A Bad Day (1999)

A Bad Day (1999) - Germany

Directed by: Jens Wolf

ABOUT THE FILM:

A Bad Day is yet another obscure German amateur film from the late 1990's. The movie starts innocently enough, with a bunch of teenagers in the forest, until one of the boys gets pissed off with a girl and things turn ugly very quickly. The boy ends up brutally beating and killing the girl, and continues to hunt down and kill his friends as they try to stop him.

 

REVIEW:

A Bad Day is a genuinely entertaining first effort from then young director Jens Wolf, who later went on to create the zombie-splatter drama epic Noctem. I must say that I wasn't expecting anything good, considering the cover is just in black with the title and no screenshots, but boy was I wrong.

Each different part of the movie is divided into its own chapter, with intercut title cards telling us about this next segment. It's a great way to structure this tense little story about a bunch of youngsters essentially having a bad day.

For a movie essentially made by what I'm assuming are teenagers, this one is surprisingly well shot and edited, as the director uses some creative and inventive camera angles and techniques. The lighting is all natural (as the film is completely shot outdoors), and is never too dark or too bright, letting the camera focus on the action.

Another thing I wasn't expecting was how gory this film is. There are many kills across the 40 minute runtime, including impalings, prolonged scenes of gory dismemberment with blood gushing everywhere, suicide and so much more. The effects actually aren't that bad either, although they reminded me a lot of Das Komabrutale Duell.

The movie also has a soundtrack made up of cool classic rock tracks. When else in your life will you watch a movie where someone gets cut in half to the tune of Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd?

It's obvious that Jens Wolf is a talented director who is more than capable of crafting an enjoyable movie. If you can find A Bad Day or any of Jens' other work, I can highly recommend it, especially if you're a gorehound.

RELEASES:

-A Bad Day was independently released on VHS by GOREProductions in 1999.

    -Extras:

    Behind-the-Scenes/Outtakes