Schramm (1993) User Reviews

Could have, should have been much more.

[gaeanprayer · 5/10 · 12 September 2006]

The first thing I would like to point out for all potential viewers is that this is not a gory film as much as it might be mildly disturbing. There are scenes of blood, but this doesn't necessarily constitute 'gore'. This is just my opinion, though.

Schramm is, as most already know, based on a lonely psycho with issues, many of which revolve around women and 'unrequited love' as someone else put it. While I understood the base and idea behind the film, I was left wanting.

Schramm managed to pique my interest but did little more. There is nothing here to flesh out the serial killer; just hints of his self-loathing and dementia. I would have liked some kind of inner monologue at points in the movie, to hear what the killer was thinking during and after his murders. Did he hate his body or did he just enjoy pain? Was he afraid of women or really just somewhat of a necrophiliac? Did he hate was he was doing, though he could not stop, or was he laughing maniacally on the inside? What exactly drives him? Many questions, few answers. Perhaps that was the point though, to leave one thinking and drawing their own conclusions. Maybe not.

In the end, I found this film did not live up to the hype. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it most certainly could have been better.

For those interested in 'gore', find something else. Schramm will not entertain you.

Serious look on Serial Killers

[ramsri81 · 7/10 · 19 February 2006]

Well for once I bought a movie only looking at the tag line.I really haven't seen any Jörg Buttgereit movies.The DVD I purchased had some trailers of his other movies, and comparing those with Schramm,I assume this is the most realistic movie he has ever made.It gives a good insight into the life of a loner/voyeur/serial killer and how things work out within his head.Right from the first scene till the scene he dies,the movie takes a look into the sick and disturbed mind of the protagonist himself.This film is intense,bizarre,weird,disturbing and most of all a bit original since no one would normally dare to go into the mind of the serial killers.Not in the same class of Jaime Rosales's "Hours of the Day" but still pretty OK.Definitely not for the squeamish and weak hearted only of you have a thing in for serial killer and extreme movies you can give it a shot (especially the scene where he nails his penis to the table .. OUCH!!!!).A 7/10 movie with some decent acting and bizarre scenes.

a string of effectively disturbing images...

[Jonny_Numb · 7/10 · 26 October 2003]

...and I've seen "Salo," the grandfather by which all bizarre, sicko cinema is measured (but I still think it's a fascinating film). "Schramm" lies just beneath it as far as the weight of its images is concerned--in a lot of ways, it's like a serial-killer music-video filled with frames (including a Lynch-like, disembodied vagina with teeth) that burn themselves onto your frontal lobe with explicit authority. Director Jorg Buttgereit utilizes an effective, mood-setting score that helps to produce a film that is atmospheric, yet rich in character and psychology; "Schramm" is 62 minutes of celluloid that, if you choose to watch it, won't be easily forgotten.

7/10

Into the Mind of a Serial Killer

[Michael_Elliott · 11 March 2017]

Schramm (1993)

*** (out of 4)

Lothar Schramm (Florian Koemer von Gustorf) is lying in a pool of his own blood where she's slowly dying. Through flashbacks we take a look at his relationship with a neighbor (Monika M) and learn how he became a serial killer.

SCHRAMM comes from German director Jorg Buttgereit and in many ways you could probably argue that it's the best of his early films. As with NEKROMANTIK, its sequel and DER TODESKING, this one here deals with the typical stuff like violence, sex, mutilation and murder. This one here also comes across more like an art film than just some cheap direct-to-video horror film. This one manages to work once again because the director clearly has talent and makes you realize it even if you might be turned off by the subject matter.

This one here clocks in at just 66-minutes so there's really no fat or scenes that are just dragged out for no reason. I really thought the director did a fine job at getting us into the mind of this killer and you can tell what a messed up person he is. I thought the relationship with the neighbor, who just happens to be a hooker, was quite believable and in a strange way you care for both of them. Both von Gustorf and Monika are good in their roles and this certainly helps.

SCHRAMM certainly isn't a movie that's going to appeal to everyone as there's a lot of blood, some really graphic violence and of course some bizarre sexual stuff. If you're a fan of the director's work then you should enjoy the picture, or at least enjoy it as far as your stomach can take.

