Grimm Love (V)
| release date | September 28 2010 |
| studio | Lightning Entertainment |
| director | Martin Weisz |
| writer | TS Faull |
| starring | Thomas Kretschmann, Keri Russell, Thomas Huber, Simon Grobeck, Nikolai Kinski, Axel Wedekind |
| rating | R |
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16 Comments
This movie wasnt what i expected,
But it was still good.
There wasnt that much gore, or nothing scary,
but to be honest the actual story line is pretty sick.
The start drags on a bit aswell..
But watch it still .
This gets its 5 points for being made without any serious acting or editing flaws. And it has thoughtful cinematography. That is all it does well.
The only people who will see this are probably those already familiar with the true story or those who will be slammed by its extremity. This story is SO ripe for some really ground-breaking rule-breaking film-making but this film just turns into a sort of made-for-TV version of the story. There are four treatments of the story, and I wanted to see at least one of those (Lommel’s ‘Cannibal’) before reviewing this, but I couldn’t wait.
The story, if you don’t know, is about cannibal serial killer Armin Meiwes who advertised for a victim online, and found a willing participant named Brandes whose fantasy was to watch his penis be bitten off and devoured. Meiwes videotaped the “slaughter” of his “victim”, which is why authorities and the press know that Meiwes was unable to bite the penis off, so Brandes had to settle for a knife. They both wanted to eat the penis, but Meiwes overcooked it after Brandes commented that it was too chewy raw. The movie does a fair re-staging (I wonder if the director/creators were able to see the real tape) but all of the gore is left out. We don’t see any filet of dicklet or any anxious biting…. which that’s half the reason I watched this – guaranteed fucked up combo of two fucked up things – castration and cannibalism.
I also wanted to feel the bond between these two characters and how this act was making them whole, but all I got was Keri Russell’s preachy and transparent voice-over, which her character was attempting to show “a sane and empathetic look at madness” but all it does is interfere in the pacing and mislead the audience. The acting between the two leads hits stride at certain moments, but for the most part Kretschmann is walking blocks around his counterpart.
I also dislike the flashbacks of the men’s childhoods, which is actually the reason why Meiwes was able to have this film banned in Germany (he didn’t like people talking about his mommy issues). And I didn’t like the movie using his mommy issues to prop up a Norman Bates figure for us, as serial killing is FAR more complex than an overbearing mommy. And, I need to say it again. I wanted more gore. One thing I don’t know about this case (and I’m the sort of sick fuck that REALLY wants to see the real tape) is when Meiwes sliced off the penis, did he leave Brandes’ balls on him or cut the whole sort of penile bulb out all at once? There’s no reason why a movie with this content couldn’t have answered my question there. In “Pink Flamingos”, Waters wasn’t afraid to show that Divine had let the manservant keep his balls, so why is a foreign director afraid of frontal nudity (of which there is NONE) in today’s market where the audience applauds when Hostel 2′s protagonist clearly and nonchalantly slices off a penis and tosses it to hungry dogs as the movie’s climax? I guess the director wanted to make something more meaningful, but he didn’t and I don’t know if they were able to use real transcripts/emails from the case, but alot of the crucial lines could have been better written.
An excellent film.
I liked this movie. It made me uncomfortable, and it stuck with me. It’s not in my top 10, but I do recommend you see it.
I am not easily shaken, just to be clear. But when I returned this film, I handed it over the counter, arm far outstretched from my body, plastic case held between thumb and forefinger like you would a used tissue. I wanted it out of my sight. I didn’t ever want to think about it again. That is until I noticed the incongruous reviews of the film.
To say this film disturbed me would be too bland a statement. I did not know what to expect from it, had no knowledge of its subject matter, nor of the almost mythological German case. Ordinarily, I would critique a horror film based on tension, cinematography, musical score, gore-where appropriate, and so forth. The effect this film had on me was based solely on the subject matter it explored.
Aside from the obvious taboos associated with the topic of cannibalism, the abject desperation and loneliness of the protagonists was almost unbearable to me. The idea that their actions were somehow motivated by a lack of connection to themselves, to others, and to their inherent self-worth devastated me. Without pathetically trying to understand the epidemiology behind abhorrant and deviant behaviours I couldn’t help but wonder if only someone had been able to connect with the parts of Hartwin and Grimbeck that suffered from guilt-associated self loathing, would the outcome have been different?
In contrast to other reviewers, I was thankful for Keri Russell’s (often insipid and pointless) intrusions into the story. I fear that if the plot has maintained an unbroken narrative of eating and being eaten told with such psychological implications, it would have created an unbearable tension between film and viewer.
It is moot for me so say whether or not I like the film or would recommend it, but one unerring fact must be told of Grimm Love: it is successful as a horror film and though I have never before seen anything like it, I never wish to view it again.
I read a lot on the events before watching this film and must say I was disappointed. It spent a horrendous amount of time on Armin’s past with his mother and it just dragged it on for me. I was hoping for more detailed showings of the killing of Brandes, but alas, it was definitely lacking in the gore department. P.S., Stinger, I remember reading somewhere he actually popped the testicles with his teeth successfully but did not cut them off…fun fact, I guess.
