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Released by: Cult Epics
Released on: February 10th, 2015.
Director: Jí¶rg Buttgereit
Cast: Monika M., Mark Reeder, Daktari Lorenz
Year: 1991
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The Movie:
German director Jí¶rg Buttgereit follows up his cult classic Nekromantik from 1987 with this low budget follow up, Nekromantik 2 - Return Of The Loving Dead. While the film doesn't move as quickly as the first entry, it does reflect a more mature side of Buttgereit's directorial ability and sports slightly better production values and special effects.
The story starts right where the first film left off, and in fact, after a quick quote from Ted Bundy appears on screen (“I Want To Master Life And Deathâ€), we're treated to some black and white flashback footage from the first film's ending. The opening credits play overtop of Rob's suicide, his erection in full view as he stabs himself to death. The film then cuts to a woman, Monika (Monika M. reprising her role from the first movie), a female necrophiliac, digging up the protagonist from the first film to use as a sex object. Once this happens, we soon find out that Betty (Beatrice M., again from the first film) has decided she'd like to reclaim her man. Though she'd left him as a corpse in Nekromantik, she just can't quite him. But alas, she has waited too long.
From here we witness Monika's journey into the depths of necrophilia and how it affects her attempt at a more conventional relationship… or more specifically, her inability to have a more conventional relationship. Strange things start clueing in her 'real life' boyfriend, Mark (Mark Reeder), that something might not be quite right. Little things, like her request that he not move at all during intercourse. What's she up to? How does he factor into all of this? What will be left of Rob when it's all said and done? And what about the poor seal? Ouch.
Once again, much like the first movie, Buttgereit treats to a shockingly good ending that is not for the faint of heart. You could even go so far as to say that it outdoes the ending of the original film, and that's no small task. More likely to appeal to the art-house horror crowd than those looking for a fast paced, brainless gore fest, Nekromantik 2 moves at a very slow and languid pace. The film is notably absent of much dialogue, instead letting the camera and the soundtrack tell the story. The music and the cinematography work together exceptionally well, particularly during the movies climax. In that respect, this movie is far superior to the first one. Buttgereit had evolved as a director by this point and while he's still got a thing for pushing boundaries and smashing taboos, that growth makes for a more nuanced film - at least as nuanced as a film can be when dealing in graphic depictions of necrophilia and such.
While this is definitely not a traditional gore film, thematically it's actually closer to a romance with heavy doses of black comedy. There is a very extreme gross out factor that the film has working in its favor (including that scene with the seal, a very real sequence involving animal violence that outdoes the rabbit scene from the film's predecessor - animal lovers, you are forewarned!), but there's more here than just some really effective scenes of shock value. Buttgereit hits us with these more shocking scenes but then cleverly uses nicely played dramatic moments to pull you back in, no matter how atypical the relationship we're looking at here really is. We get almost all of this from Monika's point of view, but as a framing device that works well. It really is her story more than anyone else's.
Shot on 16mm the film still has a very gritty, underground look to it but on the flip side it's considerably more polished than the first movie. The camera movements are smoother, the compositions a little more aesthetically pleasing and the use of color and of lighting a bit more professional. The effects are also impressive here, the rotting corpse in the bathtub standing as a sickening reminder of how good Buttgereit and company are at going for the gross out when they want to.
While the pacing of the film isn't as quick and the black comedy isn't quite as thick, Nekromantik 2 is a very worthy follow up to the first film. It's also interesting to note that, ironically, Rob ultimately does get the relationship he wanted so badly in the first film.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Nekromantik 2 debuts on Blu-ray from Cult Epics in a 1.33.1 fulframe transfer presented AVC encoded high definition taken from the original 16mm negative. The director approved transfer provides a really nice upgrade over the previous DVD release in terms of depth, detail and color reproduction. This still very much looks like the low budget 16mm production that it is but the higher bit rate and resolution do very nice things indeed for the picture quality. Grain is plentiful and constant but never artificially clumpy or really all that distracting while print damage is kept to a minimum. Some minor compression artifacts can be spotted in a couple of spots but if you're not looking for them you probably won't see them. Edge enhancement and noise reduction are complete non-issues while texture and shadow detail are strong. This seems like a pretty accurate representation of the source.
Audio options are provided in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, 2.0 Stereo and Mono - each track in German with optional English subtitles. A lossless mix would have been nice but that didn't happen. Aside from that, there are no problems with clarity, range or balance here. Dialogue is strong enough that it sounds fairly natural, the score has good presence and the sound effects work well enough.
Extras start off with a running commentary with Jí¶rg Buttgereit, co-author Franz Rodenkirchen, and actors Monika M. and Mark Reeder. It's spoken in English and although at times it is a slight bit tricky to make out what's being said because of the accents, for the most part it's quite easy to follow and there is a lot of great information divulged within. Monika's thoughts on what she had to do in front of the camera are quite interesting while Buttgereit and Rodenkirchen expand on what went into creating the story and exploring the themes and ideas laid out in the earlier first movie.
From there, check out The Making Of Nekromantik 2, running 26:37 and covering quite a bit of detail on how the film came to be. Here Buttgereit and some cast members speak over the video and it's interesting to see the cast and crew being so candid behind the scenes. This serves as quite a contrast to the film's subject matter. Buttgereit talks about how the film was going to play in Austria at a woman's film festival, Monika talks about how she views herself as a liberated woman, and others offer up their thoughts on the picture. While this goes on we see different scenes being shot, different effects pieces being put together and more.
The still gallery on the disc is in slideshow format and runs 13:31 with over 100 images that were taken from the private collections of Buttgereit and Manfred Janinski. Most of these are behind the scenes shots but there are some nice promotional pieces in here as well including video release art and theatrical posters. There is also an outtake reel that runs 11:04 without any sound behind it. It's mostly comprised of short, cutaway scenes but there are a few gory bits in here as well as a few other strange pieces that make it worth taking a look at.
Moving right along, we get HD trailers for Nekromantik, Nekromantik 2, Der Todesking, Schramm and Hot Love before segueing into a '20th Anniversary Live Concert Performed By Monika M. And Friends.' This runs 11:44 and here we see Buttgereit introduce a twentieth anniversary screening of the movie with Monika and a few other musicians in attendance providing live musical accompaniment.
A Moment Of Silence At The Grave Of Ed Gein is a shot film made by Buttgereit that runs 2:14. Here we see Buttgereit's camera visit the scene of the crime in Plainfield, Wisconsin where the infamous mass murderer was laid to rest in an unmarked grave. It really is as simple as that. Half Girl - Lemmy I'm A Feminist is a music video directed by Buttgereit. Motorhead's frontman would approve for sure.
Rounding out the extras are the film's original soundtrack available as an isolated score, the film's score performed live (presumably by Ms. M and company), a newly recorded 2014 introduction to the film from Buttgereit, menus and chapter selection. Inside the keepcase are a pair of limited edition postcards and the case itself fits nicely inside a cardboard slipcover.
The Final Word:
Nekromantik 2 isn't as balls to the wall insane as the first movie but it's pretty damn close. The film is a well made mix of arthouse style and gore film shock tactics performed admirably by a cast best described as daring. Buttgereit's style has evolved considerably here compared to the original film, which means that this makes for an interesting companion piece. The Blu-ray release from Cult Epics might lose a point or two for lossy audio but otherwise offers the film a nice HD upgrade with a solid transfer and a nice smattering of supplements too.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
