A very well photographed B-movie who puts the audience inside the mind of a compulsive killer. A strange film halfway between Michael Haneke for the story (I didn't know anything about the film and I thought It was haneke's one) and Stanley Kubrick for the cinematography (many references to "clockwork orange"). Actors performances are incredible considering they are dead half the film and their corpses are pulled and strechted across long single shots. An hypnotic movie with only narrative voice and great moments of cinema (especially the last action scene in the tunnel). One detail of importance : 22 years after the shooting, this film looks like it was shot last month. I wonder what became this director ? Any news ?
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pvsp3 June 2005
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treylaford21 November 2022Between the musical score, and the sound effects alone- Angst is certain to conjure a panoply of negative emotions; then you add in the narration, and the pathetic narrator, and you've got a movie which will stay with you for awhile. This was certainly the very effect the director desired, and he accomplished it marvelously. Lead actor, Edwin Leder, puts in his most earnest efforts at achieving a potent mixture of disdain, and disgust for his character, never letting vanity get in the way of a depraved scene. (There's an uncanny resemblance between Leder, and GoT's Alfie Allen, who himself has the same ability to waller in someone's diseased creation.) Close up shots of Leder eating a sausage, while unrealistically fantasizing about two young women, goes beyond the limits of tolerance. Loud smacking, and breaking glass get to be annoying, but these are but two stops on the road to true angst. The family he torments isn't given any actual background, or character formation, so instead of feeling any real pity for them, the viewer stays focused on the human worm who is their antagonist. None of this attention is wasted, either, as Leder gobbles up our disgust, smacking, and drooling all the way. German directors are wunderbar at conjuring up these kind of jangly, uncertain feelings in an audience, so well, in fact, the music from Nekromantic came back to haunt me for a moment. If you want to have a disturbing experience, look no further.
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The_Void25 September 2007Well there certainly aren't a lot of movies like this one! I've been looking forward to a viewing of Angst for some time now, and now that it's finally come, I have to say that the film didn't disappoint! Unlike many films of this nature, this one truly is horrendously disturbing and the original way that it goes about portraying the mind of a serial killer has ensured the film its cult status. The obvious film to compare this one to would be the 1986 film 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer', but although they share some themes - the two can never really be compared, Angst feels a whole lot more real! The plot itself is very simple and there isn't really any story to it. The film simply follows a man upon his release from prison. We are immediately made aware that he is a psychopath through his musings and the way that his first plan upon release is to go back to his old murderous ways. First, he decides to murder a taxi driver; but that plan goes wrong when he bottles it at the last moment. Later, he happens upon a secluded house and decides to have some fun with the occupants...
The best thing about this film is the way that it mixes the killer's sadistic monologues with the action on screen. We get to see him torturing his victims, and at the same time he's giving us a run down of past events in his life and his desires, and this really makes us feel like we're getting inside the psychopath's head. The film is lead by Erwin Leder, who gives an absolutely great performance in the central role! He both looks the part and sounds the part of the psychopath he's portraying, and much of the success of the film is courtesy of him. The film is completely disturbing, but it doesn't deliver this with shocks in the way that many movies do - Angst is not a gory film, but it's more shocking than any amount of gore because of the way that it presents itself. The realism of the piece, together with disorientating camera work, the piercing soundtrack and the aforementioned voice over ensure that this is not an 'easy' film to sit through. However, if you're looking for a sadistic shocker that really does do what it says on the tin - then good luck tracking down a copy of Angst! -
matt zodiac9 February 2002This relatively obscure German film is very well-done. It's about a schizophrenic man who murders uncontrollably. The film features very innovative camera work (at the time) which includes a recurring POV shot that will impress, no doubt. What makes this film tough to watch is the very realistic murder scenes, which include a graphic rape/murder and the long, drawn-out drowning death of an invalid. It reaches levels of intensity seen in other great psycho films like Seul Contre Tous and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. The lead actor is very convincing, and makes you feel sorry for him as well as loathe him. A highly recommended film.
