Director(s) - Crippler Criss (The Secret of the Magic Mushrooms) and Master W. (The Secret of the Magic Mushroom)
Starring - Crippler Criss and Master W
Release Date - 2016
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
I had one hell of a time with a Vinegar Syndrome triple feature recently. Watched one fantastic horror flick before diving deep into exploitation cinema. The second flick in my triple feature was a late 60s sexploitation flick before moving in the golden age of exploitation with the 1974 biker flick Trip with the Teacher. After checking out the sleazy flick of Vin Syn I wanted something in my beloved genre. I started going through my review stack and found several that I really wanted to see but one really caught my eye. Honestly, I forgot I had it. Sometime ago SRS Cinema released the no budget German splatter flick Cannibal Messiah from Crippler Criss and Master W. The artwork was fucking amazing and I had to see it right away. Thank you SRS Cinema and MVD for sending this one my way.
The film follows two filmmakers who are kidnapped by the brother of one of their former stars because he was killed on film. He takes them to the woods in search of a cannibal cult and answers as to why his brother had to die. What they don't know is that one of them is impressionable and turns on his captor and friend where he becomes a cannibal. Now, they must fight to leave the very woods they went into.
When I first saw the artwork for Cannibal Messiah I was fell in love with it. The artwork is fucking fantastic but the film is anything but. The film had a lot of things I really liked but was unable to put them in place properly to create an unforgettable movie. Instead, we get something that was a struggle to watch. The acting in this one is funny at times. Crippler Criss and Master W are the perfect mixture of goofy and melodramatic. I liked their performance but it clashed with the other characters in the film. It's difficult to enjoy the goofy characters when other cast members are trying to deliver serious performances. The cast needs to be consistent. The story for this one drags on like a bad date. The movie is full of scenes that does nothing but put the viewer to sleep. They are dialogue rich and do very little to tie them to the actual story. The story itself has several things I liked. The cannibal cult, the last supper parody, and so on was fun but they were so deep in the film that it almost felt irrelevant. The film needs to be heavily edited to spare the viewer from the torture of almost 2 hours of nonsense. Finally, the film does have a lot of the blood and gore. The effects show the budget but doesn't take away from the fun. I wouldn't compare this to the classic German splatter flicks of the 80s and 90s but the film tries hard to capture that. Overall, Cannibal Messiah is one that just doesn't entertain. The film had a fun idea but lost sight of the final product somewhere along the way.
Synapse puts together a big box of shit for its fans, “The
Violent Shit Collection: Five Film Collector’s Shitition”! This set includes
the infamous German SOV splatter film series “Violent Shit”, “Violent Shit 2:
Mother Hold My Hand”, “Violent Shit 3: Infantry of Doom”, and “Violent Shit
4.0: Karl the Butcher Vs Axe” also included is another splatter film from the
director, “Zombie 90: Extreme Pestilence.” The director Andreas Schnaas has
become one of the biggest names in the German Splatter world and for good
reason, what he lacks in storytelling and finesse he makes up for in effects
and bloodshed.
The first film of the series was released in
1989 eloquently entitled “Violent Shit” it starts off simple enough; a mental
patient with a sordid childhood escapes and makes his way into the wilderness
disemboweling and mutilating anyone he comes in contact with. Our killer seems
to have an insatiable bloodlust and, in between the dozens of murders, has
encounters with Satan, Jesus, and even manages to give birth via Immaculate
Conception. The dialogue is silly and
painfully wretched; so much it becomes apparent that Andreas Schnaas is in on
the joke. The characters are worthless
and are only there to die and even in its short running time it manages to stop
for long periods of time just to introduce these random characters who will die
minutes later. The film itself doesn’t look good, being that it was shot on
video and poorly at that, but at least the aesthetic manages to help the films
strong point… you guessed it, the gore. The effects are very cheap but abundant
and at times clever. It makes it hard to
not acknowledge them. All the staples of
nasty splatter films are included such as genital mutilation, hacking,
slashing, and disemboweling. So make sure you shut your brain off for this
entry.