Had hoped for better, still powerful viewing though

[Stevieboy666 · 6/10 · 11 April 2019]

German art house movie about a lonely, sexually frustrated, middle aged serial killer. Being a Manfred O.Jelinski/Jorg Buttgereit, production you can expect sex, death, extreme gore (despite what some reviewers claim, there are a few hard to stomach scenes here) and plenty of surrealism. Personally I found the plot hard to follow, even though it is quite basic, and had to read a full synopsis post viewing to fully understand it. This may now make a second viewing better. Buttgereit is a talented film maker,low budgets obviously not being an issue for him, however Schramm certainly did not live up to his two Nekromantic movies and overall I felt a little disappointed. I watched this on German VHS, here in Britain it still does not have a BBFC certificate but I'm confident that in these more enlightened times Schramm, should it ever get submitted, should be passed uncut without any fuss.

Sad, boring film

[drij · 2/10 · 9 March 2003]

This film claims to be some sort of artistic, gore-horror masterpiece. What an utter lie that is. In reality, it is a trite, pseudo-intellectual attempt at being "artsy." Buttgereit attempts to use an absurd amount of repetition of imagery to make some sort of statement about the main character's depravity-- a good idea in theory, but taking 10 minutes of footage and repeating it in varying edits for an 65 minutes makes for a dreadfully uninteresting film. He did a far better job at exploring sexual deviance and death in his Nekromantik films...

The running time suits the film very well...

[matthewmrussell · 3/10 · 22 July 2003]

I hear a lot about 'gore' movies and I try to watch all the ones that I hear good things about because I am a fan of the genre. However, recently I have managed to watch a slew of bad movies, including this one. Schramm really didn't make any sense to me because there really isn't a lot going on. Maybe if you are a fan of the director you will be more prone to liking this film, but from the standpoint of a casual viewing I would say that it is seriously lacking substance. The movie is short (62 minutes), which is one of the few things I liked, but unless you REALLY want to see this film I would save that hour for something a little more useful.

A trip into the mind of a serial killer.

[captain_bungle · 9/10 · 13 April 2005]

Before I start this review, let the words of German director Jorg Buttgereit explain his intentions: 'Welcome to a trip into the mind of a serial killer. When Franz Rodekirchen and I sat down to write the script for Schramm, we had seen a lot of so-called 'serial killer' movies…it seemed to us that these films were more about some police guys who try to quit smoking because their wife had left them. In the end they hunt the killer down, put him in jail, and the world is saved…So, f--k all the police stories. We couldn't afford to rent a police car anyway. So we started concentrating totally on Schramm - the man, the loner and his guilt, looking for love in a world so far away.' True to his word, Jorg Buttgereit does indeed 'f--k all the police stories' and concentrate on the lonely, emotionally fragile and somewhat psychotic Lothar Schramm (Florian Koerner von Gustorf), a man living alone in a small flat opposite a prostitute (Monika M) whom he lusts after. But Schramm isn't too good at male/female relations, indulging himself with a bizarre blow-up doll rather than make advances towards his true love. Schramm's problems lie directly in his sexuality, killing female victims and putting them in sexual positions for him to photograph and use for his own personal gratification. Schramm punishes himself for his crimes, at one point hammering a nail into his foreskin because of the frustration and sexual inadequacy that often provokes him. He dreams of a literal vagina dentata, a monstrous, toothed female genitalia that crawls in his bed on slippery tentacles towards his crotch. Schramm truly is scared of women, the castration scenario quite literal in his head, and his rage seems to be stemmed from this. But amongst all of the disturbing imagery and violent rage, Schramm dreams of the beach, of being a little boy again, and of the prostitute who lives over the hall from him.

The film is told within a fractured time-line, jumping back and forth between the present (where a fallen Schramm lays dying) and Schramm's past murders. The film is full of disturbing images and hard-hitting gore, but more interestingly, a story of unrequited love. At times it is a hard film to watch, with von Gustorf giving a remarkable performance that seems to defy acting conventions, giving Lothar Schramm an earthy, realistic edge that would be more suited to documentary. The visual style is one of a talented filmmaker with very little money - lots of imaginative movements and angles but with a raw, amateurish edge that only serves to heighten the dark, edgy world of Lothar Schramm.

