The Todes King (1990 aka Der Todesking or Death King/Cult Epics Special Edition Blu-ray)

Picture: B Sound: B+ Extras: B+ Film: D

PLEASE NOTE: This edition is limited to 3,000 copies on Blu-ray disc & is available ONLY from Cult Epics.

The Todes King is an experimental film that (third of a trilogy), much like the ABCs of Death, focuses on different examples of suicide, death, and murder though here it is categorized by days of the week instead of letters of the alphabet. The film has no reoccurring or main characters, a non-narrative plot line, and outrageously grotesque scenarios. The only thing that connects the pieces together is the vision of a rotting corpse that grows more and more rotten as the film goes aloud... profound.

While I can see some artistic purists gloating about the 'brilliance' of this production, I found it to be ineffective and dumb. Even being a fan of David Lynch and Andy Warhol, this film felt to be more violence for the sake of violence. Maybe that's the point?

Don't be swayed by my opinion if you are interested in the film though and this really is a nice release and is packed with extras, a high definition presentation, and a collectible postcard for the feature-length documentary included.

SPOILERS...

Monday: A man comes home, phones his boss to resign from his job, writes mysterious letters, cleans his apartment & swallows poison in his bathtub. His death is simultaneous with the death of his fish, the only being that was close to him.

Tuesday: A man rents a film in a video store, a movie in which Nazi soldiers are torturing a prisoner. When the young man's girlfriend comes home, she yells at him until he shoots her. He then places a picture frame over the place on the wall where her brain matter was splattered. This whole episode is being shown on a TV screen in a room where somebody has been hanged.

Wednesday: A man and a girl meet in a park in the pouring rain. The man tells the girl about his disastrous sex life with his wife which led to him killing her. The girl pulls out a gun to kill him, but the man takes it from her and shoots himself.

Thursday: A motorway bridge somewhere in Germany, superimposed by the names, ages & occupations of the people who have jumped from it.

Friday: A woman, alone in her apartment, is observing a young, seemingly happy couple in the neighborhood. She spies on them and finds a chain letter in front of her door, urging her to kill herself. Obviously everybody in the house got the letter. She ignores it, eats chocolates and falls asleep, dreaming of surprising her parents when they make love. The camera shows the young couple, dead on their bed. This one, I just kept picturing Dr. Evil from Austin Powers saying 'riiighttt.'

Saturday: A young woman, equipped with a camera and a gun, kills several people in the audience of a rock concert & records it on film, until someone kills her. This hits a little close to home for most Americans as shootouts are not uncommon, this adds to this one being disturbing. What joy do these criminals get out of pointless death? Goes over my head.

Sunday: A man, alone on his bed, is crying and banging his head over and over, violently against the wall, until he succumbs to brain damage. I felt that this was a lackluster and kind of dumb way to end the film but, hey, it's experimental.

The high definition presentation seen here is a new Director Approved HD transfer from the original 16mm negative, in a full frame 1.33:1 ratio format with some slight black bars that probably make it more like 1.66:1 - either way it looks fine. Colors are consistent and I'm sure the film has never looked better on any prior release. There is plenty of film grain (which adds to the effect) and lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 tracks that sound crystal clear.

The disc is packed with extras including...

• Audio commentary by Buttgereit and co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen
• New 2015 introduction by Buttgereit
• 'The Making of DER TODESKING'
• Still photo gallery
• HD Buttgereit trailers
• Original motion picture soundtrack
• CORPSE F**KING ART, the complete hour-long shockumentary on Buttgereit's films

- James Harland Lockhart V

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