The Curse of Doctor Wolffenstein (2015) User Reviews

a letdown

[Krhhmg · 4/10 · 22 June 2020]

Not having seen the previous work of mark rohnstock and his Infernal Films, i thought this would be a good warmup before accessing "Necronos". the tin says all i want for a gorefest nobrainer: "the ultimate experience in violence & gore", "high bodycount", "splatterfest deluxe" and what other obscure german reviewers said about this flick.

to think of the efforts i went to view the allegedly unrated bluray version that was an alleged accidental print makes me frown. let me just state that i got none of the aforementioned attributes. it is just like any other mediocre german splatter movie, with a little higher budget maybe. but why would anyone want to see the hilarious and admittedly entertaining attempts of filmmaking in ultra HD? the inept crudity was part of the genre's charme back then, which didn't age well as it seems.

maybe i am being unfair. everytime i watch something made in goremany i instantly compare it, unwillingly, to the master who lead - or rather, viciously kicked - me into the realms of no-low-budget splatter&gore, master ittenbach. his glory is long gone, sadly, but still he is my personal measure of every genre entry i come across.

Edit: i have not the slightest clue what my predecessor Indyrod watched but it surely wasn't CODW. reference to norwegian black metal?! nah no way mate

Decent German splatter...

[thetheonly · 6/10 · 5 November 2019]

I recently viewed this movie on its US release. When I first started watching this movie I was pretty excited since I heard it was on the extreme side. That's not incorrect it's in some aspects one of the more extreme movies out there and gorehounds won't be disappointed. A brief synopsis of this film goes like this, the film opens with the title villain having his laboratory invaded by the nearby village where he has his tongue removed and is buried alive, this is done because he was doing research of immortality using the body parts of the dead. The film cuts to a title card and we meet the young adults of the film. They got tickets to go to a rave and have a day or two drive to get there. As they head towards their destination Dr. Wolffenstein awakes from his burial. The teens car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and the film gets going.

Now I will discuss what the film succeeds and fails at. First the film has a pretty good score, that is if you're into really light punk music. Next the film fits perfectly as a German splatter films. This leads into the gore, which ranges from really bad to good and the film makers mixed CGI with some of the deaths which was a little bit disappointing. Next there is a lot of nudity, it's the most nudity I've seen since "Salo or 120 days of sodom". The film also features some ironic and try hard humor mixed in equal amounts which is mostly a let down. Finally the killer of the film is cool and his "pet" is an interesting addition. Now for what the film fails at. The acting sucks, most of the characters reactions aren't realistic and the performances are phoned in. This leads into the characters who are the most disposable part of the film and none of them you really care about. The other problem is the kills, at first there are some seemingly Hostel or Friday the 13th level kills but by the time you get to the infamous massacre scene there is way too much repetition, sure the film has a high body count, around 50, but a lot of them are just there to boost the body count and are uninventive. Another big complaint is the cinematography, it serves the purposes of the movie but every outdoor scene is extremely overexposed and looks way too bright, at least for the scenes taking place in modern day.

My final thoughts on the film. First if you're or gorehound, enjoy splatter or slashers or aren't feint of heart for an extreme film then I'd recommend it. Most of the problems are manageable and its weakest points are the characters and some of the kills. But none of this is too unusual for a lot of horror films. Its still above average in it's genre at least in my opinion. My only major let down was the massacre scene which didn't do too much and the film is also too long. Outside of that would highly recommend if you find a copy.

Gorehound Masterpiece

[Indyrod · 9/10 · 6 August 2019]

This extreme movie is pretty much based on facts. The Norway Black Metal music scene is the story, and how it started, and the extremes it went to. It's pretty much based on a true story and the band "Mayhem", a Norwegian Black Metal band that got into church burnings, anti church, and eventually murder. I all ready knew most of this, because I have had an interest in Black Metal, and it's history. I'm not saying I love the music, and follow it much, but I went through a phase that I did study it a little. If you have no interest in this music, which I imagine, very few, then this movie would be of no interest to you.