Schramm (1993)

Germany has always had a curious history when it comes to horror films. With the exception of the expressionist silent era, Germany has never really experienced a horror boom, especially when compared to England, Spain, Italy and France, who's horror output flourished in the 60's, 70's and 80's. Perhaps because of the sporadic horror releases, when a German genre film does make waves at home and abroad, the films tend to be highly original, transgressive and confrontational, with films like Ulli Lommel's Tenderness of the Wolves (1973) and Eckhart Schmidt's Der Fan (1982) being some of the most famous. The arrival of Jörg Buttgereit with Nekromantik (1987) signaled a new era for German horror. The punk rock, DIY aesthetics of Nekromantik really lit a fire under the behind of the German underground and no doubt played a hand in inspiring other infamous German homemade horrors like Andreas Schnaas Violent Shit (1989) and Olaf Ittenbach's Black Past (1989) and The Burning Moon (1992). Far from content with being painted into a corner, Buttgereit remained unique with the experimental brilliance of Der Todesking (1990) before surpassing his original creation with Nekromantik 2 (1991). Schramm, Buttgereit's fourth and to date final feature, saw Buttgereit once again retaining his status as leader of the German underground, providing a gruesome and refreshing antidote to the slew of by-the-numbers police procedural serial killer films from around the same time.

While re-painting his apartment in an attempt to cover up his most recent killings, Lothar Schramm, dubbed the “Lipstick Killer” by the press, accidentally falls from his stepladder to his death. Before his passing, fragments of his life begin to replay before him, from his platonic relationship with Marianne, the prostitute next door (Monika M. of Nekromantik 2), various mundane episodes of his lonely home life to repetitions of the murders and post-killing rituals as well as the various hallucinations which led him to this point.

Subtitled “Into the Mind of a Serial Killer”, Schramm does just that, giving an unflinching, up close and perhaps an all too personal for some look into the psyche of a deranged individual. Although the film features just one narrative, in some ways the film resembles the experimental approach Buttgereit took with Der Todesking, with the titular Schramm's memories being fractured, matching Buttgereit's presentation of them. Despite knowing immediately what's being shown happened prior to Schramm's fall, Buttgereit still manages to obscure the timeline with Schramm's memories, oftentimes repeating certain scenes complete with disorienting camera moments and edits, the fragmentation of the narrative providing an insight into Schramm's disturbed mind long before his fall. Save for moments where Buttgereit makes the fantasy element obvious, there are quite a few times throughout the film where reality and hallucination become obscured, with Schramm suffering from some incredibly striking visions of eyeball removal, missing limbs and an especially jolting appendage complete with chattering teeth. The hallucinations also play a big part in Schramm's ultimate fate, potentially confusing matters even more. The film is even more note worthy on account of how downbeat an affair it is. While Lothar is hardly presented as sympathetic, much like many of the suicidal individuals in Der Todesking, there is an obvious feeling of emptiness and solitude during the scenes of Schramm going about his daily business that does weigh heavily despite the films brisk 65 minute run time, plus Schramm's self-loathing manifesting itself in one of Buttgereit's most wince-inducing scenes.

Buttgereit has gone on record saying that Schramm was made as a reaction against the police procedural types of serial killer films, claiming in his introduction to the film on the Cult Epics DVD release “When I made this movie in 1992, I was pretty much interested in whats really going on in the mind of a serial killer. I was tired of so called serial killer movies where I could only see, you know, chain-smoking detectives who try to hunt the serial killer and these films were not so much about serial killers, so I was trying to do a serial killer movie based on a lot of serial killer biographies I read and yeah, I was trying to get pictures on the screen that could be in the head of a serial killer.” Schramm is again Buttgereit's last feature film to date although he's hardly been resting on his laurels since 1993, having directed numerous television documentaries, music videos and shorts as well as Captain Berlin vs. Hitler (2009), a filmed stage play and the segment “Final Girl” from the anthology film German Angst (2015), which many hailed as a most-welcome comeback and hopefully will lead to an eventual new feature. Although the total count of Buttgereit's features is four, the cliché of quality over quantity rings true and Schramm, like all of Buttgereit's features is of an entirely singular quality.