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Coventry22 April 2007I can honestly say I rarely felt so uncomfortable as when watching Gerald Kargl's masterpiece "Angst". Several friends on this website & forum have been recommending this gem to me since years already, but it's so damn obscure and difficult to come across. Now I can finally join the others and do my share of recommending this film to fellow horror fanatics, as it truly deserves to be known and worshiped! Watching "Angst" is very much unlike every cinematic experience you ever had before, as you can't possibly compare it with anything. John McNaughton's classic "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" probably comes the closest, but still "Angst" is at least ten times more grim, nihilistic, relentless and shocking. From the first second until the very last, Kargl's film displays the intense & harrowing confrontation with a maniacal killer and there isn't a single moment of humor or merciful fate for the killer's victims to be found throughout the entire playtime. "Angst" is a deeply unpleasant but indescribably fascinating descent into the darkest corners of the human mind and the fact that the whole script is based on true events only makes it all the more alarming. Erwin Leder magnificently depicts the nameless murderer and he's in every sequence, from the moment he's released from prison (for murdering his mother in the past) until his new killing spree comes to an abrupt end. The man doesn't even attempt to build up a new life, as murder is the only thing on his mind. Walking out of prison, he's already searching for new and potential victims to murder and you can tell it won't take much time before he finds them. After an unsuccessful attempt to strangle a female cab driver, he flees into the woods and eventually entrenches himself in a secluded villa where an elderly woman lives with her daughter and handicapped son. They form the ideally defenseless targets to still his inhumanly cruel and sick hunger for murderous power and the rest of the film is a non-stop series of cold-hearted and sadistic images, including blood-drenched mutilation and even post-mortem rape.
The character Erwin Leder portrays is an intriguing psychopath, to say the least. He doesn't speak much in the film, but there's a constant voice-over enlightening us about his thoughts and impressions. The killer is obsessed with fear. Hence the title, presumably. The opening monologue in the film explains how the last memory he has of his dying mother involved the fear in her eyes as he planted a knife in her chest. Since then, fear became his one and only motive to kill again. He wants everyone who crosses his path to fear him. This is also where the connection with real-life serial killer Werner Kniesek comes from. This deranged psycho was arrested in 1980, after savagely butchering three people in Salzburg; Austria. Kniesek later testified in court that he only did it because he got addicted to the reflection of genuine fear in his victims' eyes. Erwin Leder definitely succeeds in translating the killer's obsession with fear on the screen. He's a nervous and obviously disorientated person and you're expecting him to explode with rage at any given moment. Heck, even the way he devours an ordinary sausage is literally terrifying. The brilliance of "Angst" relies on the devoted work of only four people. Erwin Leder for his performance, naturally, and then Gerald Kargl (director), Zbigniew Rybszynski (cinematography) and Klaus Schulze. Kargl sacrificed a potentially great career in order to complete this film. After the release of "Angst", there wasn't a single company that dared to distribute it because they were afraid of censorship, resulting in an endless series of financial problems for the director. Kargl's vision & courage was far ahead of its time, but it cost it his own career. He can now only find comfort in the fact that his film inspired an entire next generation of horror filmmakers. Rybszynski's hectic filming style contributes a great deal to the disturbing and nightmarish atmosphere of "Angst". The film is stuffed with chaotic camera movements, extreme close-ups and creepy POV-shots. This experimental style makes it feel like a voyeuristic documentary and you're almost feeling guilty for staring at these people's misery without trying to help. Last but not least, there's the haunting musical score by Klaus Schulze. Even though the tunes sound typically 80's, they're petrifying and really ominous.
"Angst" is a shamefully obscure film, probably because the people who saw it upon its original release decided that it was better to ignore the brutally realistic depiction of our modern society. Hopefully the newly released DVD-edition will provide Gerald Kargl & C° with the honor, recognition and respect they already deserved more than 20 years ago. -
briandwillis-8382510 March 2022Great camerawork and an unsettling sense of dread are the two main reasons to recommend Angst. It's an ugly and uncomfortable film, but one made with lots of skill. It's emotionally cold and a depressing experience, but an unforgettable one nevertheless. You might want to save it for when you're in the right mood, because it's bound to disturb the rest of your day.
