AE Filmkunst Triple-Feature!

Today's review(s) will be taken in a different approach, as I will be covering three movies all in one article, as opposed to the usual singular title or occasional double-feature.

I will be covering three different short films released over the years by German-based team AE Filmkunst, formerly known as White Lodge Movies. Last weekend I reviewed their short Blutkreis, an amateur horror film that followed animalistic rituals and weird occult-like happenings. I was quite impressed by the unsettling yet intriguing atmosphere that the filmmakers had managed to create with little to no resources, and I was left wanting more. And more I got, as I was sent three more short films produced in the earlier days of the studio.

REVIEWS:

Woodstock Witchcraft (2013) is a 15-minute short film made in succession to the 2013 feature film The Last Tape, when AE Filmkunst went under the name White Lodge Movies. In getting the gist of the story, I can recollect this film showing the practices of witches within their lair. Whereas that plot description sounds very vague, there's definitely more to it, considering the language barrier. Unfortunately, the screener copy I was given access to had no subtitles, and there was a bit of narration over the top. However, aside from the narration being lost on me, the film itself is very well shot and tightly edited, with beautiful lighting and interesting sound design. There are also quite a few visual aspects that keep me watching, as we get to see the contents of the witch's lair. Everything is well-designed and laid out; overall a very polished short!
Directed by Tim Rabenstein, Isabelle Fitzgerald and Johannes Kluger.

Watch the Lights (2014) is another intriguing endeavor from the White Lodge team, this time shifting a focus on extraterrestrial life! A man lies within his workspace; various videotapes about UFOs and aliens line the shelves, and he inspects his setup, trying to detect any otherworldly life. As soon as he does, he makes his way toward the forest..
This is a genuinely creepy mindfuck of a short film centered on aliens set to a score of creepy ambient droning music, complimented by excellent lighting and well-organized set pieces. The story is easy to follow, as the short film is more visually driven. On the note of visuals, the puppeteer work on the aliens is done well, with much green slime and goop on display as well.
Definitely a great short! It is by far my favorite out of the bunch.
Directed by Tim Rabenstein, Isabelle Fitzgerald and Johannes Kluger.

We'll round off this triple-review with Different Night, Same Torture (2018). This one plays out similarly to Blutkreis, as it lies its on focus on spiritualistic and sacrilegious imagery. The short, split into three different pieces, follows a God-questioning man as he wanders across a plain, wherein lies a cemetery and a church, with many a statue of angels and other religious figures. The man stops to pray and to cut plants, only to cut his hand open and spill blood onto a crucifix, which he then burns and proceeds to don a gas mask. As the shorts progress, the man seems to grow more disdain for this supposed God and desecrates artifacts and texts with his own blood and urine.
This one is interesting as well in its manner of storytelling, as we are shown everything through visuals and through actions. The short, I feel, sets out not to be overly obscene, but to portray one's struggle to believe in or find a God.
As always, the film is well shot and edited, with great lighting and music by Musica Non Grata and Sander Cage from Sado Messiah Productions.
Directed by Tim Rabenstein and Herzog F.

CONCLUSION:
The work I have seen from AE Filmkunst (or White Lodge Movies) has been very impressive and much different from how I expected them to be! Each short is a carefully planned and executed work of art, with attention to detail and with each having its own way of telling a story. I would highly encourage any fans of horror to check out AE Filmkunst's works, as they are obviously a very talented team of artists!

RELEASES:
-All three films have been released on DVD with English subtitles!

Keepsake (2019)

Keepsake (2019) - United States
Directed by: Nathan Hine

ABOUT THE FILM:
Keepsake is the latest endeavor from Pennsylvania-based film-crew Hardgore Core Productions. I had previously covered their short film The Last Days of Livermore, a short film that was surprisingly well-made and executed with heart and care.
Keepsake fares no differently, as we are presented with another eerie tale, this time about a man who meets up with a cutie at a restaurant. They make their way out to a ramshackle house that had been within the young lass' family for years. The man is skeptical, but is further enticed by a drug he is fed by the yonug beauty. Before entering the house, he sees some rather morbid premonitions of the neighbors waving severed hands at him, but he writes it off as a side-effect of the drug.
And then the two made their way upstairs..