“Violent
Shit 2: Mother Hold My Hand” follows the story of Karl the Butcher’s son who,
with the help of his mother, begins his spree of murder and mayhem. “Violent
Shit 2” manages to improve on everything from the first film; the set pieces,
body count, and the gore is bigger and better.
A healthy amount of action is also incorporated into the story, keeping
the pace a little bit more tolerable. “Violent Shit 2” has elements of crime
and strange karate fight scenes which sets the tone for the whole film. A
boring journalism angle ends up trying to tie the film together, but is mostly
used for info dumps and padding; these scenes are the weakest of the film. When
V2 gets its stride going, Karl Jr. seems to stumble from massacre to massacre,
spouting off one-liners as he hooks testicles and ravages innocent morons, all
done to the pleasure of his incestuous mother. V2 soon gets to an insane pace
where our masked madman enters a construction site and happily kills a group of
men who can’t seem to get out of the mud fast enough. The film comes to a
violent end in a porn theater where squibs and splatter fill the screen in
crummy detail.
“Violent
Shit 3: Infantry of Doom” starts out with an unlucky trio of vacationers who
end up washing ashore on an island that is ruled by Karl the Butcher and his
ruthless army of goons and zombies. Quickly, one of our vacationers is
dispatched, leaving our survivors to team up with an exiled soldier; the trio
is then hunted mercilessly by the aforementioned forces. “Violent Shit 3:
Infantry of Doom” is an insane romp mixing kung fu, zombies, and war films into
one demented, gory, cheesy, ride that leaves you wanting to applaud and scratch
your head at the same time. The fight
scenes are a blast with some inventive kills including a decapitated head with
a blade sticking out of it spinning into someone’s back. When the grotesque
Fulci like zombies appear a Fabio Frizzi type song sneaks into the soundtrack
setting the stage for another bloodbath. By the end of the movie any gore fan
will be satisfied, making the 3rd of the series the biggest and very best.
“Violent
Shit 4.0: Karl the Butcher VS Axe” is set in the post-apocalyptic world where
the sectors are divided between the gangs. Karl the Butcher is released from
hell to kill a new threat, Axe. Soon enough the duo team up and decide to kill
everyone else. We are given tons of exposition and the introductions of over
the top characters, most of which don’t do much but die. Although Andreas is
still having fun making the film, it doesn’t translate to the audience like
parts 2 and 3 did so well. The first of the series to be spoken in English, it
makes the lousy performances cringe worthy. It becomes embarrassing for the
audience to watch and, unlike the shoddy yet funny introductions of cannon
fodder in the previous films, these characters seem like they are bad Tarantino
rip offs without any acting chops. A little blame can be put on the fact that
the performers are not speaking their native tongue. The end of the film sports
an all-out war with everyone who is still standing and, although it has moments
of great gore and silliness, it also features poorly done digital effects. All
and all it’s a shame to see the series go out on a low note after the steady
climb it had. This title is the only one with special features, included are a teaser,
trailer, premier footage (concert), and some behind the scenes.
The
final film in the set is Andreas Schnaas second film “Zombie 90’: Extreme
Pestilence” in its comedic dubbed version.
The story in “Zombie 90” is pretty thin; it follows a pair of scientists
who attempt to stop a zombie outbreak. The gore in this one seems a step down
from the previous aforementioned Violent Shit and the dubbing is so over the
top and stupid that a second grader would have trouble at finding the humor in
it. All and all it is amateur film making with a couple inspired gore moments
that can’t justify watching it, even with its short runtime. Worth mentioning
is an ending ripped directly from Fulci's “Zombie” as the living dead wander
across a bridge. To accompany this shot is some narration, a bastardization of
the iconic “Dawn of the Dead” quote. In “Zombie 90” it reads. “When the sun
goes down and the dead walk, there will be no tomorrow.”