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Gerald Kargl's "Angst" is one of the most depressing and disturbing serial killer movies ever made.It's loosely based on an actual crime case-in 1980 Werner Kniesek from Salzburg horrendously murdered three people.Later he told the judge "I just love it when women shiver in deadly fear because of me.It is like an addiction,which will never stop"."Angst" is often compared to John McNaughton's "Henry:Portrait of a Serial Killer",but it's even more unsettling and hopeless.The film is shot with a strong use of high-angle shots and hand-held camera-work.It tells the story of disorganized serial killer,who is released from prison.First he tries to strangle the female taxi driver,but she manages to kick him out of the car and escapes.The killer flees through the forest until he reaches a huge villa,where the family of three lives.In the orgy of extreme violence he murders them.A disabled and mentally retarded son on wheelchair is slowly drowned in a bathtub in a truly agonizing sequence,a middle-aged mother is strangled in her bedroom and finally her adolescent daughter is stabbed to death with a bread-knife.The killer viciously mutilates her corpse and rapes her post-mortem.All of this is shown in unflinching detail that made me squirm."Angst" is a hauntingly realistic portrayal of disorganized serial killer on the loose.This disturbed guy is a serious threat to every human being crossing his path.Erwin Leder as the killer is incredibly convincing.The murder sequences are so savage and shocking that you'll need an iron stomach to watch them.The camera work by Zbigniew Rybczynski is simply stunning and the film looks like semi-documentary."Angst" is easily one of the most gut-wrenching serial killer flicks I have ever seen.It makes "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven" look like kindergarten stuff.Highly recommended,but not for the easily disturbed.10 out of 10.
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thepearlpoint17 December 2020This movie is horrific and disgusting but the cinematography made it incredible. The stability shots following a character, the aerial shots, they all made it amazing. The movie felt like one continuous motion, no cutting forward no cutting back just focused on one single crime. As disgusting and grim as it may be, it still was a good film.
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CMRKeyboadist31 July 2006I have always been a fan of the genre of serial killer movies. Not to get confused with slasher flicks because the serial killer movies are usually sophisticated with a realistic feel to them, causing an unnerving and disturbing feel. Not to take away from the slasher because there is fun in those movies. Angst is the best of the serial killer movies, in my personal opinion. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is marvelous and Amoklauf is also a great film, but as far as putting you right in the serial killers mind, this movie does the best and it is very frightening.
The story starts with the lead character (basically the only lead character) walking up to a house. He knocks on the door and when the door opens he murders the person who answers with a hand gun. After being in jail for 10 years he is released. Upon his release he instantly gets started again murdering a mother and her grown children. One of which a retarded man in a wheelchair.
The storyline may seem simple but in no means is the character simple. After he murders the person at the beginning of the movie we are shown events in documentary form leading up to the murder and him going into jail. So we become familiar with the character. But being familiar with the character and suddenly being put in the characters shoes are two different things.
The whole movie when he is released from jail is narrated by the killer, almost like he is thinking and we can hear his thoughts. When he goes into a restaurant and sits down at the table he starts getting uncomfortable after watching two young woman sitting at the bar. He starts thinking of sick things to do to them and as a result gets the feeling that everyone in the restaurant is watching him. So right away we, as the audience, get this uncomfortable feeling as well and we are also introduced to how paranoid the character is. Much of the movie is like this.
The moments in which he is murdering the family is almost unbearable and rather disturbing. I don't want to give to much away but be prepared to be disturbed. It's not the violent nature in which he kills these people it's almost the inevitable lead up to it.