REVIEW:
Similar to Last Days, there are still a few minor sound issues, such as dialogue that is difficult or even impossible to decipher at times. But beyond that minor error, this is another really solid effort from the Hardgore Core team!
Once more, the short is well-shot with plenty of smooth camera-work, and the location is perfect for the given scenario. The two main stars, Bob Vresilovic and Tiffany Laskey are perfect for their roles. Tiffany does a great job at balancing enticing and sexy with creepy and foreboding, and she pulls off her character very well.
The film takes its time to build up to its climax, and does a great job at building up tension by showing increasingly more creepy aspects of the house and of the neighborhood it lies within. And then we reach our climax, and are treated with one of the most uncomfortably long and drawn out murder sequences I've ever seen in a film. The camera does not shy away from the gore at all, as we are treated with extreme close-ups of the man's jugular as it is slit wide open. Many a gallon of arterial spray floods the bed and its surroundings; tissue and viscera is torn in excruciating detail, and the sound effects are nothing short of cringeworthy. The man is now a keepsake for her collection...
Crafted by the Hardgore Core crew, with additional props by James Bell, the gore effects and makeup are insanely well done and will easily satiate the gorehound's appetite.
And for the cherry on top of this crimson sundae, we are treated with a haunting and beautiful score by the talented Will England, which compliments the film well, in contrast to the usual use of extreme metal or noise in other gore films.
Overall this is a very solid short film from a group of talented and passionate filmmakers, and I can highly recommend it!

RELEASES:
-Keepsake was originally created for and is apart of the gore anthology film Followers of the Dead Light, orchestrated by our favorite Canadian sicko Yan Kaos!

-Keepsake was released on a limited edition DVD by Dead Vision Productions in 2020, but the DVD is out of print.

Blutkreis (2017)

Blutkreis (2017) - Germany
Directed by: Tim Rabenstein

ABOUT THE FILM:
Very special thanks to AE Filmkunst for providing me with a screener!
Blutkreis is a 20-minute short film produced by AE Filmkunst and co-produced by Grindhouse Films. The film is narrated by a man who explains the purpose of the blood circle, and how the rituals are passed on. Blutkreis is rather experimental in style, showcasing a linear selection of scenes of sacrifice and debauchery, layered with religious undertones and coated with gore and a foreboding atmosphere.

REVIEW:
I found Blutkreis to be very much in the spirit of Norwegian black arts what with its focus on ritualistic and religious undertones as well as chilling yet beautiful imagery of the forest and nature.
This film is equal parts old school amateur German horror and underground ritualistic video art. Along our journey filled with grisly sacrifices, we are aided with an eerie yet soothing and beautiful drone score by Musica Non Grata that balances the evil and the spiritualism very well. In addition to a good score, we are also treated to interesting and well-crafted sound design, which matches each scene perfectly and further establishes the atmosphere.
The shooting locations are well-picked and for a film shot mostly at night, there are some creepily beautiful shots that glow brilliant greens and blues, in contrast to the crimson juices on display. Aside from the rather shaky camera work, Blutkreis is a pleasant film to look at, and the film grain adds much more grit to an already grim piece of art.
I most certainly recommend Blutkreis to fans of amateur horror. Whereas there are a few notable splatter scenes, the film heavily relies on its score and the atmosphere it builds to sustain the viewer's interest, which is commendable. I am looking forward to seeing more titles from AE Filmkunst and co!

RELEASES:
-Blutkreis was released on DVD by AE Filmkunst in 2017 in a limited run of 33 copies, and each copy came with a pair of photographs from the set.

-NOTE: The version I watched, with the score by Musica Non Grata, has not yet been officially released, but will be included as a bonus on the upcoming DVD for Blutkreis - Chapter II! The original edit of Blutkreis showcased a different soundtrack, with black metal and and acoustic gutiars.

Attacked (2006)

Attacked (2006) - Germany
Directed by: Matthias Wissmann, Chris Tresp and Kevin Hartfiel

ABOUT THE MOVIE:
Attacked is a double-feature DVD created by German gore freaks Krankomatik X and Rapid Masters, a trio of filmmakers who have given the underground with a wealth of amateur splatter titles from 2003 until around 2009.
Both titles on the DVD are Attack and Next Attack, two short films both centered on zombie shenanigans in the snow. Attack follows a robber who is on the run from the police in the snow, only to be attacked by a zombie. Next Attack is about two young men who plan to meet up with a friend, but uh-oh, he has been turned into a bloodthirsty zombie, and the bodycount will only grow from there...

