The German Chainsaw Massacre

‘Das deutsche Kettensägenmassaker’, GER 1990, directed by Christoph Schlingensief, 63 min, with English subtitles, rated: 16 

Genre classics such as ‘Psycho’ and ‘The Texas Chainsaw Mass’ inspired Christoph Schlingensief to make this crude splatter film about German reunification. During festivities on 3 October 1990, East German Clara stabs her husband and flees to the West. There, a butcher family is bent on slaughtering former GDR citizens. A trashy, acerbic, and radical commentary on German Reunification that, rather than ‘coming together as one nation’, depicts garish scenes of dismemberment and cannibalism.

Featuring: Karina Fallenstein, Susanne Bredehöft, Artur Albrecht, Volker Spengler, Alfred Edel, Dietrich Kuhlbrodt, Reinald Schnell, Udo Kier, Irm Hermann

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  • FRG 1982, directed by Elfi Mikesch, 88 min, with English subtitles, rated: 18 

  • ‘Das ist ein Ende’, FRG 1981, directed by Ulrike Pfeiffer, 15 min, with English subtitles, rated: 6

  • ‘Belcanto oder Darf eine Nutte schluchzen?’, FRG 1977, directed by Robert van Ackeren, 95 min, with English subtitles, rated: 12 

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  • ‘Serenade für zwei Spione’, FRG 1965, directed by Michael Pfleghar, Alberto Cardone, 85 min, German without subtitles, rated: 16