Bizarrely, about half way through, the film takes a unique and frightening jump completely out of the narrative to show a man shooting himself in the head outside Schramm's flat as the crew film on, supposedly witnessing an unplanned suicide. Although staged, this sequence suggests it is snuff, and its pure incompatibility with the film takes you completely out of the narrative for a few seconds, wondering just what the hell is going on.

Buttgereit, best known for his super 8mm feature Nekromantik, has constructed a unique and powerful film that deals with human feelings and frailties whilst maintaining enough nastiness to please horror fans and a certain art-house pretension that invites analysis into its narrative and imagery. Not for the faint-hearted, or those unfamiliar with Buttgereit's work, Schramm proves to be a thoughtful, intelligent film where not all is what it seems.

At only 60 minutes long, Schramm won't take too much out of your day, but it will stay with you for weeks afterwards, leaving indelible images in your head that you wish you could shake off. Like Schramm, you might feel a little dirty after watching it, but ultimately you'll feel rewarded.

Schramm scam

[macabro357 · 3/10 · 22 July 2003]

This is the first film I've seen of Buttgereit's and it's mercifully short. Only 65 minutes long. And if it's any indicator of NEKROMANTIK or DER TODESKING, then I think I'll give them a pass, too.

Two Jesus freaks call up Schramm wanting him to convert. He invites them in to sit down. Schramm then comes up from behind and slits the guy's throat, and then kills the girl (who's with the guy) with a hammer. He then photographs their dead bodies in various poses and likes to put lipstick on them.

Schramm also has bizarre sexual fantasies like hammering nails into his dick, having sex with his dead female victim, and having sex with a plastic blow-up vagina.

As Schramm repaints the blood-splattered wall in his apartment, he slips and falls, killing himself. The camera lingers on his paint soaked body with the little splatter of blood dripping down into the white paint. And that's about it.

The DVD extras include some early Buttgereit student films he shot back in the 80s, trailers for NEKROMANTIK I & II, and DER TODESKING. There's also a documentary on the making of SCHRAMM that's about half as long as the film itself.

Some press reviews have compared this to HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER but I think that they should all get their heads examined because this one doesn't even come close. It's too arty and boring for that, although it doesn't sink into the kind of silliness that a Nick Zedd film would stoop down to.

3 out of 10

A real surprise.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 9/10 · 14 March 2009]

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

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Am I Sick?!!

[Abominog · 1/10 · 6 August 2005]

I don't think that any spoilers could spoil the impression and "pleasure" of watching this stuff.

First of all, it's not your ordinary serial killer flick.

This comes to a specific category of movies that either you agree to watch (at your own risk) and blame it all on yourself or, otherwise, (if unaware of the contents from the very beginning), rush away from the theater with a feeling of disgust (or convulsively seek the remote control's stop button) after a first couple of minutes.

It's hard to evaluate a film without a plot. It's just a sort of unsystematic collages of truly disturbing, paranoid imagery like nailing foreskin to a table, scratching inside the stump section of a hip, and other similarly "eye-catching pleasures".

Nevertheless, Schramm is at least one of Buttgereit's mind-bending and loathsome "artworks" that I could have endured from start to finish.

Unlike both of Nekromantiks, which I only fast forwarded and cut somewhere in the middle - just to acquire a rough notion of WHAT ARE INDEED THOSE WEIRD UNDERGROUND MOVIES, that were much talked about.

Oddly enough (and luckily), this later "masterpiece" doesn't bear the director's trademark - detailed accounts of unspeakably grim executions of innocent animals.

I try to figure out whether those are also considered to be high art or pure entertainment?

And I used to think that those Italian cannibal movies were top of gross!!!

WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE that make such movies?

WHO AM I and WHO ARE WE that dare to watch this?

WHY DID I BOTHER to write these comments?

If I only knew...

Perhaps this is a matter of an elaborate psychiatric research.

