Laurin (1989) User Reviews

A fairytale from the book Laurin reads

[PoppyTransfusion · 7/10 · 19 October 2011]

The atmosphere of the film and the fact that the adults seem to be bit parts who are not able to help the children makes the film like a fairytale and possibly one from the book that Laurin reads and sleeps with when first we meet her.

Laurin is a child whose mother dies in mysterious circumstances after she witnesses a man trying to dispose of the body of a boy. Laurin is imaginative and after her mother's death suffers visions that include being able to see a black dog, the murderer's companion. Gradually Laurin comes to 'see' not only her mother's death but the man/murderer's face.

There's a lot from the film that I did not understand including the murderer himself. It seemed to be suggested that he was a paedophile. However not understanding everything does not detract from the eerie quality of the film. I watched in on a recommendation for fans of Dario Argento's films and whilst this is not a giallo/gore film it does echo some of Argento's work such as Phenomena.

The children! Won't somebody please think of the children!!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 29 October 2023]

There's no use in denying it, I was deeply disappointed after my viewing of "Laurin". With its newly reestablished cult-status, the exclusively praising reviews here on IMDb & in specialized magazines, and - most of all - the chilling premise of a child murderer roaming around in a small German port town in the early 1900s, I was 200% convinced "Laurin" was destined to become a personal favorite, and perhaps even a rare 10/10 rating.

But alas, either my expectations were set far too high (likely), or Robert Sigl's acclaimed debut isn't as darkly twisted, compelling, and genius as others say. The film nevertheless remains worthwhile and even recommend viewing for fans of gothic horror and macabre fairy tales, though. It features an uncanny and slow-brooding atmosphere, a few terrifying highlights, an intriguing coming-of-ace sub context, and an unforgettable climax. Admittedly this is a lot more than in most other movies I watch, so maybe I should just shut up.

When Laurin's father leaves again for many months of work at sea, the young teenage girl is left behind with her pregnant mother and sick grandmother. Agony strikes when her mother dies in suspicious circumstances, and a young gypsy child disappears in the village. Suddenly, all the adults (the pastor, the new schoolteacher, parents of classmates) start behaving strangely according to Laurin, and she has supernatural visions. Does her mother want to tell her something?

Sigl's film is at its best and utmost powerful when it's a true gothic nightmare! The sequences taking place during a thunderstorm at night in the graveyard, or when Laurin discovers the lair of the killer, can easily rival with the most haunting moments in Hammer movies. The beginning and the ending of "Laurin" are great, but unfortunately not much of importance happens during the whole middle part. Our young protagonist clashes back and forth between childhood and adulthood, there are vague hints of child abuse, and daily life in the classroom is also very challenging, but it all proceeds very slowly and without unsettling scenes. The decors, the music, and the use of colors are stunning. It's a pity (according to me) the film is only available in English and, to my knowledge, doesn't exist in German/Hungarian with subtitles. Probably this was to appeal to the international film-festival circuit, but it affects the credibility and the acting performances.

Well put together mystery by an entire Hungarian cast and debuting German director

[Johan_Wondering_on_Waves · 7/10 · 14 January 2015]

The whole movie takes place in Hungary with an entire Hungarian cast. The director is German Robert Sigl and this was his first long movie. In a short documentary on the DVD it's explained why he decided to film in Eastern Europe and not in Germany. Germany at the time still divided between East and West was for beginning directors too expensive to make a film. It was much cheaper in Eastern Europe (not that much later the Berlin Wall would eventually fall). Hungary had a location that fitted for the movie. Sigle opted to have the cast speak English to give it an international appeal. The movie never made it to the theatre and was shown as miniseries on TV. Quite a pity as it would have looked great on the big screen. The documentary shows how the cast gets pronunciation lessons and that surely helped. The kids in the movie, I think their voices might have been dubbed afterwards.

Laurin, a girl around the age of 10 with a incredible pretty face, has not so much speaking lines as you would expect from the character bearing the movie title. But despite that it's definitely her story as almost everything seems to happen through her eyes. And if she isn't there to observe she has those dream sequences which reveal her bit by bit the dark things happening in her village. It's those scenes that are the strong part of the movie together with Laurin wandering around in the village looking for clues to solve the mysterious disappearance of a boy her age and even more mysterious death of her own mother. She has a lonesome life living alone with her grandmother, her father being for months away at sea. Her best friend is the neighbour kid Stephen being overly protected by his mother (his father is dead) and usually the target of bullies at school. When the kids at school get a new teacher who resembles Laurin's father things really starting to get interesting.

I truly enjoyed the movie. Don't expect anything scary nor creepy or jump scares. The movie is more of a mystery than horror yet contains a few disturbing scenes for the eyes of a young child. Dóra Szinetár as Laurin together with the other cast members really pulled it of well. The ending I thought was really clever.I really got to applaud the writer for that and the director for having it put on screen so beautifully. The story takes place in the late 1800s, the scenery and costumes fit perfectly well there.

A Haunting, surreal masterpiece!