The minute the words The End came onto the screen I stopped the movie, took out the disc and put it away where I wouldn’t have to think about it ever again.
When I started the movie I had no idea what I was getting into, never having heard of the story before.
The humanity of the characters and the anticipation of the final act, an anticipation which hangs over every scene like a heavy fog, is as touching as it is disturbing.
It forces you to look into parts of yourself that you keep locked up, hidden from light and left to suffocate. After a night of thinking upon this film all I wanted to do was talk to someone about it. But I wouldn’t bare looking at it again.
I think the think that the amount of gore was perfect for this movie,and that’s alot coming from me considering I’m a Saw fan. Too much blood would’ve made it seem more vulgar, ruining the desperation and loneliness that permeate the film.
This movie is not for anyone, but it definetly deserves a viewing, I’m glad I got to see it.
WOW… WTF… this movie transcends into complete darkness and never comes out of it, until it ends and leaves you feeling horrible. And to think this actually happened is even worst. Thanks filmakers for a good disturbing film. Haven’t felt like that in a while.
The acting, everything was perfect.
Had a hard time getting into this one. Way too much back story and just overall, all over the board. There was a lot of disgusting scenes that left you with a bad taste in your mouth, and not in a good way. I will say, it was nice to see Keri Russell working outside of her comfort zone though.
I watched the whole movie and some of the deleted scenes too. I wanted to watch this movie for a while since I first saw it posted on BD but it wasn’t for US format watching so it took over a year or move to come to US format. I found it interesting how far a human being can go and its interesting its real not just pretend that is what is scary the most not the fake horror but the real horror is better. I really love when it comes from a real story. Its too bad they couldn;t add what was taped in this film I would of liked seeing it. I guess I am weird or sick but seeing where the source is from is best to me. So I would check it out and I found some of the childhood seen confusing at times but it was intersting film.
Grimm Love takes you on a journey to the darkest depths of the human soul and back again. Thought provoking and shocking but totally intriguing. Great performances from a sturdy cast, nicely paced and oddly touching in places. Grimm Love is a must see of the sub horror genre. More psychologically unsettling than in your face gore. Grimm Love buries itself under your skin and stay’s there for some time after…
There are few movies out there that truely get under your skin and mess with you mentally and emotionally, this disturbing movie does just that. The movie gives you a pretty good background of the two men with tortured souls that has glimpses of their anything but normal childhoods that makes you feel their pain that leads to their horrible, beyond belief demise as they carry out their shocking deed of cannibalistic proportions. I kind of surprised that Keri Russell picked a movie this drastic but I bought her performance and I welcome her to this genre. It has a great, chilling atmosphere and it draws you in right away and doesn’t let you go, you’ll be intrigued and dumbfounded and this is definitely not a movie for the squeamish. Overall this movie is gruesome, shocking, devastating and scary what humankind is capable of doing to themselves and others and is a tough movie to watch and I will watch it with caution, an open mind but I will not say go see this ASAP but if you happen to stumble upon it give it a shot if you can’t find anything else but I for one will never want to watch it again.
I wasn’t expecting much after watching Hunger, another Frightfest film, but I was glad I decided to give this one a try. Certainly some unique storytelling contributed to a great film. The story kept my attention all the way through and some of the camera work was well done, though simple. The acting was well done as well. Certainly not a gore filled horror film of recent horror film popularity, but a good film to watch. A very unique story line that was very intriguing.
It was fascinating to see a willing victim and a cannibal painted in such a sympathetic light. However I felt like this could have been so much better. It wasn’t anywhere near as horrific or as gory as I expected and I think all the flashbacks of his childhood just bogged it down with unnecessary backstory that led no where.
I would have been interested to see more of Armin’s search for a willing victim and how he felt during and after the death of Brandes. Not just seeing Felicity’s reaction.
I fell asleep watching this. Bloody-awful. Don’t waste your valuable time watching this shite. If you want to watch a true story about a homosexual cannibal check out the Jeffrey Dahmer episode of the t.v. series “Twisted”.
Oh wow. This movie is not worth the watch. I bought it, and watched it once. It is safe to say I will never put that disc on rotation again.
The story was pretty cool. Not the story about her writing a story, but about the two dudes that wanted to eat and be eaten. I think I might have liked the movie if it was just about those two guys. I really fail to see why it was important to have that lady writing a paper about them.
My friend and I would be complaining and making fun of how boring the movie was, and then it would cut to the two guys doing something gay like eating a piece of cheese sculpted into a penis haha But then it would always cut back to the girl and it would continue to suck again. (I’m all for gay content in movies.)
If I were able to warn myself about this movie, I would. But I can’t, so I’m going to warn you haha ONLY WATCH THIS IF YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO WATCH AND FEEL LIKE WASTING YOUR TIME haha
It was below mediocre. Best quote of the movie, “BITE MY THING! BITE MY THING! *Ahh* BITE IF OFF!” haha But the movie is not worth sitting through to see that quote in context haha A disappointment indeed.
+ Shockingly inspired by actual events that were probably/seemingly pretty accurately depicted in the film
+ Cool juxtaposition of the killer’s and his willing victim’s life story foregrounded by a present day student’s investigation into the case
○ Such aberrant behavior between these two individuals that it’s uncomfortable to watch
○ Castration