Review for Nekromantik [Limited Edition Dual Format + OST]

‘Nekromantik’ has gained cult-status as a film that may seem, if you look at some of the salacious packaging of previous releases outside the UK, to belong to the ‘video nasties’ straight-to-video boom of the mid-1980’s. It was certainly made at that time. But having viewed the film for the first time, along with its copious extras, it’s actually more closely aligned to the slightly scuzzy underground industrial scene of the time. Influences here are more likely to be Psychic TV, Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, SPK and the transgressive New York video art scene from Richard Kern and Lydia Lunch et al. Watching the extras it became clear that this was definitely the case.




So it’s a film with a home-made, low-rent vibe – shot on 8mm and, even on Blu-Ray looking as scuzzy as hell. Which was partly the point. Even TV shows of the time, like ‘Snub TV’ in the UK (anyone remember that?) got caught up in the same vibe where static, grain and wobble were all perfectly acceptable.

It’s funny. ‘Nekromantik’ has a reputation for being a heavily banned movie in the UK. The truth is, it wasn’t, principally because, until now, no one had bothered trying. Getting round some weird legal loophole (where arthouse cinemas suggested they were private clubs) it’s only official airing in the UK was as part of a 24 hour ‘Shock Around the Clock’ day at the Scala cinema in Kings Cross in 1988. I remember the place well though never went to one of the 24 hour horror-thons. Fearful that the police would arrive (as they had done during a showing in Berlin) to seize the 16mm print, it was shown last. It’s effect, even then, had people leaving in droves.
So apart from the fact that the film is so horribly amateurish as to be almost unwatchable (part of its charm for some), seeing it for the first time I’d have to say that, as shocking as it is (more on this later), it didn't quite shock me as much as I thought it might.


Directed by a young industrial music enthusiast in 1986-7, Jörg Buttgereit, it is essentially the story of Rob Schmadtke (played by musician friend Daktari Lorenz), who is in love with a girl who has a thing putrefying cadavers. Nice.

As the press release for the movie puts it: “An employee of Joe’s Streetcleaning Agency, a company which cleans up after grisly accidents, Rob takes advantage of his profession to indulge in his chosen hobby – the collection of body parts. Then, one day, Rob brings home an entire decomposing corpse, much to the delight of girlfriend Betty. There follows a twisted love triangle, resulting in some of the most shocking scenes ever committed to celluloid.”



You have to admire Arrow for having the balls to put the uncut version of this film forward for British classification. There seemed to be a dozen points at least that at one time would have to have been cut for release but this time it was cleared uncut.



Looking at the BBFC’s comments, it was released with the following words of caution offered up by the BBFC regarding the film's contents:

"There are a number of scenes in which the principal characters have sex with heavily decayed corpses. These scenes include simulated penetration and oral sex. There is also a scene in which a man ejaculates a mixture of blood and semen, although this is clearly and obviously fake.”

"There are some scenes of strong bloody violence, including a man stabbing himself in the stomach repeatedly. There are also some scenes of sexual violence, including a prostitute being raped and strangled, and a scene in which a character watches a film in which a woman is being attacked.
"There is sight of a rabbit being slaughtered and skinned."

All true but as it’s so ineptly produced, very little of this looks realistic with the exception of the skinning of the rabbit. Apparently that was real and was something that was not done specifically for the movie but which, frankly, I didn’t want to see (who would?) and which was the most upsetting part of the whole thing. Why Buttergeit felt a ‘real death’ was essential (which he does claim to be the case in one of the interviews) is anyone’s guess. He seems like such a nice boy.


‘Nekromantic’ is actually a pretty crummy movie by any yard-stick. The (not real) killing of a cat is just one plain nasty example of what I don’t like about it. On the plus side, it does have a rather nice soundtrack (particularly the haunting solo piano pieces that tenderly accompany the ‘love-making’ sequences) but everything else is pretty poor. Were it not for its notorious subject matter I feel sure it would have just been seen as just another slightly inept student movie – and God knows there are plenty of those about these days, now that the modus operandi is so inexpensive. Or maybe it’s the 8mm thing? People aren’t used to that anymore so it does have a particular look. Someone shot a video of a band I was in on that format in 1988 so there it was definitely ‘in the air’ at the time.

