie based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon since 2018’s Daphne & Velma. Before that, there were two theatrical live-action movies, Scooby-Doo (2002) and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), then two sequels that premiered on The Cartoon Network.

Currently, the adult-oriented Velma is streaming on Max.

Scooby-Doo originated in 1969 under the creative team Hanna-Barbera. The cartoon follows a group of teenagers who investigate supernatural happenings. Known as Mystery Inc., the crew consists of Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Shaggy Rogers, and his best friend, a talking dog named Scooby-Doo.

Normally the episodes revealed the hauntings they encountered were hoaxes developed by land-owners or other nefarious characters hoping to scare people away from their properties. The original TV series named Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ran from 1969 to 1986. It was so successful that movie stars and pop culture icons would make guest appearances as themselves in the series.

Celebrities such as Sonny & Cher, KISS, Don Knotts, and The Harlem Globetrotters made cameos as did Vincent Price who portrayed Vincent Van Ghoul in a few episodes.

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BET Releasing New Original Thriller: The Deadly Getaway

Published

7 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Cameron McFarland

BET will soon be offering horror fans a rare treat. The studio has announced the official release date for their new original thriller, The Deadly Getaway. Directed by Charles Long (The Trophy Wife), this thriller sets up a heart racing game of cat and mouse for audiences to sink their teeth into.

Wanting to break up the monotony of their routine, Hope and Jacob set off to spend their vacation at a simple cabin in the woods. However, things go sideways when Hope’s ex-boyfriend shows up with a new girl at the same campsite. Things soon spiral out of control. Hope and Jacob must now work together to escape the woods with their lives.

The Deadly Getaway is written by Eric Dickens (Makeup X Breakup) and Chad Quinn (Reflections of US). The Film stars, Yandy Smith-Harris (Two Days in Harlem), Jason Weaver (The Jacksons: An American Dream), and Jeff Logan (My Valentine Wedding).

Showrunner Tressa Azarel Smallwood had the following to say about the project. “The Deadly Getaway is the perfect reintroduction to classic thrillers, which encompass dramatic twists, and spine-chilling moments. It showcases the range and diversity of emerging Black writers across genres of film and television.”

The Deadly Getaway will premiere on 5.9.2024, exclusively ion BET+.