In a Germany that is ravaged by war, Fritz Haarmann serves as an inspector for the local police force, assisting and upholding the law whenever need be. As with every position of even remote power though, the man does use it to his advantage. In this case, Fritz uses it to help his love life, which involves picking up curious young men that are down on their luck and bringing them back to his very small quarters with the promise of helping them get on their feet. Unfortunately, these boys never return, as the somewhat-closeted sexual deviant slays them before they know what is coming, and dismembers their corpses for profit and distribution to his hungry cohorts.
Well Ryan, you sure do know how to pick 'em sometimes. Going in cold to 1973's Tenderness of the Wolves was something that I felt would be quite vital if I were to find any enjoyment in the movie (I find that this is the absolute best way to enjoy horror flicks). Why, I didn't even get the chance to google the trailer that was released for it, and decided to blind buy it as part of a sale that took place at my job several months ago. The only description that I was given by another individual was that the concept sounded quite crazy and disturbing, which is of course right up my alley. But after its final minute wrapped up and the very brief credits began to roll, I was still trying to digest what I had just sat through.
Tenderness of the Wolves does share a small portion of the often-used stereotypes in most motion pictures that deal with cannibalistic antagonists, but they are positives ones nonetheless. The locations in which it takes place feel unusually mucky, and it reflects in the cast members' jobs on camera and off. Director Ulli Lommel, who had previously worked as a creative associate for Andy Warhol, teams with cinematographer Jurgen Jurges to cast a dark and slightly sleazy shadow on this world's depiction of a very real pre-WWII Germany; nothing feels quite right, even when some of the townsfolk aren't committing nearly as horrific a crime as Fritz has. Speaking of that, the late Kurt Raab delivers a truly creepy, if not also slightly understated performance as notorious serial killer Fritz Haarmann, who I'm honestly shocked isn't as prolific as someone such as Jeffrey Dahmer or John Wayne Gacy considering that his reported crimes took place before most of his Western counterparts were even born. The man also served as inspiration for Fritz Lang's critically acclaimed masterwork M, though they never used his real name for that finished product. The entire cast is quite exceptional, as even when some of them are squabbling with one another over the most insignificant of circumstances (one banal subplot involves the strange relationship Fritz has with an equally shady partner), they appear to be taking the script as seriously as they can without reviling the storyline and its disturbingly real past.
And yes, Tenderness does remind you through all of its drama between the characters, it is about a man who raped and murdered numerous young males. Plus, he disposed of their bodies by selling their meats to his friends and colleagues, and would often join in with them for a nice dinner. He certainly isn't the most sympathetic of human beings, though there are moments where you temporarily lapse into a more calm state of mind because of how deceptively great Raab is at playing Fritz. There is one particular segment involving the initial seduction and eventual demise of one of his victims, and the brief aftermath that we witness feels more slimy than anything I've witnessed so far during 2017's Unseen Terror. It's daring moves like that which are also reflective of what was going on in the international horror market at the time, which was starting to blossom into something quite fascinating. Numerous other countries, including Italy and Japan, began to distribute their own products and creations that flipped the genre upside down for the better. Admittedly, Tenderness moves a smidge bit slower than its contemporaries from around the decade of its release, but the plodding nature builds to a satisfying conclusion.
Recommending Tenderness of the Wolves to anyone has to be done with great caution, as aside from its obviously upsetting content and premise, I myself am still largely undecided on how to rate it. So far, I'm leaning towards the positive for its uniqueness and for the technical merits in which it excels at. More patient and experienced horror fans are most likely the target audience for this production, as the lack of action and frequently quiet segments can be very off-putting for people who just want a parade of gore or moments of thrilling excitement (Ravenous this ain't). Currently, it's available to stream on Amazon Prime, but if you have the extra cash and like owning nifty packages, the reputable distributors of Arrow Films have released a DVD/Blu-ray combo of the film that sports a surprisingly great amount of features, even if the new audio mix does briefly deceive you into believing that the flick has been dubbed over entirely.
But heck, can you imagine something like this getting the What's Up, Tiger Lily? treatment? I bet nobody ever conjured up an idea that strange, did they?
Tomorrow, we jump forward into the future, as we deal with some self-repairing enemies of the more mechanistic kind...
No comments:
Post a Comment