The Plot:
Ever since his mother killed herself over his inferred homosexuality, young Simon Grombeck has been looking for a way to "cleanse" himself of the guilt. Fixated on death, he hides his desires from his friends - and as he ages, from his attractive live-in lover. On the other hand, Oliver Hartwin is a socially stunted man whose entire life has been lead in service of his domineering mother's outrageous needs. Her death sparks a desire within him to "reconnect" with the dead. He envisions doing this by killing and devouring a willing victim. Thus begins a date with destiny that finds Simon discovering Oliver on a cannibal chat room, a planned rendezvous, and an eventual videotaped atrocity. After the fact, American graduate student Katie Armstrong comes to Germany to uncover the truth about the crime. As part of her master's thesis, she will dig through the facts surrounding the highly publicized case, and if possible, track down a copy of the cassette.

The DVD:
Perhaps this was the plan all along. Maybe director Martin Weisz never really intended to show an actor killing, carving up, and cannibalizing another is a splashy, splatter-filled F/X sequence. Maybe the entire intention of Grimm Love is to focus solely on the mental and not the "meat." Admittedly, that would be a novel approach to what it otherwise a simple case of perverted promise and possible foul follow through. As stated before, it would be like a zombie film without many zombies, or a slasher movie with almost all the kills happening off screen. Playing with expectations is usually a winner in the horror film category, especially when it's done with seriousness (as it is here). But Grimm Love can't be called a complete success for many reasons, most of which has to do with what's left over once the gore has been jettisoned. From performances that run the gamut from good to ghostly, and a bookend device that never works as a comment or something compelling, we get lost in a universe of endless cinematic possibilities, only to wind up with a relatively straightforward look at two men destined to darken each other's lives.

Of the duo, Oliver Hartwin is the most compelling - and incomplete. We follow his life in Hell as the personal slave to his haggard strumpet mother and witness his sick psycho-sexual fascination with death. In the performance of Thomas Kretschmann (Wanted, Valkyrie), we see some of the nuances necessary to understand how someone can go from a Google search to ghoul. But there are also huge voids left in the discussion, gaps in logic and personal profile that T.S. Faull's script fail to address. At least with Grombeck, we get the typical self-hating homosexual who can't get over the horrors he believes he is responsible for. Weisz goes to great lengths to show us the character's growing psychosis, from the act which spawned the state to the various internal monologues that make up the feeling of culpability. We even witness an incident with a prostitute, Grombeck trying to get the trick to "bite his thing off" in a last desperate act of memory mutilation. Hartwin gets none of this, and even with the uneven take on the character by Thomas Huber, we still see the victim's side more than that of the victimizer.

But the worst element here is Keri Russell's Goth gal wannabe essay of a far too old college kid with her own sick fetish fascinations. As random friends comment on their "concern" for her obsession, we get dopey dream sequences, insufferable soliloquies, and enough black eye liner to make Kat Von D and Bombshell McGee jealous. Her part in the process adds literally nothing to our understanding of the situation, takes up valuable minutes in a story that's already relying on running time fumes. Weisz does have a wonderful eye, creating a sense of dread and freak show foreboding whenever the events return to Hartwin's house. Even when Russell breaks in and looks over the abandoned building, we get a palpable sense of unease. The scenes between Grombeck and Hartwin also work well, since they offer up an intriguing window into the wicked things to come. But then Grimm Love drops the ball, relying on insinuation and inference to deliver what many have hoped would be a healthy dose of arterial spray. Again, directorial purpose can also be gleaned from such a "tell but don't show" approach. But when you argue the details of feasting on the flesh of humans, leaving that facet out of the visual discussion does a disservice to the viewer. As a result, Grimm Love goes from intriguing to irritating - never a valuable critical conceit.

The Video:
As per this critic's policy, Screener copies of DVDs are not awarded points for video or audio. If Lightning Media does send a final product version of Grimm Love to the site, this paragraph will be updated accordingly.

The Audio:
As per this critic's policy, Screener copies of DVDs are not awarded points for video or audio. If Lightning Media does send a final product version of Grimm Love to the site, this paragraph will be updated accordingly.

The Extras:
This Screener copy of b>Grimm Love only contained the movie. No bonus features. If Lightning Media does send a final product version of Grimm Love to the site, this paragraph will be updated accordingly.

Final Thoughts:
Grimm Love is not a disaster. It is not some ambitious piece of junk that fails to deliver on everything it attempts. The only qualm a horror purist might have with this movie is that it hints at something it is never, ever going to bring - not today, not tomorrow, not in some future "unrated" director's cut. Martin Weisz has made a cannibalism film where the very act the storyline centers on is discussed and debated, but not shown. As a result, such calculated carnival barkering earns the movie a moderate Recommended rating. Perhaps a fully tricked out DVD with a commentary track and some historical context will brighten up its prospects. As a pure cinematic experience, Grimm Love is compelling, engaging - and ultimately, underwhelming. It could have been so much more. It just goes to show you that a movie should never write creative checks its F/X account has no intention of covering.

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