Knochenwald, I guess nobody heard of it by now. The reason is simple, it's a German splatterfest. I came in contact more than a year ago due to Maik Ude (The Butcher). I met Maik last year at German's Weekend Of Horror. There I came in contact with the label distributing this trilogy. But again, contacting them came out to nothing, it was sold out they said. By preparing for the next Weekend Of Horror I watched my flyers and due to some friends online it was for me time to contact the director Utz Marius Thomsen because he's the man behind it all. And indeed, he still had some copies (limited up to 500), signed one for me and I received it quickly and put it as fast I could into the DVD player. What I knew before was that it was a no budget flick as one could see via the trailers online. What I received was the trilogy of Knochenwald so I spend my daytime watching them in a row. Knochenwald: The first part was in fact a short story clocking in at 23 minutes. And let me say, that was a good choice. You can add a simple storyline and simple effects into that running time. The first thing I noticed is that Utz really loves the genre and knows his way into editing. Due the no budget he wasn't able to make real effects so by editing he gave you the "effect" that what you saw was happening. The continuity was okay and I never saw any shadows of camera's, crew or microphones. He also added the famous first person shots of the killer in it. But is it all fun and games, of course not. Once you have seen the trilogy you can see on the credits that it's always the same friends that were making the movies and sadly it shows. Being no actors they made some typical failures. When one victim is hiding under a tree you can easily spot him but the killer doesn't see him, even as you can easily see him. But the biggest mistake is made by Stefan Anlauf. He's the one with the orange T-shirt. When he's being killed he has a smile on his face and while his intestines are ripped out of his body he's still smiling. Smiling towards the crew (his friends), should have re-take that scene. Also on the effects there was one obvious thing. The last victim was in perfect shape but just before he's been ripped apart he's a guy with a belly, easily to see that his intestines were hidden under his T-shirt. But maybe I am now a bit to hard for Utz first attempt. Again, due it's 23 minutes it's fun to watch. And if you don't understand German, no probs, there isn't much said in this splatterfest. Knochenwald 2: Utz is back a few years later with part 2. Again the red stuff flows frequently and Utz his friends do reappear in this flick. But they have learned in the years between part 1 and part 2. The first killing is done by editing for example. And here the story takes a twist due 2 killers becoming brothers in crime. Sadly the quality of the video drops after the shots in the wood. Strange why, I guess they did reshoot some things before the edited it. There is more talking in it and again, if you aren't familiar with German language you will have your problems. It's really strange that a lot of German movies doesn't get any English subs, even labels like X Rated or other well known labels doesn't do it. The score is better than the first one, again it's the same electro band making the score. As in part one, some acting is really wooden. And again, some "actors" getting killed do have a smile on their face will being slaughtered. Some mistakes shouldn't have been made in this part, the one that I said before, the laughing actors but also when a girl is choked to death she's still breathing. Another thing that isn't that good is are the scene's at the psychiatry. There we have a bit of a spoof. The crazy people are really unbelievable. But go watch the scene with the Hannibal Lecter mask an the brain, I guess it's an ode to the original. But still it's worth watching, the killings happens frequently so it never really gets bored. Knochenwald 3: This is a real feature, part 2 clocked in at 1 hour, this one is 90 minutes. It start off with a compilation of part 2. Then we move over to some satanists (metal freaks) gathering to awaken the killer Mike Mansfield. But what they added in the last part is humor. Watch the toetags in the beginning, that was a laugh, or the scene with "Ein Herz Fur Tiere". Like part 2 Utz added some CGI to upscale the effects. The quality of the video is much better this time but again there is much more talking so it's a bit harder to get into the movie. Sadly it's not all about horror or humor, they even added some stupid humor in it, the one with farting, sadly they tear this flick down. In another scene the joints are huge, but doesn't work in a splatterfest. Luckily the last 20 minutes it's all about splatter what makes the movie better. Also here I saw an ode to Dario Argento, the scene with the white wall being sprayed with blood coming out of a cut off arm (Tenebre).
If you are a splattergeek than, this is surely one for you.
If you are a splattergeek than, this is surely one for you.
