The German Chainsaw Massacre

The German Chainsaw Massacre - The First Hour of the Reunification (German: Das deutsche Kettensägenmassaker), also known as Blackest Heart in the United States, is a 1990 German horror film written and directed by Christoph Schlingensief and starring Karina Fallenstein, Alfred Edel, Udo Kier and Irm Hermann. It is the second film in Schlingensief's Deutschlandtrilogie (German Trilogy).

The German Chainsaw Massacre
DVD cover
Directed byChristoph Schlingensief
Produced by
  • Gerd Hecker
  • Horst Riesenfeld
Written byChristoph Schlingensief
Starring
Music byJacques Arr
Cinematography
  • Christoph Schlingensief
  • Voxi Bärenklau
Edited byAriane Traub
Release date
1990
Running time
60 minutes[1]
CountryGermany
LanguageGerman

Plot

The film depicts events around the German reunification of 1990 and focuses on a group of East-Germans who cross the border to visit West-Germany and get slaughtered by a psychopathic West German cannibal family with chainsaws who want to turn them into sausages.[2]

Cast
  • Alfred Edel as Alfred
  • Karina Fallenstein as Clara
  • Artur Albrecht as Ihr Liebhaber
  • Susanne Bredehöft as Ihr Mann / Margit
  • Brigitte Kausch as Brigitte
  • Volker Spengler as Henk
  • Dietrich Kuhlbrodt as Dietrich
  • Reinald Schnell as Kurti
  • Udo Kier as Jonny
  • Eva-Maria Kurz as Zöllnerin
  • Irm Hermann as DDR-Grenzerin

Production

Schlingensief conceived the idea for the film after he had viewed bootleg copies of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (which were both banned in Germany) and found the second film to be "superb for its richness in imagery and double entendres". He wrote the script in a matter of days after the German reunification.[3]

Reception

Time Out lauded the film as "abrasive, relentless, cruelly funny and enjoyably deranged."[4] The film was leveled with a legal complaints of "glorification of violence" upon its release in Germany.[2] Sean Leonard of HorrorNews.net calling it "an artsy, gory horror movie in the vein of Tobe Hooper’s classic", with the director's pointed social commentary.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Christoph Schlingensief: German Chainsaw Massacre". Tate Modern. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  2. Twark, Jill E.; Hildebrandt, Axel (2015). Envisioning Social Justice in Contemporary German Culture. Boydell & Brewer. p. 211. ISBN 9781571135698.
  3. Forrest, Tara (2011). Christoph Schlingensief: Art Without Borders. Intellect Books. p. 44. ISBN 9781841503912.
  4. "The German Chainsaw Massacre 1990, directed by Christoph Schlingensief". Time Out. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  5. Leonard, Sean (October 26, 2013). "Film Review: The German Chainsaw Massacre (1990)". HorrorNews.net. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
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