First Things First: If you've already got the first Schramm release from Barrel, the only thing that is different about this version is the keepcase – it's white instead of black. The transfer, sound mixes, liner notes and extra features are all the same.

Jorg Buttgereit remains best known for his two Nekromantik films but his (at the time of this writing, at least) last motion picture, Schramm, might just be his most accomplished work. A grim tale of a serial killer and the prostitute he loves, this isn't exactly a happy film but it is very well made and more than just a little though provoking – it's also incredibly dark, and incredibly disturbing.

When we first meet Lothar Schramm (Florian Koerner von Gustorf) he's laying on his side, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. He's bleeding from the nose and has fallen into a puddle of white paint. As he lies there, the life draining quickly from his body, the last few days of his twisted existence pass before him. From there we learn that he was a cab driver and that he ran in the odd marathon but that he spent most of his time alone in his apartment, pining away for the woman next door, a prostitute named Marianne (Monika M. of Nekromantik 2). When a female evangelist and her male partner show up at his door to tell him about Jesus Christ, he let's them in only to slaughter them and then photograph their naked corpses in rather precarious positions.

One night, Lothar hears Monika with one of her clients and imagines himself with her, using an inflatable love doll of sorts in her place as he listens in through the air ducts. His mental state is slipping and it's slipping fast, but Monika doesn't realize this when she asks him to escort her to a job the next day. Some eccentric rich old men have hired her to dress up in front of their video camera and play servant girl for the day. She knows it's odd, but tells him that she's done far worse things for far worse paychecks. He agrees, and the next night she takes him out for dinner in return. When he tries to have a real conversation with her and tell her about a nightmare that has been haunting him, she could seem to care less and at this point he snaps again. He drugs her, he takes her home and strips her, and he photographs her only to put her back in her apartment so that when she wakes up the next day she's none the wiser. It's all downhill from here as Lothar's tenuous grip on reality finally lets go.

As grim a movie as one can imagine, Schramm is also extremely well mad and very well acted. It's minimalist in that the sets are plain and the dialogue is sparse but there's very definitely a well-structured story here as well as two fairly complex characters. Florian Koerner von Gustorf is excellent in the lead. He's not only completely suspicious looking and at times a little dirty in appearance and in action, he is never the less able to bring a fair amount of sympathy to the character. While Buttgereit doesn't ask us to pity Lothar – he is a killer and a pervert after all – he does portray him as very human, at least for the time being. The opening line, 'today I am dirty… tomorrow I will be nothing but dirt' isn't exactly subtle in its foreshadowing. We do witness some very intimate experiences from the last few days of his life. We see him with the inflatable doll, we see him take matters into his own hands while Marianne is in his apartment and drugged and, in the film's most infamous scene, we see him drive a nail into his foreskin – completely accentuating the fact that he's lost his mind and has entered a very dangerous place. Monika M. is also quite good in her part, better here than she was in Buttgereit's earlier Nekromantik 2. She plays things with considerable subtlety and she's sexy enough that we can see why Lothar likes her but not so glamorous as to exceed the character's lifestyle and personality. She handles the shallowness of the part very well, and as we get to know her we also get to know why Lothar becomes so frustrated in his relationship (or lack thereof) with her.

The cinematography is interesting in the movie in that at times it's quite fancy (the scene where Lothar imagines he and Marianne dancing together, for example) and other times it is blunt and very straight forward. It's also quite gritty looking thanks to the 16mm shooting, which adds a certain layer of grain (or, dirt) to the movie that accentuates its unclean feeling. It's not a film for everyone, it's not even a film for many, but for some Schramm will have impact and it will leave a lasting impression. Buttgereit doesn't spell everything all out for us and instead asks us to think things over for ourselves as to Lothar's worth as a person and the reasons for his descent. It's a challenging film that pulls not punches but one that will stick with the viewer for some time to come.

Video:

For a low budget movie shot on 16mm film stock, Schramm looks quite good on this DVD in its original 1.33.1 fullframe aspect ratio. Colors are a little muted in appearance but this seems to be part of the film's aesthetic and it is likely intentional. There is some grain and some minor print damage present throughout but the image remains pretty clean and quite clear regardless. If the film looked much cleaner it would definitely take some of the seediness away from the experience, so it's pretty safe to say that the film looks as good as it needs to on this DVD.