Familienradgeber (2006 Video) User Reviews

funny not gory

[Komabrutale · 7/10 · 30 March 2007]

Familien Radgeber is another flick by the always entertaining German director Olaf Ittenbach. (one of my fa vs)

First of all i would like to point out that, this movie is all but gory.

Its about this family (played by Olaf Ittenbach himself and his family) who is put in different situations.

Was kinda hard for me to understand the whole storyline cause me being from Denmark and the movie in German language only and without subs. But that didn't rob it from being very funny and laughable.

When i bought this movie i was expecting blood, gore smashed heads and the full gore-galore as i've seen in all his other flicks, but on that point i was very disappointed, this film has maybe 2 or 3 scenes with this and can not be compared to any of his other works such as Burning Moon, Black Past or Premutos at all.

But on the other hand i was very much surprised, when i began to watch this movie. It was hilarious, black humor, at its best when Director Ittenbach depicts him and his family in very brutal and funny scenes of violence.

For instance the scene (little spoiler) where Ittenbachs's son is dressed up for Halloween (or such) as a cowboy waving his (toy) guns at his father (Played by Ittenbach) then Ittenbach becomes frustrated and haul out a real gun and shoots him. This is one of the most funny scenes in the movie.

A very funny little gem but not gory ill give this 7/10 for its very amusing sequences.

enjoy...........

Das Komabrutale Duell

Ittenbach comedy?...unexpected but good

[cynical_666 · 7/10 · 29 May 2007]

I must admit the first time around I was very disappointed in this film...if fact I fell asleep. It is not...I repeat...NOT TRADITIONAL ITTENBACH. You spend $35 dollars to import some German splatter and that is what you expect Splatter. Ittenbach does something new here though; he returns to his roots of low budget schlock... basically shot on DV with a minimum crew and what appears to be little budget, Ittenbach essentially sets out to combine the amateur style horror he helped create with the absurdism of John Waters...it's fantastic ... if you realize what you are getting into. Basically it is 1 & 1/2 hours of Ittenbach and his wife killing off children that they don't want, but continue to produce. It is absurd, disgusting, and morally reprehensible; but strangely has this "Modest Proposal" feel to it. Kids get killed with cleavers, get get their hands cut off in car trucks..kids just die. I think the main problem is that most of the humor is missed because many of the individuals watching the film don't speak German like myself...a problem when many of the films that drove Ittenbach into mainstream America...(Garden of Love, Beyond the limits; House of Blood; and even the VSH release of Burning Moon)...all had dubs or subtitles. This is further compounded by the fact that many of his early films didn't need translation to follow...they were blood, gore and demons with predictable stories that you could follow through the cinematography...a staple of a good director. It would seem that with the current film though, most of the humor and plot is driven by the dialog and it takes some time for the movie to progress...that is because it is a comedy and not a horror film...in fact it is safe to call it satire..which in itself implies a dry, slow, overly serious approach to something that should not be handled in that matter. It is a step out for Ittenbach and I give him a round of applause..plus I think it says a lot for him to be able to step back from doing higher budget releases and return to his roots that made him who he is...not many can make it in the film industry and remain true to themselves...I mean seriously...where's Bad Taste 2...that's right Go Ittenbach.