German Angst Blu Ray Review (Artsploitation Films)

German Angst is a 2015 horror anthology directed by Jörg Buttgereit (Nekromantik 1/2, Der Todesking, Schramm, & Video Nasty), Michal Kosakowski (Zero Killed & Just Like the Movies), & Andreas Marschall (Masks & Tears of Kali). 30.000 EUR for the budget of this film were raised through crowdfunding on Startnext.com. “Final Girl” tells the story of a young girl (played by: Lola Gave) who is obsessed with her guinea pig. Her apartment is dirty & a complete mess, she lives in her own world. She’s lonely & has a man (played by: Axel Holst from Lindenstraße, Verbotene Liebe, & You’re Dead…) captured at her place. As she starts losing it more & more the victim’s chances are getting worse for survival. “Make a Wish” is a gut-wrenching tale involves a young deaf-mute couple Jacek (played by: Matthan Harris from Stok Stalk Stock, The Inflicted, & As Worlds Collide) & Kasia (played by: Annika Strauss from Blood Feast, La petite mort, Game Over, & Skin Creepers) that get attacked by group of skin-heads lead by Jens (played by: Andreas Pape from Bunker of the Dead, Mutation 2 – Generation Dead, Rigor Mortis – The Final Colours, & Lord of the Undead).

They picked the wrong people to mess with because they have a mysterious talisman that has unique powers. Everything starts to change when the attackers push things too far. “Alraune” is the final entry & it follows Eden (played by: Milton Welsh from Antibodies, Æon Flux, Conan the Barbarian, & The Grand Budapest Hotel) who finds a secret sex club & wants to spice up his life. He meets Kira (played by: Kristina Kostiv from Berlin Syndrome, Paranormal Demons, DeXit, & The Darkest Nothing series) who provokes his curiosity & gets his attention. He starts getting obsessed & follows her around to unknown territories. Petrus (played by: Rüdiger Kuhlbrodt from Wolff’s Turf, Stadtklinik, & Hinter Gittern – Der Frauenknast) uses that to manipulates Eden into a deadly game. This leads him into a dark journey & a drug that takes him places that he’s never even imagined.

German Angst has a variety of disturbing subjects on this international horror anthology. You get a little bit of everything with this sick mix of dark stories. It’s awesome to see a somewhat new film from Jörg Buttgereit & the other two directors delivered the goods also. Fans of gore & messed up cinema will love this production because it has plenty of that here. The special effects elevated this film & made moments even more intense. Just when you think they pushed all their limits on this it goes further. The visuals stay with you after viewing this. Each short could have easily been extended into their own feature. They really took of advantage of their running time & made every minute count. It’s hard to pick a favorite between the 3 because honestly there’s not a weak one in the batch so it’s toss up & opinions will probably change during each experience. I was impressed with this & I definitely recommend it to everyone reading this review.

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation on this disc from Artsploitation Films! This 1080p (2:35:1) transfer has various different visual styles & quality through out the 3 different shorts shown in this anthology feature. Nothing drastic or distracting, it’s actually a pretty cool change from the norm. All of them bring something unique to this project. It features two different audio tracks either Dolby Digital 5.1 German & Dolby Digital Stereo German for the release. It has English subtitles. The last two segments of this film feature English dialog also.

Let’s discuss the special features for this blu ray from Artsploitation Films. “Q & A from Fantastic Fest 2015” with directors Michal Kosakowski, Andreas Marschall & actor Matthan Harris is a little over 15 minutes. They joke about Germans always being drunk. They explain “Alraune” a little more. They talk about meeting each other & working together. They discuss how they picked the order of the stories for this. Matthan Harris explains why he got involved with the project. It’s actually in English also! “Behind the Scenes” featurette that is almost 8 minutes. It has all kinds of silent behind the scenes & video footage with music playing over it. “Crowdfunding Video for Startnext” which is almost 8 minutes. It features all 3 directors & they tell you about themselves. They talk about how they all met. They discuss the project & try to sell you on the concept. They describe all their segments in great detail. It’s in German with English subtitles. “Crowdfunding Video for Kickstarter” is almost 7 minutes. This is very similar compared to the previous extra but it does have a few differences & other stuff gets brought up. They also talk about items you would get if you donated on Kickstarter. It has a different setting & it’s in English this time not German like the other one.. It features lots of promotional material. 2 different “Official Trailers” for German Angst. “Teaser #1” is almost 2 minutes. It features various clips from the film makers. “Teaser #2” is a little over 2 minutes. It’s a brief dark & sexy promo video for the production. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!