European horror was a major part of the first wave of DVD in the late 1990s. While the big studios held back on desirable collector titles, small boutique outfits stepped in to fill the breach with sexy, gory continental horror films, many of which had never seen a U.S. release. As a result, the horror genre is by far the most fully represented on DVD.

But some famous titles have yet to surface. Roger Vadim's Et mourir de plaisir (Blood and Roses) is tied up with Paramount, preventing us from seeing a legendary uncut version. Several classic Barbara Steele pictures are absent because, presumably, rights holders have set prohibitive asking prices. Yet surprises do surface from time to time. The hot horror discovery this summer could be Harry Kümel's weird Malpertuis, an eerie, dreamlike chiller from 1971. K&uu...Read the entire review

Released on DVD some time ago in Europe by the Belgian Film Archive, director Harry Kumel's (best known for Daughters Of Darkness) truly strange Malpertuis finally receives its due on domestic DVD thanks to Barrel Entertainment in one of their typically impressive definitive editions.

Made shortly after his ode to Sapphic vampires, Malpertuis tells the story of an aging man named Quentin Cassavius (Orson Welles) who, lying on his death bed, decides to have a bizarre group of people arrive at his mansion named, you guessed it, Malpertuis. Cassavius' guests arrive and he tells them that he's split up his vast fortune among them equally, though in order for them to inherit it they must live out the rest of their lives in Malpertuis and the last two to survive must be wed. A rather bizarre dying request, but one that the guests give serious consideration proving that everyone does have their price...Read the entire review

The Movie:

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 puddl...Read the entire review

THE MOVIE:

"I think all things are more important than truth. If we keep thinking of truth, we're not going to get there."

So says Charles Bukowski a little over a quarter of the way into a four-hour compilation of interviews conducted by Barbet Schroeder (Barfly, Reversal of Fortune). Taped over several years in the early '80s, The Charles Bukowski Tapes is one filmmaker's search for the truth of another man, and by the time the author expresses his disdain for that truth, it's no surprise. Very few subjects can escape the poet's lash.

The ironic subtext of this particular segment of the film is that Schroeder is attempting to capture some kind of truth with his camera. In the end, Bukowski is probably right. If he spent all that tim...Read the entire review

Movie: It's not often that I watch a horror movie since, in my experience at least, they are among the most predictable of movies and why bother with watching something that is geared to an audience of mostly younger fans. looking for a date movie? Well, I stumbled onto a most bizarre horror movie, after hearing it had been banned in several European countries, and, being the big supporter of free speech and independent movie making that I am, I thought it'd be a nice change of pace to review. The movie, Nekromantik 2, was certainly that, a change of pace.

The movie centers on a young gal, Monika (Monika M.) who has a thing for dead bodies. Such a thing that she digs up a body to make out with. Sound gross? It gets worse. She hangs out with a group of females about her age that watch autopsy videos for kicks. Okay, if you think her antics with a rotting body are nasty, that she k...Read the entire review

Jörg Buttgereit says he wanted revenge. He'd been rejected from film school when friend Mafred Jelinski offered to bankroll the young man's first feature, and two laborious years later Nekromantik (1987, 71 minutes) was excreted. It's vile. Disgusting. Disturbing. And intentionally so. Revulsion is its sole purpose. And as a testament to Jörg's success, his film has been censored or banned in most every country it ever managed to play. Such notoriety continues to ferment this shock fest's world-wide cult status. That'll show them stuffed shirts at film school, eh?

The movie: Like many passed down through the ages, this is a story of young love. Robert (Daktari Lorenz) is a...Read the entire review

Finally, a movie FOR serial killers. Schramm (1994, 65 minutes) doesn't bother itself with the usual trappings of the genre. There's no vigilant lawmen fast on his heels. No murder-by-numbers documentation of his victims. Just naked insanity. Literally. A big, fat, naked, insane guy who's just two brain cells away from needing a drool cup. The film comes from the twisted mind of a fella Germans just love to BAN named Jörg Buttgereit. Jörg got famous with a couple flicks CineSchlockers will swear they haven't seen called Nekromantik (1987) and Nekromantik II: Return of the Loving Dead (1989) about folks who like to play Twister with rotting corpses in their birthday suits. An auteur indee...Read the entire review