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Curse Of Doctor Wolffenstein, The
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Curse Of Doctor Wolffenstein, The
Released by: Reel Gore Releasing
Released on: October 25th, 2016.
Director: Marc Rohnstock
Cast: Mika Metz, Isabelle Aring, Roland Freitag, Stephanie Meisenzahl, Robin Czerny
Year: 2015
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The Movie:
Written and directed by Marc Rohnstock, the same man who gave us Necronos, 2015's The Curse Of Doctor Wolffenstein is a mix of classic horror tropes and the sort of crazed extreme gore that seems to be popular in German underground filmmaking circles.
When the movie begins in 1930, we learn that Dr. Victor Wolffenstein (Mika Metz) has been experimenting with ways to gain immortality. In his small Bavarian village he's been combining science and black magick and, after some trial and error, has created a potion he hopes will help him to achieve his lofty goal. It works - but it is not without consequences. After consuming it he does indeed become immortal but his skin starts to suffer from a strange necropsy and he literally begins to rot. To combat this problem, he begins replacing his rotting body parts with those of the other villagers. Eventually the villagers rise up in revolt and bury him alive - but of course, like any good movie villain, he comes back.
In the present day, a group of teenagers are setting out to attend a rave. Their travel plans don't go as they'd hoped and they wind up stranded in a familiar looking village waiting to get their car fixed. Of course, their arrival coincides with Wolffenstein's return and that good doctor is most definitely up to his old tricks again. This time, however, he's bound and determined to find a cure for his condition, and he doesn't care how many human guinea pigs he has to sacrifice to find it.
At almost two hours in length this one is a little long in the tooth. The opening and middle sections drag a bit and could easily have been tightened up to create a better, more interesting film. The story itself is decent enough, if not particularly ground breaking, but the slow pace of the first half of the picture does make this one a little tough to get into. Thankfully things do pick up in the second half of the movie. The character development almost doesn't matter here, we have Wolffenstein and we have his victims. They don't come with much personality, though - they exist, for the most part, to populate the gore scenes which are clearly meant to be the major draw here.
As to the effectiveness of those scenes? They're pretty nasty. Done with a lot of impressive practical effects, this is a gooey, gory, messy splatter film that leaves very little to your imagination. Almost all of these set pieces take place in the same location, however, and a bit of variety in that department might have made things more visually appealing. Wolffenstein's lab is great and all but we spend a lot of time there. Too much time, really. This was very likely a result of having to stage a pretty ambitious movie with limited funds - fair enough - but a little variety can go a long way sometimes.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Curse Of Doctor Wolffenstein arrives on Blu-ray from Reel Gore Releasing in a very nice looking AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.78.1 widescreen. As this was shot digitally there's obviously no print damage to note. Color reproduction is really nice and black levels stay solid and deep. Detail is strong for the most part, though depending on the lighting and camera movement some shots can and will look a little softer than others. Still, for a low budget European gore movie, it translates to Blu-ray very nicely.
Audio options are provided on the Blu-ray in English and German DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo. Subtitles are provided in English only. There are no problems here, both tracks sound fine. The levels are well balanced and there are no issues with any hiss or distortion to note.
The main extra on the disc is a nine minute Behind The Scenes piece that shows off the cast and crew hard at work on the picture. Some of this footage is interesting as it gives us some insight into the set design and effects work. Also on the disc is a blooper reel that runs six minutes and a short film called Trapped And Stabbed that runs four minutes that pretty much plays out exactly as you'd expect something titled Trapped And Stabbed to play out.
Outside of that, the disc also includes two a trailer for the feature, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection. As this is a combo pack release, we also get a DVD version of the movie with identical extra features. Both discs fit inside a clear Blu-ray cast that in turn fits inside a full color slipcase. Also included inside the slipcase is a full color booklet some writing on the film as well as some bios for the cast and crew members and a selection of photos and artwork related to the film. Also worth noting is the fact that the first 1,000 copies of this release will come with a 'Gore Girls' trading card insert into the packaging.
The Final Word:
The Curse Of Doctor Wolffenstein is too long for its own good. The gore set pieces are sufficiently nasty and impressive in their staging but there are pacing issues here. Rohnstock is getting better as a director, however. This is a step up from Necronos in every way and the movie has its moments. A better editor would have worked wonders, but there's no faulting the Blu-ray release which looks and sounds quite nice.
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