Schramm (1993)

As serial killer Lothar Schramm lies dying in his own blood, horrific memories of his miserable life of paranoia, self-harm and rejection flash before his eyes. A tragic look into the mind of a serial killer.

Director:

Jörg Buttgereit

Writers:

Jörg Buttgereit, Franz Rodenkirchen

Stars:

Florian Koerner von Gustorf, Monika M., Micha Brendel

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Florian Koerner von Gustorf	...	Lothar Schramm
Monika M.	...	Marianne
Micha Brendel	...	Der Gläubige
Carolina Harnisch	...	Die Gläubige
Xaver Schwarzenberger	...	Älterer Herr 1
Gerd Horvath	...	Älterer Herr 2
Michael Brynntrup	...	Jesus
Franz Rodenkirchen	...	Zahnarzt
Anne Presting	...	Zahnärztin
Eddi Zacharias	...	Liebhaber
Michael Romahn	...	Selbstmörder
Volker Hauptvogel	...	Kellner

Storyline

Lothar Schramm is a simple man with complex problems, yet he seems like such a nice guy. He works as a taxi driver and lives by himself where he is happy to answer his door to strangers and kill them outright. As with many shy loner types he has a problem dealing with woman so he drugs them and photographs their nude bodies for sexual stimulation. He then murders his helpless victims and so goes the life of a deranged serial killer.

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Plot Keywords:

male rear nudity | male frontal nudity | male nudity | pantyhose | female stockinged legs | 

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Taglines:

...today I am dirty, but tomorrow I'll be just dirt.

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie is stylized and artfully shot on 16mm film to add a more realistic feel to it.

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Connections

Referenced in Adjust Your Tracking (2013)

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Soundtracks

Vor Dem Herrn
Written by 'Max Müller' & 'Gundula Schmitz'

User Reviews

A real surprise.

I must say that out of all the Jörg Buttgereit movies I have seen so far this is by far the best. It uses all of the same themes as his other movies (nudity, sex, mutilation, violence, killings, death) but it's more successful with it than usual, making this an artistic successful one, as well as an powerful one that is being effective with its themes.

The movie gives us a real look inside the head of a serial killer/rapist/necrophiliac. We see his weird fantasies of extreme violence and sex but we also see his fantasies of how he truly wants to be. The movie doesn't present its main character as a deranged psycho but more as a man who can't help being the way he is. He's struggling with it himself at points but in the end he just can't help being the man that he is. With self mutilation he tries to fight the feelings and punish himself for the deeds he has done but it's all in vein.

Yes, it's a quite odd movie, due to its themes and the way it's being brought to the screen. Jörg Buttgereit often picks the artistic approach and uses some symbolism and metaphors. For this movie he obviously got inspired by Luis Buñuel's work. Jörg Buttgereit is like the German Luis Buñuel and Takashi Miike, though not all of his movies work out as well as this one does.

It shows the world as a dirty place. Not only with it's extreme violence or people living in it but also with its almost depressing settings. The main characters apartment looks like it's an outdated '70's bachelor shack, in the middle of a bad and poor neighborhood.

It's a movie that works on so many levels with its themes and with the story it tries to tell. Jörg Buttgereit always aspires all of his movies to be like this but not all of his work works out as well and successful as this one does though.

9/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Germany

Language:

German French

Release Date:

1993 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Schramm: Into the Mind of a Serial Killer

Filming Locations:

Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jelinski & Buttgereit

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1