User Reviews

***Some Spoilers*** Okay, I don't really know what the other reviewer was on about, this is a human story about two lonely guys with issues regarding their self esteem, sexuality and place in society. It is not sensationalist, nor particularly exploitative and it is based on the true events. Wishing to watch, or even make a film about a gruesome murder, does not mean you necessarily have a sick mind.

The problem I have with Grimm Love is the pathetic back story of the American student. Why does a very strong and intriguing story about two German men need to be framed by, and told through the eyes of, a fictional, attractive female American? Well, the answer is pretty simple I guess, she'll look good on the poster and in the trailer and give the film some chance of success in the US. However, this is a MAJOR flaw of the film.

This character adds absolutely nothing to the story and only serves to waste about 20 minutes of screen time which could have been cut completely from the film or used to go deeper into the actual story of the two men. Not only is this character boring and unnecessary but she acts irrationally throughout the film.

For example, she breaks into the house where the crime occurred - this was highly unconvincing and only served as a means to start some flashbacks to the actual events. Secondly, she is able to locate the actual video of the crime, which has never been found, even by the police, by posting a single message on a cannibal website! This was so laughable it was beyond belief. This lost video must represent something of a holy grail to the cannibal community so the idea that an outsider can simply stick a request for it on a forum and be sent a copy free of charge a few days later is ridiculous.

It's a real shame about these elements which surely anyone with even a basic understanding of script writing could have pointed out would scupper an otherwise serious attempt at film making.

Perhaps the most bizarre murder(?) case I've ever heard of, it was fascinating to follow on the news. When I heard they made a movie out of it, I was skeptical. Fortunately, it has been done the right way. No major names in the cast - a huge plus. No Steven Soderbergh, Gus van Sant, or Spielberg as director (nor would they ever dare touch this kind of subject matter). The photography is appropriately dark, somber. Having the main characters speak English with a German accent (i.e. have German actors) was an okay choice, too, the alternatives being American/British accents or German with subtitles (bad options). The idea of having Russell as a sort of physically existent narrator was okay, as well. The story is written as a drama, which then, of course, turns into horror. However, no graphic showings of severed limbs or penises flying through rooms, which would have cheapened the overall effect. Fans of "Saw" should stay away from this: it is not an idiotic/illogical thriller about torturing innocent people. GL hasn't got quite the level of realism of the terrific "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer", but it's head-and-shoulders above the vast majority of wannabe gloomy movies that are out there, in this regard. GL is also surprisingly brief, under 90 minutes. Considering how much there was to this case, perhaps a little short, but on the other hand, it's tight and never dull.

Just a few quick sentences to register what a complete pile of trash this film is.

Based the true crime story of a German man who cannibalizes another man he meets online, this film never manages to justify it's making. The victim is supposedly a willing participant and the grotesque act is videotaped. In this film, and in actual fact, the victim's judgment was severely impaired by massive levels of drugs and alcohol, and some degree of mental illness. Using these sensational facts the screenwriter and director then attempt to inject, into the motives and actions of both men, deep feelings of loss, guilt, and passion. The crime is imbued with a sense of fatalism and yearning that one would normally associate with tragic love. In this case it looks like a ridiculous attempt to justify a film that should have never been made and was only made so that it could show one man eating another man. Using a grotesque event like this to imply some kind of kismet coupled with sexual dismemberment, decapitation, and cannibalism is worse than macabre. It's embarrassingly desperate for attention.

Some true crimes are just crimes you hear about on the news and nothing more. They don't need to be made into movies because they don't deserve or require that level of examination. Especially when that examination is on such a false level as this one. This is just a gory news item on a slow news day. Trying to turn it into a feature film by inventing a romantic subtext rings hollow and insincere. How about next exploring the inherent romantic angles of rape? This movie should not be seen by anyone. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by giving up two hours of your life for this garbage.

