Melancholie der Engel

Plot

Feeling his mortality and fearing that he's reaching the end of his life, Katze (Frank Oliver) decides to meet up with his old friend Brauth (Zensa Raggi) at an old house in which they used to spend time delving into dark pleasures. He also finds that two other old acquaintances of his are attending, the group decides to allow Katze to go out in style as their fun turns increasingly more depraved and horrific.

Cast

Reception

The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre panned the film, writing "There is no plot or comprehensible meaning to speak of, there is no rationale, philosophy or understandable characters, just very broken people doing disgusting things in an 'artistic' movie pretentiously pretending to be exploring the German psyche. I would have liked to say that the movie merely depicts very disturbed people, cruelty and vileness, but the movie actually revels in it and seems to think of this as art and emotional pathos". Melancholie der Engel was referred to as "the most notorious, undeniably hardcore German release to date" by Severed Cinema, which said that while it could be annoying and suffered from dullness and repetition due to its length, the film was beautifully shot, possessing haunting and nightmarish cinematography with a lyrical quality to it. The website concluded its review by saying, "Filled with unspeakable atrocities, Melancholie der Engel is completely devoid of morality. It is a depraved, perverse and nihilistic endurance test". Horror News similarly commended the cinematography and acting, but also said of the film, "There is talk of spirits and demons and ghosts, there is talk of a mysterious event from the past, there is talk of a change for the future, but the story itself is lost amongst everything else and we find ourselves watching disgusting and/or horrifying scenes unsure what it all means".

Awards