REVIEW:
KXRM know their audience and know how to deliver the red goods, as is evident with their titles Bad Business and Forced: Zum töten gezwungen! among many others. Whereas Attack and Next Attack both fit in well with the others in terms of splatter volumes, there isn't much else that stands out about them.
Both films are incredibly short, at run times of 7 minutes and 12 minutes respectively, so a story isn't completely necessary. But even then, aside from the gore effects, the shorts are rather generic with nothing special about them. The acting isn't bad, but it's nothing to write home about either. Although the lighting is good and the colors pop out brilliantly, the camera work is terrible. Shot on digital video, there are very few shots where the camera is stationary, and the camera work is mostly incredibly shaky. People with motion sickness beware!
The gore effects are very cheap but still amusing. The guts and viscera is obviously foam painted red, and the blood looks to be watery paint. Nonetheless, the kills are very bloody and plenty of guts are spilled and chomped on! There's even a severed torso prop that looks rather cool!
Although Attacked"may not be KXRM's most memorable title, it's still worth checking out if you can find it. Plus, it's only 20 minutes long.

RELEASES:
Attacked was released on an extremely limited run of only 4 DVD copies (!!!) in 2006, quite possibly amongst friends.
-Extras:
"Bad Business" Trailer

Hitler is Back from the Grave / Schrottmagnet

Hitler is Back from the Grave / Schrottmagnet (2016/2018) - Switzerland

Directed by: NoodelBrain Film-Crew

ABOUT THE MOVIES:

Special thanks to the filmmakers for providing me with a screener of Schrottmagnet!

To kick off the year 2020, I will be taking a look at a pair of short films from

Swiss splatter-team NoodelBrain Film-Crew.

Hitler is Back from the Grave is a 4-minute short following Hitler, as he and a few allies are resurrected and begin partying. However, what starts off as a humorous onslaught of sleaze and sexual depravity very quickly devolves into an unrestrained orgy of ultra gore!

On the other hand, the 13-minute short Schrottmagnet takes a much more serious direction, as we follow a man who wakes up only to endure another day of suffering and misery. He's fired from his job as he had missed three days of work, he finds himself annoyed by every little thing around him, and has to fight the urge to leave his overweight wife, who he can't bare to look at, even though she loves him unconditionally.

REVIEW:

Across the span of about 20 minutes, NoodelBrain Film-Crew has managed to make me laugh one minute and find myself feeling for an individual the next. Hitler is Back may not have much of a plot present, but at only 4-minutes it is a blast and a half, as we get some well-executed and insanely bloody death scenes! We get decapitations, axeings, disembowelments, impalements and so many more gory goodies, and the special effects are quite impressive for such a low-budget outing.

Whereas Hitler is Back delivers gore in spades and then some, Schrottmagnet is much more serious in its approach and its execution, with no laughs to be found. We are quickly introduced to our main character as he dumps exposition about why his life is so miserable, and we can find ourselves instantly drawn to his struggle to give up, with the smallest sliver of hope that we will see a bright ending. 

Both films have decent enough acting, and are also well-shot and lit. Each short has a blurred border and flickers, almost as if being projected. As a result, Hitler is Back feels like a lost Grindhouse classic that had just been rediscovered, and Schrottmagnet feels so much more gritty and dark, perfectly matching its already grim subject matter.

Overall, these two outings prove that NoodelBrain are a talented group of filmmakers, who are not only proficient in making awesome splatter effects, but are also capable of balancing comedy and horror very well, a technique which is often difficult to pull off or is overlooked altogether. I am looking forward to see not only what NoodelBrain will bring us in the future, but I'm psyched to see what the rest of 2020 has in store!

RELEASES:

-Hitler is Back from the Grave was released on DVD by NoodelBrain Film-Crew in 2016. The short is available to watch online officially and can be viewed here.

-Hitler is Back from the Grave was released as part of the 1st P.S.Y.C.H.O. Productions Film Festival Blu-Ray in 2018.

-Schrottmagnet was released as part of the 2nd P.S.Y.C.H.O. Productions Film

Festival Blu-Ray in 2019.

-Both short films were released as a double-feature DVD in Canada by D.I.Y. Productions in 2019.