If David Lynch had been a German porn director....

[BigBabe0 · 5 August 2009]

It wasn't until after my second viewing of this video that it occurred to me maybe this was meant to be a comedy of sorts, albeit very "black" (I haven't seen Mr. Buttgereit's other work). The title character, Lothar Schramm, falls off a ladder in his apartment while painting his wall and dies; a news article informs us he was the "lipstick murderer." (We never actually see him murder anyone except a couple of hapless missionaries who barge into his place bent on saving his soul; it turns out to be their blood on the wall that he's later painting.) Lothar's only contact with the "real world" is his job as a taxi driver (thanks, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, for establishing permanently that cab drivers are potential homicidal maniacs) and his somewhat strained relationship with a neighboring prostitute. (Instead of having a pimp for protection, she keeps Lothar and his cab standing by while entertaining clients in a mansion.) His is mostly a fantasy life and (as per Lynch's "Eraserhead") it's not always clear what's meant to be hallucination or maybe an "alternate universe." He wears a leg brace after waking up one morning to discover his leg cut off but still in the bed with him; he reacts in his usual comatose manner, poking at the stub of his thigh rather as Graham Chapman did with Eric Idle in Monty Python's "Meaning of Life," so we're inclined to think he's hallucinating, yet later it's the braced leg becoming detached again that seems to make him fall off the ladder. In some of the film's many "insert" shots (that may be his memory and/or fantasy) he's shown manipulating unconscious or dead women in various ways (applying lipstick to one, tying another's hands behind her back, spreading another's legs) but in "real life" he's reduced to masturbating with a plastic inflatable female torso (which, as a "good German," he dutifully rinses afterward). In what amounts to the film's only "dramatic sequence," he and the prostitute go to a restaurant and eat some very unappetizing-looking stuff (it's when Germans started getting away from good ol' bratwurst and beer that their downfall began) (when she holds up some money, it makes him think of her with a "john") then go back to his apartment where he spikes her drink, renders her unconscious, gradually undresses her while snapping pictures and indulges in the kind of "gutter talk" he'd never say to her face--yet she wakes up the next morning not having been murdered. In a kind of ironic epilogue after he dies, she goes without him to another tryst in the mansion and winds up bound and gagged in a chair, suggesting she may die not due to his presence but to his absence. I'm happy to report this is not another cinematic "whore with a heart of gold"; when Lothar tells her about a dream he had that apparently is significant to him, she "blows it off" with some inane remark.

"All right," you may be wondering, "what is it about all this that strikes you as comedic?" Well, the background music for one thing, especially the moody cello solos contrasting with the drab little lumpen-reality of Lothar's life. The best comedy (that I've seen) is about coping with frustrations of various kinds; Lothar's life is one long frustration. (Oddly, there's no sexual activity on screen or anything particularly erotic, which may be frustrating for some viewers.) (One gathers from Lothar's reveries he was once a runner or at least aspired towards it.) His deadpan reaction to everything that happens (or seems to) (even when some kind of toothed vagina-monster appears) conjures up Buster Keaton. There's an ostensibly pointless scene showing Lothar and the prostitute walking home past a guy sitting on the sidewalk, on whom the camera lingers until he produces a revolver and blows his brains out, then a big hand-silhouette appears on the screen several times, as though Mr. Buttgereit (then a young wise-ass under thirty) is daring us to take it "seriously." Finally, in a foggy post-mortem sequence that may be the afterlife or (the now nude) Lothar's fantasy of it, a young blond dude wearing a shawl appears and takes a vicious swipe at the camera--a kind of final celestial "Eff you"? ....I guess it's obligatory to respond to the famous scene of Lothar driving nails through his foreskin. As a non-gay circumcised man, I had never seen one of those, so there was some "novelty value" to it. I doubt it's the most "queaze-inducing" thing you'll ever see in a movie; it's hard to beat the shot of the guy pounding a piece of metal into his leg in "Tetsuo," or more recently the "eyeball scene" in "Hostel" ...