I went to see this movie without fully understanding what I was in for. It played here in Seattle as part of the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) at the Seattle Center, and i thought it would be a subtle investigation of the two men. My first surprise came when the audience was addressed by a festival employee who told us that although the movie was German, the dialogue was English. Good for me, because I think I need new glasses. The second surprise was that Kerri Russell was in it (huh?). I'd like to preface my comments by stating a few things: I am in my twenties, and therefore have grown up in an age violence and moral deprivation, and consider myself to be desensitized, sometimes to an alarming degree. The interest I have in abnormal psychology (particularly sexual) is deep and passionate, and although I am pretty well adjusted, my curiosity borders on the creepy-even to those that know me well. I am also extremely liberal in politics, and as close to an atheist as someone as spiritually apathetic as I can be. This movie made me ill. Physically. The grad student that Russell played was (although annoying in the beginning) the one saving grace in this movie, because the character acted as a device that separated the viewer from the actions taking place. Yes, these were sad people who had shitty lives, but it is not in me to be sympathetic. In and age where people can find each other on the internet via a chat room, surely one of them could have found a descent therapist. The "made for each other" aspect that attempted to romanticize the story was sickening and pathetic. I know that they were not trying to make it into a beautiful love story, but really-where was the psychological analysis? This film is irresponsible-the ideas that the viewer is exposed to are not easy to forget when given this sort of treatment. It rushed to the climax and then dragged out the gore for what I can only assume was shock value and media provocation. Cannibalism is the one taboo we have left on this planet, and this movie dealt with the subject with all of the subtlety of the rock Russell throws through the window. I think that people should be allowed to explore the darkest sides of their shadows without shame, but the desire to eat another human, and the desire to be eaten are not sexual perversions, they are severe mental illnesses. Human frailty is not something to be mocked and stylized. This was simply a movie about suicide and murder. I wish I had never seen it.

I recently saw this movie because of one reason, it happened not far from where i live (germany) and at the time i read all the newspaper stories and also saw the documentary on television. so of us all i could compare the movie the best with the original story. some things in the movie didn't really happen like they filmed it.

for example, he had multiple people coming over to watch his "torture chamber" and not just one and none of them really wanted to be eaten, in fact they were chocked to see that he was serious (why nobody reported him at that time still precedes me) and that he ate one person is true, the only thing in the movie that really was true, was when they were eaten his member, i can remember that in the newspapers is that it WAS too chewy to eat. but when he put him in the bathtub, in the real story he didn't take him out to keep chopping his face open, he just slit his throat in the bath and cut him up in pieces. and further more he wasn't convicted for too long because the judge couldn't really sentence him for man-slaughter because the person in question (the slaughtered) was willing to be slaughtered and eaten, not only that but that person did it also out of sexual intension and not out of guilt for his mother. so some things were added to make it more blood and gory, but also a dramatic view of the story. sorry for spoiling it for some. thanks for reading this though.

When I read on the box, "based on a true story" I really don't know what that means anymore as so many of these films include the paranormal or aliens. This tale is different and is close to being a documentary with heavy annoying narration throughout. In a nutshell the horror story is about a gay male German cannibal who advertises on the Internet for victims...and gets them.

Keri Russell plays Kate Russel, an American student in Germany obsessed with the pyschological aspect of the case that she decides to write about it for her thesis. The story is told as a flashback leading up to the point where she gets the forbidden tape of the actual killing and eating.

As a docu-drama it is mildly interesting, but slow and not entertaining. As a horror film, don't bother. The low key first person narration negates any horror aspect of the film and turns a cannibal film into something boring.

one f-bomb, rear male nudity, men kissing, action centers around a severed male organ being eaten. We did learn that if you take a bottle of sleeping pills with a bottle of cough syrup, chase it down with a beer you can sleep through anything.

