The fine folks at Cult Epics have been bringing the most extreme horror films to home release for years. With releases like Nekromantik and Schramm included in their discography, they’ve managed to become one of the leaders in beautiful HD remasters of some of the goriest films in cinema history. Founder Nico B., along with film producer, Steve Aquilina, have decided to keep up the brutal tradition by starting a new company, one aimed at releasing newly produced splatter films to the masses. ReelGore Releasing’s third release, The Curse of Doctor Wolffenstein, happens to be one of the most blood-soaked flicks I’ve ever seen.
While traveling to a music festival, a group of friends have some car trouble and are forced to stay overnight in a small town along the way. This small town, however, happens to be the home of the cursed, re-animated corpse of Doctor Victor Wolffenstein. It doesn’t take long for the young teens and the good doctor to cross paths, and now they must escape from his bloody grips, before they are all sliced to bits.
The Curse of Doctor Wolffenstein is a modern-day take, albeit extreme and unrelenting, on the classic Frankenstein monster movies of yesteryear. The doctor in this film just happens to take his experiments one step further, when he injects himself with his own re-animating serum, causing necrosis to set in. Now, he must use the body parts of his victims to replace his own rotting limbs. He is burned and buried alive, but the ground cannot hold him, as he arises from his grave and continues his reign of terror 85 years later on an immeasurable number of unsuspecting youngsters.
Like most independent horror films released in the modern era, Wolffenstein contains gratuitous amounts of nudity, a [punk] rock soundtrack, and more gore than is necessary. While this may sound like a negative take on the current state of our indie horror scene, I am actually 100% content with this film’s inclusion of all of the above. The pop punk soundtrack kept things kind of light-hearted and upbeat, which is very surprising considering how dark the material really is; the nudity is of course always welcome by myself and fellow horror perverts; the gore effects and kill scenes presented throughout the film’s rather lengthy one hour and 55 minute runtime is some of the best I’ve seen in a very long time.
There are tons of low-budget horror flicks that have come out over the last few years that tend to overdo it with the carnage. I’ve seen a few of them, but the only one that I can think of that even remotely comes close to the amount of viscera we see here is maybe Adam Chaplin. I can say, however, that the amount of gushing geysers has never looked so good. Oliver Müller, head of the make-up and special effects department on the set of The Curse of Doctor Wolffenstein, is one of the most talented men to work in horror. Now, I know that’s a bold statement, but you guys really need to watch this film. Watch it, and tell me I’m wrong… I dare ya!
While the film does rely heavily on its copious amounts of gore, it still does manage to present a rather cohesive plot with a good script and more-than-competent performances. Each actor did a great job as the group of young friends, seen in your typical slasher film. The on-screen chemistry between all parties involved managed to help move the film’s pace along without any real hiccups and there were no evident weak links.
If you are a fan of indie horror films and love the sight of gore fountains, The Curse of Doctor Wolffenstein is definitely the one for you. After a little research, I’ve learned that director Marc Rohnstock is a true jack of all trades. The man not only wrote and directed this film, but he is also credited as producer, editor, and cinematographer, as well. It is clear that he loves the genre and it is safe to say that he has made Jorg Buttgereit (Nekromantik 2, Angst) and all other German splatter directors very proud. I have instantly become a fan and cannot wait to see what he comes up with for his next project. Hell, I’d even love another installment of Wolffenstein!
Be sure to purchase your copy directly from ReelGore Releasing, available on Blu-ray now!
I give this film 3.5 machetes-to-the-skull out of 5.