Surprisingly
all the films are presented in widescreen which might be jarring for fans of
some of the early films as they are not present in their OAR. Anyone that does manage to stumble onto this
set that isn’t aware of SOV will most likely junk it, but those hardcore gore
and SOV fans will find it well worth checking out. Violent Shit 2 and 3 are
well worth the price of admission alone.
Plot Summary:
In 1980s Germany, horror film censorship was a huge problem. The government rarely let classic horror films pass without severe cuts when they were released on home video. To combat this unfortunate situation many German horror fans scraped together a few bucks, rented video cameras & created their own ultra-violent, gory, splatter films. Arguably the most famous of these micro-budget German gorefests are the VIOLENT SHIT films from director Andreas Schnaas. Shot on standard definition video cameras, these films are a sight to behold. Although they are amateurishly made, choppily edited & loaded with ridiculous low-budget gore, these films have an undeniably offensive charm that has kept horror fans entertained for over 25 years!
Synapse is proud to present the original VIOLENT SHIT trilogy, along with 2010’s VIOLENT SHIT 4.0: KARL THE BUTCHER VS. AXE on DVD for the first time in North America, now completely remastered by the original owners. Includes the crazy English language dub version of ZOMBIE ’90: EXTREME PESTILENCE on a Bonus DVD with liner notes & additional VIOLENT SHIT 4.0 Bonus Features.
Special Features:
- The first three VIOLENT SHIT films, remastered by the original owners, plus VIOLENT SHIT 4.0: KARL THE BUTCHER VS. AXE
- Liner notes from Ted Geoghegan (Screenwriter of NIKOS THE IMPALER, & Writer/Director of WE ARE STILL HERE)
- Special BONUS DVD, including the English dub version of ZOMBIE ’90: EXTREME PESTILENCE & VIOLENT SHIT 4.0: KARL THE BUTCHER VS. AXE
- Trailers
VIOLENT SHIT
The legend of K. the Butcher Shitter is born in this German DIY video roughie, shot on the low-fi Video-8 format. A demented killer escapes the police & leaves a trail of blood & gore in his wake. Newly re-mastered by the film’s original producer.
Anamorphic (1.78:1) Widescreen - Dolby Digital German 2.0 Stereo - Subtitles: English (Optional) 73 Mins.
VIOLENT SHIT II: MOTHER HOLD MY HAND
Set twenty years after the original film, Karl the Butcher Jr. continues his late father’s legacy. After receiving a machete as a birthday gift from his mother, Karl Jr. turns into a maniacal killer slashing, chopping, shooting & disemboweling his way through the German countryside. Newly re-mastered by the film’s original producer. Anamorphic (2.35:1) Widescreen - Dolby Digital German 2.0 Stereo - Subtitles: English (Optional) 74 Mins.
VIOLENT SHIT III: INFANTRY OF DOOM (aka ZOMBIE DOOM)
A group of friends get lost at sea & land on a remote island, but they are not alone! Captured by Karl the Butcher Jr. & his father, these men are subjected to a sadistic version of The Most Dangerous Game brought on by the Butcher Shitters and their army of metal-masked killers! Newly re-mastered by the film’s original producer.
Anamorphic (2.35:1) Widescreen - Dolby Digital German 2.0 Stereo - Subtitles: English (Optional) - 79 Mins.
VIOLENT SHIT 4.0: KARL THE BUTCHER VS. AXE
The year is 2023, & the world has become a desolate wasteland with gangs taking over the streets. Karl the Butcher Jr. returns from the bowels of Hell, on a mission to kill a new mass murderer named Axe. Original English Language Version.
Anamorphic (1.78:1) Widescreen - Dolby Digital English 2.0 Stereo – 78 Mins.
BONUS FEATURE: ZOMBIE ’90: EXTREME PESTILENCE
Shot for a reported $2000 between the filming of VIOLENT SHIT 1 & 2, ZOMBIE ’90: EXTREME PESTILENCE follows two bumbling doctors as they investigate a zombie outbreak. After a military plane crash releases strange chemicals into the German countryside, the dead rise to attack the living! Can they be stopped? Transferred from an original PAL 1” master given to us by Cinematographer Steve Aquilina.