I hesitate to give this movie a 1 out of 10 because I actually liked the cinematography and some other of the artistic aspects. However, the sum total of the movie was, to me, "Now, aren't you a worthless, no-good, piece of trash for watching this taboo-ridden garbage?" I truly felt that the obsession the main character (the American student) had for the subject of mutually consensual cannibalism was a projection from the movie to the movie-goer. And, I personally sensed (albeit erroneously?) this was the intent of the creative development team for the film; to convey that all-too-German sense of guilt (for WWI and WWII in general and the holocaust, to be specific). I, for one, didn't and still don't need that; and I personally believe it's a waste of time for anyone to partake of this communion of self- abhorrence, humiliation and abject dehumanization.

Based on a real life account – Armin Meiwes was the real "Hannibal Lecter" chewing and preserving his victim alive in a meat refrigerator. He acquired his victim via an agreement of willingness to have his meat eaten alive. His victim lavishly wanted his genital to be cut and cooked raw and share the meat between both men.

The film distinguished from the gruesome details yet if you have the eyes to see and listen. Go ahead. And this is way beyond BDSM (Bondage SadoMasochism).

Katie Armstrong (Keri Russell), an American student in Germany studies on criminal psychology chooses a notorious subject to research for her thesis: the cannibal killer Oliver Hartwin (Thomas Kretschmann) and his victim, Simon Grombeck (Thomas Huber).

An untold tale began to lead the story when she discovered a snuff tape documenting the cannibalistic journal between the two men.

I would like nothing more than to dine from your flesh.

A student in criminal psychology(Keri Russell) is fascinated with a case regarding a disturbed homosexual, Oliver Hartwin(Thomas Kretschmann), who was sent to prison for eating Simon Grombeck(Thomas Huber), a volunteer for cannibalism. Simon's only request was for Oliver to bite off and eat his penis and to see the blood from his teeth during consumption of his flesh. GRIMM LOVE is mostly told to us in flashback from the childhood of the two homosexuals growing up in tough environments which may've contributed(or this is what Russell believes as she researches their lives while in Germany for a college assignment, morbidly curious as to how the killer and victim differed from the "normals of society")to their base natures. Both had "mother problems"..Oliver's mother was schizophrenic, Simon's committed suicide when he was but a child. Katie(Russell)is interested in watching a reputed tape recording of Oliver's butchering of Simon. I think this is where Katie sees the error of her ways and comes to terms with the fact that no matter how you would like to psychoanalyze deviants and understand what makes them tick, the repulsion in the perverse, sickening activities of these people are all too real..she begins to cry and look away as Oliver hacks away, a rude awakening needed so she could snap out of her quest to find humanity in the dark natures of mankind's most fiendish.

Despite the appalling subject matter(I'm referring to the cannibalism and those interested in it), GRIMM LOVE is beautifully photographed by Jonathan Sela, and has strong performances from Kretschmann and Huber as the protagonists. As Simon and Oliver, we are witnesses to their upbringing, the miserable loneliness thanks to absent fathers who didn't love them, and how their homosexuality was a burden when they were children, both the objects of bullying. Simon, though, had found love in a male bartender who was devoted to him. Oliver, on the other hand, begun to fantasize about body parts hanging from hooks and chains groping him! We get a peep into what provides Oliver with actual erotic pleasure, and it is the beginning of a journey that ends unpleasantly.

I will say this, though, as a sort of word of warning, GRIMM LOVE is deliberately paced with a methodical approach..meaning that many will consider it slow and dull. I realize that Russell's role may seem unimportant since she really isn't the subject of the movie, but Katie does tell us their story, visits Oliver's home, and communicates to the viewer as an outside voice trying to establish a reasoning for why two men would agree to carry on with such a grisly agreement, one to die knowing he would be eaten, the other more than willing to carve him up and chow on his flesh.