[Katatonia · 4 June 2004]

Laurin is quite simply an obscure masterpiece of surrealism. Beautifully filmed and extremely atmospheric throughout. The story takes place at the turn of the 20th century, and even though the film is shot in color...it appears as though it could have really been filmed back then! The brilliant music score is also a high point. It's very haunting and otherworldly, and works absolutely perfectly in the film. To call Laurin anything less than thought provoking would be a grave understatement. It's one movie that will haunt your mind long after it ends. To classify Laurin into any one genre is next to impossible. The young actress who plays Laurin is extraordinarily beautiful and quite talented. Whatever happened to her?!?

This film is obviously rarely seen or heard of and that's a real shame. It was one of the few times where I actually bought a German DVD import (released by e.m.s.) without ever previously viewing the movie before. I don't regret it at all in this instance! Many great bonus features on the DVD such as deleted/extended scenes, director interview, a making-of featurette, photos, and the entire soundtrack as bonus DVD-Audio tracks. Much of the bonus material is in German, yet still fun to watch.

The atmosphere makes it worth watching

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 27 May 2017]

"Laurin" is a Hungarian / West German co-production from 1989, so shortly before the Fall of the German Wall. At 80 minutes, it is a relatively short movie and it is among the most known career works by director and co-writer Robert Sigl. I think with this brief runtime, the film has pretty good focus, it is not scared of crucial plot developments, even the death of central characters and the film also succeeds on a visual level. With that, I am of course referring to costumes, sets, cinematography. I think it is a combination of all these good aspects that make this one eventually worth watching, even if moments of true greatness are missing perhaps. The actors, the young ones as well as the grown-ups, are doing a good job too and add their fair share to this becoming a success. Overall, the film works best as a mystery thriller with some solid horror aspects at times as well. A lot is hidden in the shadows here and the filmmaker succeeded in letting the audience care for what to find there. It is also quite easy to care for the title character here played convincingly by the young Dóra Szinetár. A bit of a shame her career has not really worked out too well afterward, at least on an international level. And even if this is mostly a German-language film, I personally somehow felt it more to be Hungarian, perhaps also because of the majority of actors' nationalities. But no matter where they are from, it still stays a decent outcome and I recommend checking it out. Competent achievement. Go see it.

Womanhood as horror

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 14 December 2019]

As of late, I've noticed that several of my favorite films fit into a very specific genre for which there's no prescribed name. If it had one, it would probably be something like, "coming of age while the supernatural lurks around the corner."

The best examples of this very unique genre include the Czechoslovakian surrealist film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, The Lady In White, Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural and, while not explicitly otherworldly, movies such as Alice Sweet Alice, Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane. All of these fit this mold in their own ways, with the only modern film I can pick as relevant being The VVitch.

That brings us to the West Germany film Laurin. A film that has been rarely seen outside its native country - which always lends the lure of the occult to the proceedings - it's a perfect example of these films.

Laurin is a nine-year-old girl who lives with her grandmother in a quiet Bavarian town. Since the death of her mother - whose relationship with Laurin's father was primal and lusty, as evidenced by them nearly making love in front of her - and the seafaring disappearances of her father - which increase after her mother's death - she has retreated into a world of school time drudgery punctuation with moments of sinister make-believe. By night, she finds herself haunted by visions of a dilapidated castle owned by a man in black and his sinister dog, where each window finds a child trapped and clawing at the glass. These waking dreams find themselves standing side-by-side with a true nightmare: her friends and classmates are disappearing, one by one.

I've always been struck by how these films apply the supernatural to the worries that the journey from adolescence to adulthood creates. As one's body and feelings toward sexuality change, so too does how we see the world. And while the terror of child abduction is very real, to a child, the only form of explanation must be a fairy tale monster.

Laurin is a sumptuous affair, one that contrasts the dreary and washed out world of adulthood with the kaleidoscopic fantasies of childhood; the kind of dreams that only Mario Bava could properly light, color and frame.

Without revealing the end of this film, the sunlight rising that would often proclaim victory over the Satanic feels rather hollow. As Martin Mathias, the hero of George Romero's Martin would tell us - much further along than adolescence - "There's no real magic ever."

I've often wondered about the time in my life when I went from having my destiny controlled to being in charge of it myself. The questioning that ensued and learning the fact that adults didn't have every answer is perfectly essayed here. In my experience, horror films remain the most honest of all genres. Despite cloaking our fears in the capes, cowls and fangs of the nosferatu, they hold up a mirror to ourselves. Whether or not you appear in it is up to you, dear reader.

Beautiful scenery, a haunting atmosphere and a gripping story.