If I could hark back for a moment to the scene of the missionaries getting murdered: not to pick on this movie in particular, but this is about the umpteenth time in cinema where we have one killer and two (or more) victims and while the killer is busy with the first victim, the second victim just sits or stands there screaming or staring or crying, instead of---oh, I don't know---maybe running away, or maybe trying to help the first victim by attacking the killer, or something. We've all heard of the "fight or flight response" in situations of great stress? Well, what's more stressful than seeing someone getting murdered right in front or one? To borrow an example from real life, when Jack Kennedy got shot in Dallas, we all saw on the Zapruder film how Jackie tried to haul ass out of the car.... But then an awful lot of psycho killer flicks would've needed to be rewritten....

Usual Buttgereit, appalling and disgusting

[Horst_In_Translation · 2/10 · 3 December 2015]

"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.

Suprised, Unique, Could Be Better.

[DarkSpotOn · 5/10 · 17 July 2023]

I have known and heard of this movie ages ago. I was expecting something along the lines of Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer, and Hostel, but i got something new here.

Compared to the director's previous works of Nekromantik and it's sequel, this movie actually seems to be meaningful. The idea and the gore visuals are awesome. This is the first time that we are watching exactly through the killer's mind.

It is sort of similar to the movies like The Untold Story, Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer, and Angst, as we just follow our main lead. Compared to the three films i just listed, this movie actually showcases how our main character is struggling, how he is truly lonely, and how he actually has schizophrenia, and you actually feel sorry for him. However, also compared to all the previous three films, all three of the films were made better, plot-wise and technically-wise.

Now it's time for the negatives: None of our characters really have any depth. Angst just is a pitch-black dark movie, and you care, here it's really a mixed bag. The movie repeats it's scenes that we have already seen and that's pretty annoying. At the start of the movie, we learned that our main character is dead, which sort of spoiled the ending.

I feel like i have to rewatch this a second time, but this movie is just a mixed bag.

Intense Pictures!

[thola01 · 9/10 · 14 August 2003]

Well, this one's pretty hard to describe. Some people might say, this is one of those movies you either love or hate. Some might ask, if it's art or trash. First of all it's a movie about a serial killer. But in my opinion it can't be compared with other serial killer movies, because it's too different. And it's supposed to be. If you like to watch a story like the ones about Ted Bundy or Jeff Dahmer you better let this one pass by. In the mood for some funny, gory horror-stuff to watch with your friends having some beer and some laughs? Wrong choice! "Schramm" is weird, disturbing, almost bizarr. Or do you think, every man should for once in his life pin down his penis on a table using 2-inch-nails? Schramm does. If you like stuff like David Lynch's "Eraserhead" or the Japanese "Tetsuo" you might probably love "Schramm". And even if it serves some gore it might be stuff to think about for some among you. Try to get its message...- it's worth a watch!

You sow!

[ElijahCSkuggs · 8/10 · 12 December 2006]

MINOR SPOILERS

Going into this movie I knew a couple things. I knew that it was directed by the same guy who made Nekromantik, I knew that it was about a serial killer and I also knew that it contained a pretty gross scene involving a hammer. Whenever I read what people had to say about Schramm, they always spoke somewhat highly of it. And now you can add me to that list of people.

Schramm is about a serial killer who through his own nightmarish faults has fallen off a ladder and has knocked himself out. You don't know if he's seriously hurt or just out cold. In the meantime you're shown flashbacks of some of his recent days, murdering, freaking out, and masturbating. Three things that I would say the average maniac killer does on a consistent basis. Schramm seems to have a couple loves in his life, one being running and two being his next door prostitute neighbor. And unfortunately for him, his mind makes him see awful things that are related to these passions. Anyways, Schramm plays out in a artsy way that I thought really worked. And at around an hour long the movie plays out very well. I actually felt for his character a little bit, even though he'd probably kill me in a split second if I rang his doorbell. Well after asking me if I'd like something to drink.

Schramm was pretty violent, pretty disturbing and pretty cool. It's definitely one of the stranger flicks on serial killers I've ever seen and also one of the best. If you're looking for a different take on this genre and you can stand a couple graphic scenes, by all means give this a go.

If you can take it, be hit by this film.

