User Reviews

Seriously, what was going on?

I liked the sets, the characters were interesting but the story line was all over the place at certain points making the entire movie confusing to me.

I'm a fan of giallo and this ain't it. Flash back, flash forwards, flash sideways or to an alternate universe? To something that happened in the house to other people they were reliving or were they in fact going to haunt this house?

*spoiler* Not if it's burned to the ground. *spoiler*

*spoiler* Typical for too many modern movies was the "male hate" with the movies castration of the male actor in their film (film about making a film). We get it, penis envy actually is a thing for some of you.

The movie became especially confusing after the director's brilliant idea to have all the party guests indulge in hallucinogens. There were hints at infidelity but it was hard for me to differentiate what was real or imagined. Did Eva actually catch her lover in the act with the usual suspect or was this her imagination for the film they were making? I DON'T KNOW. I'm not sure if having to read subtitles was part of the problem. I hate doing this as it does take away from enjoyment of what is actually transpiring in the movie. I wish they could release a dubbed version.

Especially in an "artsy" film you are trying to read expressions of the actors & the actions & then reading subtitles.....no. Not in something like this. It didn't work for me because I can't say how this really ended even with the distant smoke & Eva by her "two selves(?)" *spoiler* Too much guesswork. Like I had to make up what I thought was going on? That's not what I watch a film for.

Director Kevin Kopacka and co-writer Lili Villányi worked on an episode of the TV show DYLAN a few years ago, which is based on the same character from Cemetery Man. That makes perfect sense, as this film has style to spare.

Dieter (Frederik von Lüttichau) and Margot (Luisa Taraz) have moved to a Gothic castle that would be at home in the films of Corman or Bava*. He has anger issues, she's in the throes of depression and the estate? Well, it's slowly making them prisoners. And then they find the whip in the basement, which unlocks old souls and a house that was definitely the site of some whispered illicit behavior.

A story that goes from Eurohorror to a study of relationships to even the nature of male and female inter dynamics within an occult movie that looks like it came from Italy in the 70s, this one has so much going for it. Just look at the font in the poster and at the end of the film. This is a movie that has been polished and honed and worked into the art that it is now. Don't miss it.

*The director has directly called out Bava's The Whip and the Body and Jean Rollin's The Iron Rose as influences. The poster is literally taken from the latter film. It also takes a line from Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant.

Seeing it get mentioned on various sites,I on Thursday went to the online FrightFest site to decide what my first viewing of the event would be. Looking through all the plot details for the movies playing/streaming on Friday, this was the one that had the most enticing photos and outline, which led to me witnessing dawn break.

View on the film:

Cracking dawn open with gliding shots floating into the castle that Eva and Gregor enter ,editor/ co-writer (with Lili Villanyi) / director Kevin Kopacka & cinematographer Lukas Dolgner light the flame of an incredibly textured Gothic Horror atmosphere, via a grainy film appearance and regal red,blues and pinks lights drip across the screen deep focused shots are wonderfully used by Kopacka to frame a ghostly figure moving partly visible in the background.

Setting out the table for a slithering Gothic Horror, Kopacka takes an astonishing turn into Meta-Horror, (running on a magnetic Prog Rock score from Liquid Brain Orchestra) where the refine colours of the Gothic chills melt into ultra-stylised psychedelic.

Kopacka displays an impressive ease in the altering of genre, whilst continuing to build on the bursting primary colour palette, via a descending mood fueled by excellent tracking shots,whip-pans, and sinking push-in slo-mo shots diving deep into the unfolding nightmare within the castle walls.

Summing up the relationships of the film with Gregor holding the whip in hand to Eva, (Played with a great, enticing vibes by Jeff Wilbusch and Anna Platen) the screenplay by Kopacka and Villanyi superbly tie the Gothic and meta Horror together with a deep exploration of narcissistic abuse, with each attempt Eva makes to express her opinion, being ruthlessly whipped away by those who believe they know best,even when dawn breaks behind the eyes.