[tspeel1 · 10/10 · 14 November 2000]

When I first saw this film in 1989, the director had just won the Bavarian Film Prize as "Best Rookie Director." However, I didn't know what to expect. I had been familiar with other modern German movies and was prepared to be disappointed. Just the opposite turned out to be true. The film had a dreamlike quality with beautiful photography, a haunting atmosphere and a gripping story. The music fit the film perfectly and I couldn't believe that the movie had been made by a first-time director. The story was not presented chronologically or sequentially, but was punctuated with flashbacks and "flashforwards," making it seem like a puzzle to be solved, as much as a story to be told. Although it had elements of a fairy tale, the sinister and symbolic elements conspired to make it seem more like a Gothic novel. It was an interesting combination of mystery, suspense, and psychological study, with historic elements thrown in. I came out of the theater knowing that there was hope for the modern German film. In recent years, I have seen the film again a number of times. Each time I see it, I seem to understand more and to find things that I hadn't previously noticed. Although some would put the film into the "horror" or "suspense" category, it is a world apart from a monster or slasher movie, although it has tinges of both. I heartily recommend the film to anyone who enjoys suspense. You will be sitting on the edge of your seat, especially during the final scene, and you will be thinking about the film for days to come.

Not exactly horror, but a very good movie

[Iainkelt · 9/10 · 2 August 2004]

This movie turned out to be quite a bit different then I thought it would be but in a good way. The subtitle would lead you to believe that Laurin is a horror movie but after a few minutes you realize it is something completely different. Previous comments refer to this movie as being surreal and I think that is about as close to an explanation as you can get. This is a gorgeously shot movie that utilizes great natural scenery combined with carefully chosen lighting which sets the mood in every scene. The director makes great use of imagery and color and overall this movie has a really ominous and eerie feeling to it all the way through. As I mentioned though, this isn't really a typical American "horror" movie considering the low body count. It is more cerebral then most horror movies and is artfully put together from beginning to end without being pretentious art house crap.

There are a wholllleeeee lot of interesting characters in this movie, many who have issues with repressed sexuality. The lead character Laurin sleeps in a crib and at first seems to be mentally age-regressed or slow...or something. Also present are the local Priest and his son who both seem to have a number of "issues" relating to childhood and sexuality. Don't forget the crossdressing sissy school-boy, the dope smoking granny, and spying on people in the bathtub.

If you're looking for gore or high body count then keep going but if you are open to something a little more in the vein of maybe David Lynch then I highly recommend Laurin.

A gothic tale for adults

[patricklang · 10/10 · 20 April 2019]

I discovered this movie on DVD several years ago. It left a fairly good impression on me, then I kinda forgot it for a few years. I've heard in 2017 that it would be fully remastered and re-released in Germany on blu-ray by Bildstörung Editions. I thought that it would be nice to give it another shot, and check out if it stands the test of time (the movie is from 1989). Boy, was it worth the wait ! It looked absolutely gorgeous in HD ! I had a blast: the settings, the visuals and the colors were wonderful, the blu-ray did it all absolutely justice. Technically perfect, but what about the movie itself ? I think it is more powerful than ever. A repeated viewing allows to discover little details you couldn't notice on the first time, thats how rich this movie is. Not much dialogues, the director Robert Sigl rather communicates with us through metaphors, with colors, with images, with visual poetry, and of course adult themes that do not need much words to creep under your skin. I'm not going to tell you what the story is about, you can read the summary on IMDb, or just let the movie surprise you. If you like the atmospheric italian gothic movies from the 70's, or the macabre poetry of Jean Rollin's films (but with more class and a little more budget), then I strongly urge you to seek out this gem of a movie, and see for yourself what dark beauty and strong themes can do to your subconscious, its definitely worth the experience. I can not recommend it enough. After more than 30 years, the movie still travels around the globe (France, Italy, Spain, USA...) and the public discovers a movie, that should be recognised as an instant classic. It deserves so much more. I saw other movies by this director (all made-for-TV), this guy has so much talent, he should be up there among David Lynch, Guillermo Del Toro or whatever directors are praised for their entire worlds they create on screen. I still have hope that he will direct another movie for the big screen, and he will show the world (and especially Germany, his own country where he is politely ignored) what he can do, and definitely stand among our biggest talents in movies.

This movie had great impact on me.

[Wizard1973 · 24 October 1999]

This movie had great impact on me. It is absolutley brilliant shot, in fact the whole movie looks like a dream. The story is a dark fairytale, which is sure to give you the creeps and full of unexpected plottwists. This is probably the best german movie ever made.

a black cloak

[christopher-underwood · 9/10 · 4 July 2023]

What a strange film so much going on for Robert Sigl a director only 25 he went to go to Hungary for the cast and crew and got it done for less money and it looks so wonderful. He had the idea of a woman in a black cloak and a rainstorm in a cemetery. It is used very well so much like those mist, cobwebs, candles and so much more as the Gothic imagery we all know but so effectively used here. There is something terrible going on we are not sure what is happening but a woman sees someone with a body and she falls in the river and a priest who is a bit odd and his son he lets him be the school teacher and with all those young children. Despite all that is going on and the strange things happening there is Dora Szinetar and her incredibly pretty face girl of about 12. She does not have much dialogue but it all happens by the others and we just have to watch her. Her friend who is put upside down in the cupboard in the school room by the bully is different but gradually it all goes around and by the end we finally know the awful truth and even who will be in another cupboard.