[Mattydee74 · 23 May 2001]

I think of Schramm like a train and you're tied to the tracks. Its a primitive film, full of aggression and violation. Buttgereit's film Nekromantik was snide and built up a cult, Schramm has more narrative than his film Der Todesking but its definitely not linear. Schramm retains the trademark cinematic dissociation Buttgereit does so well and which makes this film disturbing. Its the cheapness of the gore and the ordinariness of the surroundings which makes the dissociation possible. Odd to say, but there's a scary realism here in the blankness and bleakness. Its grosser than ever in Buttgereit land and this tale of a self-abusing, disturbed killer is compulsive viewing if you can

Today I'm dirty,but tomorrow I'll be just dirt.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 10/10 · 28 September 2003]

Jorg Buttgereit's "Schramm" is one of the most disturbing movies ever made.This film about a lonely man,a serial killer named Lothar Schramm is very tragic and sad.It has some very interesting shots/angles and offers plenty of disturbing images.The scene where Lothar nails through his penis with a hammer is truly revolting.The soundtrack is excellent-very gloomy and depressing."Schramm" is definitely my favourite Buttgereit's film,so anyone who likes serial killer cinema won't be disappointed.There are also two gruesome serial killer movies made in Europe,but I haven't seen them yet:Uwe Boll's very disturbing and grim "Amoklauf"(1992)and Gerald Kargl's "Angst"(1983),Austrian serial killer film that is as intense and disturbing as they come.All three movies are very worthy of mention and research.

Another Good Entry By German Freak, Jorg Buttgereit

[EVOL666 · 8/10 · 17 October 2005]

SCHRAMM is a voyeuristic glimpse into the life of a sad and lonely individual. It just so happens that this individual is also a serial killer. Lothar Schramm is a solitary and quiet individual who lives in a small apartment complex. The story takes place in a series of flashback-type shots that are Lothar's memories as he lay dying after a painting accident. Schramm is infatuated with his next door neighbor (Monika M of NEKROMANTIK 2 fame) who is a prostitute, but poor Lothar just can't get the nerve up to act on it. They have a strange friendship which seems to be one of, if not the only highlight of Lothar's pitiful life(other than murder). The entire film is based around Schramm's feelings of isolation, loneliness, and self-loathing - and the film's style is appropriately downbeat. Gone is the typical bit of dark humor that punctuates Buttgereit's other works. This is a strong film that is not intended for all audiences, but is highly recommended to those that can handle stronger material. Not an extremely gory film, but there are definitely some rough scenes - 1 in particular that will have all the guys squirming. Definitely worth a look, especially for Buttgereit fans. 8.5/10

extreme & realistic art about life of a serial killer. Headstrong

[KGB-Greece-Patras · 26 August 2002]

This has to be one of the best serial killer films if not for the camerawork or editing (much better than Buttgereits previous stuff) for its deadly realism. The special thing about this one is that it doesn't depict - instead it forces viewers to see from the killers eyes and think the killer's way.

Moreover, and mainly because of the obvious improval of the technic (it LOOKS much more professional than, say, Nekromantik, even if it's not, and I know because I watched the special edition where we see how they filmed this thing) , this film might appeal to other people as well, apart from sickos and people on weird / gore films.

I can imagine that some serious cinema-lovers could take this very seriously and consider it a great film as it is.

A masterpiece

[stepflan · 9/10 · 24 February 2008]

More of an art-house film than a horror really. But this German "poetic" film really doesn't disappoint at all, it surprises! And it's not something that should not be missed. Often compared to such great serial killer films as "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" and "Maniac" probably because the movie wants to show us the story from the killers point of view. It tries to lead us into the mind of the murderer. Schramm does this in the best way, it's a really bizarre experience. This may seem weird, but the movie is actually very beautiful. Of course not everything in it is. But some of the scenes in Schramm have such wonderful cinematography that really hard to imagine that it's such a low budget film. Buttgereit really has a great artistic style.

Many people think that the film is just another gore film, from the guy who made "Nekromantic", well I can tell them that they're wrong. This film is not something you would see for gore and blood. Even there are a few really nasty scenes, which are really nasty.