For the curious though, Arrow have really pulled the stops out. It has the most dazzling array of extras and it was these that I enjoyed far more than the movie itself.

So here’s what you get (with some comments from me where appropriate) if you decide to go for one of the 3000 limited run 3 disc sets.

•High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of three Buttgereit films: Nekromantik (1987), Hot Love (1985) [29 mins] and Horror Heaven (1984) [23 mins] Note: The High Definition thing is meaningless here as it looks so bad in the first place and the two short films are even more inept, dull and amateurish that the feature.
•Optional English subtitles for all three films
•Limited Edition packaging featuring new artwork by Gilles Vranckx
•Individually-numbered #/3,000 Certificate
•Set of 5 Exclusive Limited Edition Nekromantik “polaroid” postcards
•Exclusive Limited Edition 100-page book.



DISC 1 [BLU-RAY] & DISC 2 [DVD] – NEKROMANTIK & JÖRG BUTTGEREIT SHORT FILMS

•Nekromantik audio commentary with Jörg Buttgereit and co writer Franz Rodenkirchen
•Hot Love audio commentary with Buttgereit
•Horror Heaven audio commentary with Buttgereit
•Director’s introduction to Nekromantik
•Alternative “Grindhouse Version” of Nekromantik, newly-transferred for this release from the only existing 35mm print [Blu-ray only]
•In Conversation with The Death King – A brand-new 2014 interview with Buttgereit conducted exclusively for this release (This was one of the most interesting additions – what a surprise that Buttergeit turns out to be such a pleasant looking/sounding individual!)
•Morbid Fascination: The Nekromantik Legacy – A brand-new 2014 documentary looking at the impact of the film on the horror scene both in the UK and abroad, featuring interviews with genre critic Alan Jones, Marc Morris, producer of Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide Parts 1 & 2, and Buttgereit biographer David Kerekes
•Q&A with Buttgereit recorded at Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts (2014)
•The Making of Nekromantik – A vintage documentary featuring a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage, newly-transferred in HD and viewable with two different audio tracks: an English commentary with Buttgereit, co-author Franz Rodenkirchen and David Kerekes, and a German-language audio track featuring radio interviews with Buttgereit, Rodenkirchen and producer Manfred Jelinski
•Nekromantik Featurette – A look back at the film’s production, featuring interviews with Buttgereit and Jelinski, produced for the film’s 10-year anniversary German VHS release
•Nekromantik Premiere – A short featurette comprised of footage from the film’s premiere in Berlin, January 1988
•“Das Letzte” – A short featurette comprising footage from the 1985 premiere of Hot Love
•Horror Heaven trailer featuring outtakes from the film
•Two Buttgereit-directed music videos: ‘I Can’t Let Go’ by Shock Therapy (1995) and ‘Lemmy, I’m a Feminist’ by Half Girl (2013) (Both godawful…)
•Complete collection of Buttgereit feature film trailers: Nekromantik, Der Todesking, Nekromantik 2 and Schramm
•Extensive image gallery including behind-the-scenes stills and the rare, surrealist German-language Nekromantik comic by Berlin artist Fil, reproduced in its entirety.

DISC 3 [CD] – NEKROMANTIK SOUNDTRACK: ULTIMATE EDITION – LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE
•27-track CD featuring the complete Nekromantik soundtrack composed and performed by star Daktari Lorenz and musicians John Boy Walton and Hermann Kopp, plus rare tracks from Hot Love.




100-PAGE BOOK – ‘ROMANCE IS DEAD’ – LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE
Exclusive perfect-bound book featuring a new article on Nekromantik from critic Graham Rae, alongside pieces from writers David Kerekes (Sex Murder Art: The Films of Jörg Buttgereit), Kier-La Janisse (House of Psychotic Women), Linnie Blake (The Wounds of Nations ) and an archive interview with real-life necrophile Karen Greenlee, all illustrated with new artwork and original archive stills. Pretty impressive booklet from which all the stills in this review were taken.

And finally …

So how to rate a film like ‘Nekromantik’? Well, that’s easy. Two out of ten. But how to rate a release like this for those who are fans of the release? Ten out of ten. No one could reasonably expect anything more. As a result I have done the maths and settled on an average – six out of ten. I think that’s fair? Whether you want to buy it or not is entirely your choice. If you do then this is clearly the edition to get.