(1984)
Dir - Slobodan Šijan
Overall: GOOD
A button-pushing exploitation film from its native Yugoslavia, Strangler vs. Strangler, (Davitelj protiv davitelja), doubles as both a satire of the slasher genre and a critique of Serbian social values. Set in modern day Belgrade and narrated by the city's former Radio Studio B news anchor Ljerka Drazenovic, it tells the story of a forty-eight year old carnation salesman schlub who has a less-than agreeable relationship with his wacky mother; a schlub that also begins murdering any person who voices disinterest or disdain for the particular flower which is his stock and trade. On top of this, an eccentric new wave musician writes a catchy ditty about the stranger that becomes a local hit and a police inspector with a silly mustache who talks to his cat also get obsessed with the case. Most of the characters are comedically aloof in various regards, which makes Taško Načić's bizarre protagonist/antagonist sit right at home in a dingy, urban dwelling where his killing impulses put the city on the map as a real metropolis since now they have an infamous murderer in their midst. The film is purposely ugly and gross at regular intervals, (lots of unattractive people, lots of eating, ears being bitten off, a police officer in drag which is played for risque tastelessness), but it is also oddly unique enough to recommend.
(1988)
Dir - Cedric Sundstrom
Overall: MEH
An explicit, insane asylum art film and the second full-length from Swedish/South African director Cedric Sundstrom, The Shadowed Mind is visually enticing yet drops the ball everywhere else. Garnishing an NC-17 rating for excessive male and female nudity plus some nasty violence here and there, it concerns a bizarre, voluntary mental institution of sorts where an aloof doctor does very little to treat patients with various sexual disturbances. To make matters even more head-scratching, said location is a dilapidated factory, sparsely occupied yet bathed in evocative color schemes right out of the most outlandish Italian giallos, not to mention hints of German Expressionism with extreme-angled shadows. A cross between The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Mansions of Madness, and Suspiria then except with more unbiased, sweaty sex between genders, it is a shame that the narrative is frustratingly unfocused. Towje Kleiner's doctor seems to be a scam artist in some respects as he convinces his subordinates to hide several of the patient's murdered bodies that keep piling up since he is expecting a visit from a wealthy investor, yet this plot point is left dangling in the wind. The same goes for everyone else's side-arcs, leading to a brutal yet abrupt ending with no payoff to the surreal, risque set pieces that came before it.
(1989)
Dir - Georg Tressler
Overall: GOOD
The last theatrically released film from director Georg Tressler, (who primarily worked in television during his five decades behind the lens, Sukkubus, (Sukkubus - den Teufel im Leib, Sukkubus - The Devil In the Body), is a singular piece of work that is based off of the Swiss fable of "The Guschg Herdsmen's Doll". While nothing of otherworldly note happens until halfway through, the deliberate pacing not only creates the appropriate isolated atmosphere where three men are trekking cattle throughout the Swiss Alps, but it establishes their bizarre relationship that is void of affection, humor, or joy. This makes a drunken evening where they let loose with pent-up sexual aggression and the toil of difficult daily survival not only inevitable, but tension-fueled as we witness the disturbed, frenzied, and ritualistic manifestation of the supernatural title character. Tressler utilities odd musical choices, letting few scenes unfold without them as some cues are appropriately ominous and others are more lush in keeping with whimsical type fair tales, (which this assuredly is not). Many set pieces are disturbingly brutal and not for the faint of heart though, but it is all unsettling as a curious, rural nightmare.
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