There are various ways to interpret "On Evil Grounds", the mental state of seriousness definitely NOT being one of them. This incredibly low-budgeted and amateur produced "new-age Grindhouse" movie is completely shameless, vulgar, tasteless, nonsensical, offensive and demented. At the festival where I attended the Belgian premiere, writer/director Peter Koller as well as half of the film's cast was present and he himself described the film as a psychotic survival-version of
"Romeo and Juliet". Yeah, okay! Who knows what to expect from a vague and bizarre one-line summery like that? Only five minutes far into the film, however, and you'll have to admit it's a pretty accurate description! We follow a young couple referred to as Romeo and Juliet. He's a sadistic freak in desperate need of anger management and she's a hopeless romanticist with insatiable sexual desires. They're looking for a loft to settle down together but run into a pair of freaks that are even crazier then themselves. The real estate agent and his boss, some kind of inbred car technician, use the loft to lure young couples, capture them and subsequently submit them to sheer torture. Romeo literally ends up to his neck in trouble, but he's not exactly an obedient hostage and Juliet won't surrender without putting up a fight, neither. The comparisons between "On Evil Grounds" and Tex Avery's lifework are more than justified. The filming style, sense of humor and especially the violence in this movie are very cartoonesque. In terms of exploitation/horror cinema, this translates as OTT extreme vulgarity and splatters that yet never once feels disturbing or even remotely scary. Peter Koller and C° are simply out to disgust people and succeed quite well, I may add. There's random vomiting, wife beating, rough sex, bondage and the wildest masturbation scene ever filmed. Needless to say "On Evil Grounds" isn't a very good film story-wise, but it uses some terrific locations, ingenious set pieces and inventive photography. The limited cast gives away enthusiast performances and Peter Koller obviously knows his horror/spaghetti western/euro-trash classics.
Review of Auf bösem Boden
