Schramm

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 The main characters apartment looks like it's an outdated '70's bachelor shack, in the middle of a bad and poor neighborhood.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

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Schramm is the story of a serial killer that goes by the name of 'The Lipstick Killer'. The camera work and editing are completely amazing, and the story never gets old. Lothar Schramm is a man who is sexually deprived, and as far as I can tell, afraid of women. This isnt such a good thing for his next door neighbor, a prostitute. This movie is almost in the vein of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, but it is much more graphic and poetic then Henry could ever imagine. Now, I had read ALOT about this movie (as I am a big Jorg Buttgereit fan) so I knew what the movie was about, and how it was going to end, and blah blah blah. But when I actually bought a copy of it and sat down and watched it, I was completely blown away. It wasnt ANYTHING what I thought it was going to be, and I mean that in an extremely good way! If you want to see a beautifuly-Ugly film, with an amazing/twisted love story, Gorgeous camera-work, and an extremely dedicated director, Please rent this.

Well, this one's pretty hard to describe. Some people might say, this is one of those movies you either love or hate. Some might ask, if it's art or trash. First of all it's a movie about a serial killer. But in my opinion it can't be compared with other serial killer movies, because it's too different. And it's supposed to be. If you like to watch a story like the ones about Ted Bundy or Jeff Dahmer you better let this one pass by. In the mood for some funny, gory horror-stuff to watch with your friends having some beer and some laughs? Wrong choice! "Schramm" is weird, disturbing, almost bizarr. Or do you think, every man should for once in his life pin down his penis on a table using 2-inch-nails? Schramm does. If you like stuff like David Lynch's "Eraserhead" or the Japanese "Tetsuo" you might probably love "Schramm". And even if it serves some gore it might be stuff to think about for some among you. Try to get its message...- it's worth a watch!

I think of Schramm like a train and you're tied to the tracks. Its a primitive film, full of aggression and violation. Buttgereit's film Nekromantik was snide and built up a cult, Schramm has more narrative than his film Der Todesking but its definitely not linear. Schramm retains the trademark cinematic dissociation Buttgereit does so well and which makes this film disturbing. Its the cheapness of the gore and the ordinariness of the surroundings which makes the dissociation possible. Odd to say, but there's a scary realism here in the blankness and bleakness. Its grosser than ever in Buttgereit land and this tale of a self-abusing, disturbed killer is compulsive viewing if you can

The first thing I would like to point out for all potential viewers is that this is not a gory film as much as it might be mildly disturbing. There are scenes of blood, but this doesn't necessarily constitute 'gore'. This is just my opinion, though.

Schramm is, as most already know, based on a lonely psycho with issues, many of which revolve around women and 'unrequited love' as someone else put it. While I understood the base and idea behind the film, I was left wanting.

Schramm managed to pique my interest but did little more. There is nothing here to flesh out the serial killer; just hints of his self-loathing and dementia. I would have liked some kind of inner monologue at points in the movie, to hear what the killer was thinking during and after his murders. Did he hate his body or did he just enjoy pain? Was he afraid of women or really just somewhat of a necrophiliac? Did he hate was he was doing, though he could not stop, or was he laughing maniacally on the inside? What exactly drives him? Many questions, few answers. Perhaps that was the point though, to leave one thinking and drawing their own conclusions. Maybe not.

In the end, I found this film did not live up to the hype. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it most certainly could have been better.

For those interested in 'gore', find something else. Schramm will not entertain you.