Director Martin Weisz and writer T.S. Faull created this movie adaptation ROHTENBURG (GRIMM LOVE) of a famous crime that is so bizarre it deserves a summary from the legal aspects in order to appreciate the quality of the film. Names have all been changed, including the spelling of the title - 'Rotenburg', or 'red castle', is the name of the small village where this grisly event took place. The facts of the case are as follows: 'Armin Meiwes (born 1 December 1961) is a German man who achieved international notoriety for killing and eating a voluntary victim whom he had found via the internet. After Meiwes and the victim jointly attempted to eat the victim's severed penis, Meiwes killed his victim and proceeded to eat a large amount of his flesh. Because of his deeds, Meiwes is also known as the Rotenburg Cannibal or Der Metzgermeister (The Master Butcher). Looking for a willing victim, Meiwes posted an advertisement at a website, The Cannibal Cafe, whose disclaimer mentions the distinction between reality and fantasy. Meiwes's post stated that he was "looking for a well- built 21 to 40-year-old to be slaughtered and then consumed". Bernd Jürgen Brandes answered the advertisement. Many other people responded to the advertisement, but backed out; Meiwes did not attempt to force them to do anything against their will. As is known from a videotape the two made when they met on March 9, 2001 in Meiwes's home in the small village of Rotenburg, Meiwes amputated Brandes's penis and the two men attempted to eat the penis together before Brandes was killed. Brandes had insisted that Meiwes attempt to bite his penis off. This did not work, though Meiwes was able to burst both of Brandes's testicles by biting them. Ultimately, Meiwes used a knife to remove Brandes's penis. Brandes apparently tried to eat some of his own penis raw, but could not because it was too tough and, as he put it, "chewy". Meiwes then sautéed the penis in a pan with salt, pepper, wine and garlic, he then fried it with some of Brande's fat but by then it was too burned to be consumed. He then chopped it up into chunks and fed it to his dog. According to journalists who saw the video (which has not been made public), Brandes may already have been too weakened from blood loss to actually eat any of his penis. Meiwes read a Star Trek book for three hours, while Brandes lay bleeding in the bath. Meiwes apparently gave him large quantities of alcohol and painkillers, 20 sleeping pills and a bottle of schnapps, and finally killed him in a room that he had built in his house for this purpose, the Slaughter Room. After stabbing Brandes to death in the throat, he hung the body on a meathook and tore chunks of flesh from it; he even tried to grind the bones to use as flour. The whole scene was recorded on the two-hour videotape. Meiwes ate the body over the next 10 months, storing body parts in his freezer under pizza boxes and consuming up to 20 kg of the flesh.' These are the facts of this case.

In order to make this film 'palatable' the writer and director introduce a new character - Katie (Keri Russell) is an American Psychology student who travels to Germany to explore the depths of the dark interstices of human behavior. It is though her eyes and imagined flashbacks visiting the places of the childhood and adulthood the two people involved that she offers the audience the understanding of this act. Oliver Hartwin (Thomas Kretschmann) is first seen as a child (Rainier Meissner) and the seeds of his strange behavior are briefly identified. We also meet Simon (Thomas Huber), learn of his background and his relationship to his mother (Helga Bellinghausen), and meet him with his lover Felix (Marcus Lucas) in what appears to be a healthy relationship. But Simon surfs the internet, finds Oliver's curious invitation to cannibalism, and decides to become involved in a fantasy he has always had. The two men meet and mutually agree to take part in the act of Oliver's slow cannibalistic murder of Simon. Many of the aspects of the real case are included, but the writer and director know when to hold back and also know when to leave the story alone, without the trial or follow- up, that leaves the audience shocked but also somehow makes the entire story seem more like a nightmare than an actual deed.

Kretschmann and Huber both are extremely fine actors and have found that thin thread of inner fear and self-doubt that makes us able to understand the bizarre act we are watching. Keri Russell is very good in the tiny part she plays (the deleted scenes on the DVD show her role was originally larger), adding a bit of a reality touch for the audience, helping us through this story. There are technical problems with the film: cinematographer Jonathan Sela uses scratchy developing for the flashback scenes which are not always suitably inserted, and the musical score by Steven Gutheinz is often too dependent of the pipe organ fright tactics of horror pictures. It is a difficult subject to watch but in all the film presents a bit of reportage in a watchable manner. Truth is stranger than fiction.

Grady Harp