Now the music is one of the best highlights of the movie, it really has a special atmosphere, a very dark and weird atmosphere too. And if you get the 2-disc DVD you get the movie soundtrack on a CD which I personally recommend.

Not for the general horror fan, but defiantly for any Buttgereit fans. Some would say that the movie is a little slow, but I don't agree. Watch it twice.

A shocking study of a serial killer.

[BA_Harrison · 8/10 · 24 November 2007]

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.

Oh My...

[LuckyBay · 23 May 2004]

All I can say about this movie is "what?" Granted I watched it in the wee hours of the morning, and perhaps my perceptions were skewed but...wow. Very strange. And what was with the Hammer and Nails on the map? this movie comes off as very choppy and incoherent. I'm always glad to incorporate new and different titles into my library... but i don't think I want to admit to having this one. True it is far better than most serial killer movies, because this shows what's going on with the serial killer and not the detectives investigating him. there wasn't a single cop in the movie. Kind of makes you think how he was getting away with everything. especially when he seems so inept to being able to get through the day sanely. I do believe i am now scarred for life.

A grim and impressive experience

[BloedEnMelk · 9/10 · 7 April 2011]

Schramm is a movie that really impressed me. It's one of those rare movies that stand above the typical serial killer movie. I would say that it definitely belongs to the best within the genre.

It's not a movie with a typical story line. Instead, we are dragged in to Lothar Schramm's mad mind. The soundtrack, the grain of the film, the camera-work, it all adds to a grim and disturbed feeling of madness and desolation.

*Spoilers*

Lothar Schramm is a very lonely man. On one hand, he is quite modest, charming and even protective in his normal contact with his befriended neighbor, a prostitute. Secretly though, he lusts for her, but he can't find a normal way to make it work. So, when he gets the chance he abuses her, but without her knowing about it. Still, she comes off pretty well, as other people get brutally slaughtered by him. His only way to get intimacy is with the dead or unconscious. And for sure he is not left cold by this, as multiple scenes make very clear that he is struggling with himself big time. He also punishes himself (and it is one brilliantly painful graphic scene.. very well done!) for what he is, for what he does.

There is quite some metaphorical stuff. For example the cut-off and the fake leg. My idea of that, is that he sees himself as not capable to have both legs firmly on the ground. He is in a way handicapped, he is loosing control, and it shows through the image of the leg. At the end, it kills him. Lothar Schramm really fears female intimacy, and it's IMO the fear of being emotionally castrated which is shown in his hallucinations of the teethed vagina.

* End of spoilers*

This whole movie is not linear in time line. This only adds more to the madness of it. It is also a movie in which (repressed) sexuality and frustration have the constant overtone. Lust, frustration and, to a lesser extent but definitely there, rage. Schramms repressed sexuality seeps through in the whole movie, and I found this to be really strong and impressive. Jörg Buttgereit did a brilliant job in sucking us in to the deranged world of a sad and lonely, but also very disturbed and dangerous madman.

This film is definitely not for everyone! What I do like about it, other people might totally dislike. The fact that it's not really a story for example, at least not in the way most plots are worked out. It's more a series of events, scrambled up. It's not as much a normal film, but more an experience. It also has an amateuristic feel to it which you may dislike, but which I think works perfectly for Schramm. It's never polished, it never just shines in cinematic perfection, it has no ambitions in being anything even close to a Hollywood production. Instead, it is raw, very raw. It's grainy, gritty, uncomfortable. And wow, did I like it!

best serial killer movie ever

[oomen4 · 10/10 · 24 July 2002]

serial killers are brutal and normal people aren't meant to understand them (me not being a normal person); this idea came to my mind when i saw schramm and seeing 90% of the audience leave disgusted before the ending of the movie (most of which (warning spoilers ahead) couldnt handle the cleaning of the sex doll part). Which is is sad, because this movie portrays perfectly the boredom, alienation and schizophrenic portrayal of events that the main character, schramm, experiences. Supported by a haunting sequence of reiterating images, a dark cello-based and intoxicating soundtrack and some scenes which are as utterly credible as confronting, which make this movie a true experience into the mind of a serial killer.