Full-Frame (1.33:1) - Dolby Digital English 2.0 Stereo – 76 Mins.
In a small German town in 1930
outraged towns people cut out the tongue and bury a "Doctor
Wolffenstein" alive for his inhuman experiments on men and animals alike.
In a true mad scientist/witch fashion he puts a curse on them in his final moments
and soon rises from the grave. We then cut to present time where a group of
five teenagers heading to a concert festival end up stranded in the small town
where Doctor Wolffenstein still resides. Doctor Wolffenstein is hiding out in
the outskirts hacking and chopping up anyone he comes in contact with for
experiments and to replace his rotting flesh.
Doctor
Wolffenstein's main goal is gore and, on that front, no German Splatter fan
should be disappointed; though some other aspects are somewhat lacking.
Wolffenstein can become tedious; watching people being hacked and slashed in
similar fashions for nearly two hours is a bit prolonged. The first hour and 25
minutes of the film seems to jump back and forth between two different movies.
The first being the group of teens who drink and practice shenanigans on each
other with the backdrop of clubs and pop music playing. The second being a much
more grotesque film where a rotting doctor hacks and slashes naked women and
men to bits and pieces in grueling detail. This second film seems to play more
like a torture porn film, but does add in a parasitic creature which adds a
layer of B-movie fun. Although the film has a repetitive nature it is well
acted for its type, the special effects are great (although the trick machete
gag is used way more than it ever should be), and it’s an ambitious film that
believes in what it is doing. The positive of the long run-time is that we do
get to know the characters a bit; they aren't really the most three dimensional
but they aren’t despicable and there is sympathy to be had when they meet their
end. At certain points the film seems to
come to complete stops to showcase the gore, the main feature, but this choice
effects the pacing; spending 15 minutes killing non characters with a machete
is a bit excessive. Sprinkled in these non-characters are a few familiar faces
that make the film a bit more enjoyable, bringing their brand to the film,
including Manoush and Olaf Ittenbach. Any other negatives are minor, including
some poorly chosen sound FX cues that seem to appear in too many other indie
movies.
“Curse of Doctor Wolffenstein” is
one of the most ambitious German Splatter movies made in recent years, but it
is only really great if you like gore films. The Blu-Ray/DVD edition packaging
it top notch and features Behind the Scenes, Bloopers, Still Galleries, a Short
film, and a Trailer.
Dr. Victor Wolffenstein, a genius and at the same time devilish doctor, has set himself a huge goal, he wants to become immortal.
In the Year 1930, in a small village and with the help of scientific experiments and occult rituals, he brews a serum (vielleicht besser POTION), which is supposed to help him achieve his goal. But the Serum has an unwanted side effect, he becomes immortal but has to pay a huge price, he becomes infected with necrosis, through which his limbs start to rot and the only thing left for him to do is to replace his body parts.
Dr. Wolffenstein recklessly starts to harvest limbs from the other villagers; he mutilates and kills with no remorse. The villagers don't put up with this kind of the devil’s work! An angry mob overpowers the Doctor in his office, kidnaps him and buries him alive.
More than 80 years later, five teenagers are on their way to the biggest Rave party of the year. On their way they get stranded in a small village, due to a car accident, now they have to wait for the repair. To get the best out of their situation, the teenagers decide to visit a local discotheque and then the terror begins.
Dr. Wolffenstein is back, with the help of his evil minion the Infiltrator he persuades his victims to come to him. The only thing in his mind is to end his curse, to find the flaw in his serum and to cure himself from the necrosis. Nothing and no one will be safe from him.
Starring
Mika Metz, Isabelle Aring, Roland Freitag, Stephanie Meisenzahl, Robin Czerny, Julia Stenke, Mario Zimmerschitt und Oliver Krekel
Directed By
Marc Rohnstock
Written By
Marc Rohnstock
Screenplay By
Marc Rohnstock
Produced By
Lars Rohnstock, Marc Rohnstock, Dominik Ruf
“Masks” is reminiscent of the 70s and 80s Italian horror films of Argento and other maestros. The story, lighting, script, and death scenes seem to mimic, to a certain extent, the nature, atmosphere, location, and plight of our lead character.
