"Schramm" is a movie by German underground filmmaker Jörg Buttgereit and let me start right away with the best thing, probably the only good thing. It only runs for slightly over an hour. Then again, he has also made short films, so maybe not even this is a good aspect. If you know Buttgereit, you know what to expect. Lack of story, bad acting and everything the movie does is follow up on one disgusting scene with the next one. It doesn't matter if it's sexual, violent or sexist. There is nothing wrong with that if you manage to constrict a convincing story about these displays, like Tarantino does for example all the time, but Buttgereit does not and he simply has no talent as a filmmaker at all. This is a repulsive film from start to finish. It is kinda interesting to see some cast members' names, such as Xaver Schwarzenberger or lead actor Florian Koerner von Gustorf and what direction their careers took in the 20 years after this film here. Quite a good chance that this is the worst career effort by many people in here. Unless they starred in other Buttgereit films. Highly not recommended.

Almost two decades ago, when VHS was king, a mate of mine got hold of an nth generation copy of Jörg Buttgereit's Nekromantik, the latest tape doing the rounds in underground horror circles. With extreme scenes of animal mutilation, corpse-shagging, and other assorted depravity, it was a real eye-opener—my first experience of independent German ultra-gore (you never forget your first time!).

Fast forward to 2007, and I've finally gotten around to viewing my second film by the twisted genius that is Mr. Buttgereit: Schramm—an amazingly disturbing look into the mind of a sexually inadequate serial killer, which has made me wish that I had followed this film-maker's career a little more closely!

The movie begins with our protagonist, Lothar Schramm, falling off a ladder whilst trying to paint over bloodstains on his apartment walls; as he lays on the floor dying, we are shown glimpses of his life via a series of flashbacks. And what a twisted individual he turns out to be.

Lothar likes to spend his spare time humping his inflatable rubber female torso, hallucinating (mostly about his leg falling off and a weird tentacled vagina-monster with teeth),nailing his tally-whacker to a table, and killing unwelcome visitors before arranging their lifeless bodies in a variety of sexual positions.

He also likes to pass the time with the pretty prostitute from across the hall, although his inability to interact normally with the opposite sex (or anyone else, come to think of it) eventually leads him to abuse his friendship...

Buttgereit delivers a decidedly grimy tale of an unhinged individual that is disturbing, shocking and visually arresting. The direction is assured, with some well considered camera movements and a nice use of a non-linear time-line; the low-grade film stock used gives the film a suitably 'cheap' look and the whole affair is complemented perfectly by a hauntingly oppressive score.

There are plenty of surreal moments that will delight fans of avant-garde horror/shock cinema—some hallucinatory gore (with an amazingly yucky eyeball gouging),a bizarre suicide, an ambiguous ending (for one character, at least)—but it is the scene in which Schramm fixes his tadger to a table that is guaranteed to stick in the minds of most viewers the longest: using real nails, a real lump-hammer, and, worst of all, a real penis, it is a total shocker and not for the faint-hearted! 7.5, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

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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