Best movie of this year hands down!

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Rob Schmadtke (Daktari Lorenz) is part of a clean-up team that removes dead bodies from public areas. Mixing work with play, Rob, a necrophiliac, occasionally manages to pocket random body parts, which he takes home to share with his equally twisted girlfriend Betty (Beatrice Manowski). When given the responsibility of disposing of a whole, decomposing corpse, Rob seizes the opportunity of a lifetime, taking the body home to use as a sexual plaything.It's been over 25 years since I first saw Nekromantik—a dodgy nth generation bootleg VHS with no subs given to me by a friend with the same dubious taste in film—but even though I've seen a lot of extreme cinema since, Jörg Buttgereit's transgressive classick of German underground horror has lost none of its power to shock.Dealing with the extremely iffy subject of necrophilia, with all the yucky, oozing, slime and bodily fluids that go with it, Buttgereit's film is still difficult to stomach despite a streak of dark humour running through proceedings. As if the nauseating sight of someone getting busy with a putrefying corpse isn't bad enough, the film also throws in a spot of animal death (both fake and real), full frontal male nudity, some random urination, the murder and rape of a prostitute (in that order!), a wonderfully bloody decapitation by shovel, and a final scene that has to rank as one of the most unforgettably repulsive acts ever committed to film.Technically speaking, Buttgereit's film is a little rough around the edges, but he tells his tale with confidence, even experimenting with some artsy-fartsy visual effects during a love scene between Betty and the body, and throwing in a hilarious dream sequence that is reminiscent of avant-garde French cinema, albeit with a severed head and gut slinging. Nekromantik also benefits immensely from a surprisingly good score by Daktari Lorenz, Hermann Kopp and John Boy Walton which lends certain scenes a strange sense of beauty despite the repugnant visuals.Needless to say, this isn't a film to share with the whole family (unless your family happens to have furniture made from human bones and an extra large freezer out back, in which case, share away); on the other hand, fans of low budget German splatter, extreme horror, or transgressive cinema in general should consider the film essential viewing.

"Nekromantik" is a German movie from over 25, almost 30, years ago. The writer and director is JJörg Buttgereit and he was still in his early 20s when he made this movie, probably his most famous work. However, this one here is really only a movie by the very basic definition of having moving pictures. It has zero cinematic value and almost no artistic significance either. Instead, it goes for thrills by repulsive images and disgusting cinematography. I have to say this is slightly superior to Buttgereits very early works, maybe because he got actual actors for this one instead of playing the protagonist himself. There were a couple decent scenes like the main character being fired or how he tells his girlfriend afterward, but it all stands in no comparison to the lows of this movie. A young man and woman are sexually turned on by corpses, so the guy regularly brings home some and the two have their fun with these later on. Truly gross. And the suicide scene at the end was not only extremely repulsive, but also a prime example of how one should not end a movie if you want it to remain in the heads of the audiences for anything other than how graphic and shocking it was, without being convincing in any way. The worst thing, however, is that Buttgereit actually made a sequel to this one. I highly recommend to not watch "Nekromantik". As bad it gets for a film. The only good thing about it is how short it was.

Nekromantik (1987) *** (out of 4) German horror film about a weird man (Bernd Daktari Lorenz) who supplies his even weirder girlfriend (Beatrice Manowski) with dead body parts, which eventually leads to one of the most bizarre sex scenes in cinema history.Director Jorg Buttgereit wasn't trying to become the next Orson Welles when he made this film. He has given countless interviews over the years and it's clear that his main goal was to go after the German censors and create something that would not only shock people but make them sick to their stomach and probably question anyone who would enjoy such brutality.Is NEKROMANTIK a good film? I would have to say yes, although there's no doubt that a movie like this would never get any credit because serious film critics or film buffs are going to puke before the ten-minute mark and just write the film off as trash. Is the film disgusting? Yes it is but at the same time I think it's quite well-made and if you can stomach the material then you're in for a rather good movie. The low-budget certainly shines through and there's no question you're watching something that was shot with little to no money. This here adds a certain creepy element to the already sick material and at times it really does feel as if you're watching a real creep commit these crimes.With all things considered, the two lead performances are good enough for this type of material and there's no question that they both look their parts just fine. I'd also add that the music score is just as creepy as anything you actually see in the movie. NEKROMANTIK has one main goal and that is to shock and make the viewer sick. On that level the film certainly works but Buttgereit also deserves some credit for the technical achievements in the picture.

A lady, panties at her ankles taking a p!ss by a roadside. I smiled. In this topsy turvy world of ours its gratifying to see such an opening so beauteously brazen, when you sit down to a film and a stream of urine is practically the first thing you see, well you know for damn sure you ain't in Kansas any more. Of course Nekromantik isn't really a film about women pissing by roadsides (probably a niche area even by urine fetish standards), not much thematic content in that there pale fluid, but the gesture is still delightful. Then both lady and her companion get in an altercation with a road barrier, bringing the film to its point, Death. I got a little hard. Plot is simple, we follow Rob, who works for a corpse cleanup team and has a hot girlfriend with whom he shares a passionate fondness for the departed. And just when things are really looking bright, everything goes to pieces. For all this the film is never truly depressing and has little of the truly sickening, instead it thrives on visual flair, morbid hilarity (notably a hysterical game of innard catch) and quality leads. The key is that whilst Rob and Betty may be a wee bit twisted, the film never reacts in disgust, indeed they seem positive, an antidote to apathy in their death steeped world. Whilst others stumble into death (accidents!) or commodify it (stomach churning rabbit farm sequence) they take death for their lives, for their pleasure, they luxuriate in its beauty in manner presented without abhorrence. Happily both are captured in fine performances, Daktari Lorenz makes for an utterly compelling haunted and dirty lead, skeazy complexion, dank and drear demeanour flaring to activity when around his beloved dead and Beatrice M. equally great as Betty (sadly she doesn't have as much screen time since she's pretty fine in a stab as soon as kiss you kinda way). She provides a bit of contrast, animal sexuality with a hint of malice and a nice sort of energy, like Lorenz wholly convincing. Its actually somewhat surprising that the acting is on the money here as the real goods come from writer/director/cinematic ultra wizard Jorg Buttgereit's artists eye and sense of humour, backed up by superb scoring (also from Daktari Lorenz). There are great images throughout this one, blood dripping from a cats tail or shattered rear view mirror, gorgeous line of outstretched leg from bath of blood, even a gentle meadow, cinematographer Uwe Bohrer capturing beauty and yearning romance on perhaps unpromising film stock (Super 8?). Lots of quality set decoration as well, rather authentic with the various corpses around often pretty convincing. Some sweet gore into the bargain too. The score is equally impressive, tunes of love and charm, of uplift and delight during the sex scene, later passages of disturbing discord and a memorable patch of repetitive strings portending breakdown. For all that the film excels at its art (and there are scarce few efforts in any genre from the same time period that come close) it probably should be noted that this one really isn't for everyone. This isn't a film of much psychological subtlety or philosophical depth, seekers after intellectual rigour will not find too much here as thematically this is about as upfront as they come, more concerned with aesthetics than serious discourse. I also wouldn't recommend it to those who look for gloss or conspicuous professionalism, though a triumph it is still definitely an underground film. And finally there's the small question of taste, it is conceivable I suppose that the notion of sex with dead people may not be palatable to all. But I can hardly recommend it strongly enough to those hardy enough to take the journey, 'tis truly one of the master-works of cinematic sickness. 10/10 from me, an instant favourite.