“Masks” follows a struggling actress who enrolls in a mysterious acting school. She soon finds out that there are some sinister elements taking place under her and the other students' noses. As she digs deeper and becomes more involved in an outdated and dangerous acting method she begins to lose her grip on sanity.
“Masks” most interesting aspect, second to style, is the psychological. In particular, that of our two core characters. We get a glimpse into their backgrounds and understand their interactions with others, each other, and their environment. These glimpses also play into the motivations of the villains. This story line is the driving force and only deviates to include side characters. The side characters are here to be stabbed to bits; to keep the audience's blood lust satisfied and show real danger. Unfortunately most of these characters are just cannon fodder. The motivation of our villains is a doozy, the setup is decent. Our lead discovers an old documentary about the school and its wild acting practices, including drugs and out of control, high energy emotions. When the final twist is revealed it is a bit off its rocker, but the wild idea and originality is appreciated. It doesn't make for an awful film in the end.
The location, an old acting school, really helps play into the structure of the script, letting wings and rooms be discovered as the mystery unfolds. Some type of a learning institute has long been a part of the Italian films “Masks” is inspired from, think "Suspiria." The school is also a perfect setup for this style, a scared and or scarred individual being thrust into a hostile environment where they aren't readily accepted. The lighting fits the bill as well with some teals and brighter colors that illuminate well. The deaths in the film are quicker than one would expect and our filmed with less finesse than its predecessors, but are fairly gory and done well enough. The score also brings the creepy atmosphere to full potential and leaves a haunting lingering feeling.
By the end of the day we have a solid yet, a little long giallo style horror film made in Germany with good gore, a couple standout performances, a batshit ending, a creepy score and location, and a nice setup. This edition includes deleted scenes, a making of, and a soundtrack and is packaged deluxe.
http://www.cavd.com/product.php?productid=2682
https://www.amazon.com/Masks-Blu-ray-DVD-CD-Combo/dp/B01I492TL6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1477668710&sr=8-1&keywords=masks+reel+gore
Plot Summary:
In her quest for fame, drama student Stella gets caught in the grip of a mysterious and deadly stage school. Stella longs to be an actress. When she is accepted to a private school in Berlin, her dream seems to come true. But there is something wrong with the “Matteusz Gdula-Institute”. In the seventies, the school´s founder, Matteusz Gdula, practiced a learning style that promised to let students shine by driving them to their mental limits. In the end his method was banned, as mysterious deaths occurred during his lessons and Gdula committed suicide.
At night, Stella hears eerie sounds in the corridors of the school. A fellow student disappears. Stella suspects that behind the closed door to the abandoned, forbidden wing of the school lurks a bloody secret. A secret that kills the students... First 3000 copies include: CD - Original Soundtrack, Collectible Blu-ray/DVD Slipcase and Sleeve, 24 Page Booklet.
I had one hell of a time with a Vinegar Syndrome triple feature recently. Watched one fantastic horror flick before diving deep into exploitation cinema. The second flick in my triple feature was a late 60s sexploitation flick before moving in the golden age of exploitation with the 1974 biker flick Trip with the Teacher. After checking out the sleazy flick of Vin Syn I wanted something in my beloved genre. I started going through my review stack and found several that I really wanted to see but one really caught my eye. Honestly, I forgot I had it. Sometime ago SRS Cinema released the no budget German splatter flick Cannibal Messiah from Crippler Criss and Master W. The artwork was fucking amazing and I had to see it right away. Thank you SRS Cinema and MVD for sending this one my way.
The film follows two filmmakers who are kidnapped by the brother of one of their former stars because he was killed on film. He takes them to the woods in search of a cannibal cult and answers as to why his brother had to die. What they don't know is that one of them is impressionable and turns on his captor and friend where he becomes a cannibal. Now, they must fight to leave the very woods they went into.