Well, I hope this review helps. This is a very difficult film to find so good luck in the search. Sources from IMDb tell me that this will be released in the states eventually. If you find it before then... enjoy. 10/10 -
ANGST (1983) ** Bizarre take on the psychopath on the loose horror flick from German filmmaker Gerald Kargl (this his one and only film ever produced leaves one wonder What Could Have Been?) that has a documentarian feel 'based on a true story' involving a recently released lunatic from prison (creepy as hell Erwin Leder who suggests the bastard child of Mick Jagger & Brian Jones!) whose insatiable, desperate need to kill again leads him onto an isolated house and terrorizing the denizens - a family that echoes his leading to some disturbing moments of unease with a few bloody moments that feel agonizingly one beat too long. The film only doesn't work in the relentless narrative and a character that is truly almost blackly comically inept in the unskilled or planned crimes he perpetuates. Remarkable cinematography by screenwriter Zbignew Rybcynski who also edited with interesting composition, skewed angles and POVs that take some genuine risk.
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Angst is without a doubt one of the best serial killer flicks in the history of cinema. And some would say The Best. And I can tell you, it's damn close.
Angst follows a serial killer who is released from prison after a 10 year incarceration. What takes place is shocking and original film-making. What this man does is just start up where he left off. It's basically just following around the killer and just getting to know him. Oh and his victims, but in a more or less personal way. Eesh.
Angst excels in all facets. The acting by the main character, the serial killer, is flat out great, in an insane sort of way. He looks the part, and definitely acts the part. The scene when he's in the car is unforgettable. Throw in great cinematography, direction and writing, and the fact that this is a truly disturbing, realistic look into a serial killer's obsessive habits, it easily makes this one of the best serial killer movies of all time. -
I thought this was passable. I mean, the middle dragged on, and on, and on. We get remarkable beautiful camera work of 20 minutes of the guy packing his bags, and preparing to leave the house. He also took forever to kill the three people, in fact, from arriving at the house, until he left, it took 50 minutes of a 75 minute film.
As I already mentioned, the camera work was very unique and brilliant, and the cinematography as a whole was fantastic, with coldness oozing from the screen. The main actor was also great, and actually looked like a serial killer. It's just a shame it was so slow, and nothing happened for most of it.
6/10 -
You can get the plot from others. All I'll say is that I didn't think this film was as disturbing or shocking as other reviewers seem to think. I liked the lead actor's performance and the camera work, but I found the exploration of the killer's psyche - the stories from his childhood - to be kind of facile, pop psych sorts of things.
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chaos-rampant28 January 2012Word on the street is this is a super intense, gruelling, claustrophobic serial killer film. They're not lying. But it's important to get to note why, especially in this case: why this type of violence enthralls so much? And I mean apart from any particular on-screen nastiness. More virulent films have been made, much nastier. Why this fascinates is a completely different beast than say, something like Hostel.
It's the easiest thing to make us cringe and shy away, but to fervently want to keep watching?
The popular opinion is this works so well exactly because of how contained and straight-forward. There are no distractions from the concentrated moment we first encounter: a inmate giving himself a shave on his day of parole. There are no allusions to anything else but private madness and nothing to escape to for comfort or respite, except perhaps sheer exhaustion. This man is going to go on a crime spree again as soon as he's out of prison, we can tell this much. We can tell it's going to unravel the way we secretly hope it does.
Well, this is fine and makes some sense. But doesn't adequately explain to my mind. No, why this works so viscerally - and ties in with other interests of mine in film - I believe has all to do with the cinematic eye.
Now most films operate on the assumption that you want to experience a world as real as possible. Every advance in cinematic technology - sound, color, the recent fad of 3D - is a step in that direction. We want to escape more vividly and more urgently than ever. And what most films do to abet that escape is to let loose a few threads of story and place, hopefully open enough if we are in caring hands, that we can be trusted to attach ourselves from own experience. The tighter the weave of the threads from that point on, the closer we are lassoed to the cinematic world. Editing and camera are assigned invisible ways; they have to work without us getting to notice.
The Soviets changed all that very early in the game. Here a very world was assembled by the eye. There was no story, it was all a matter of calligraphic (dynamic overlapping) watching. Welles, and less famously Sternberg before him, unpacked these notions by letting it fall on the eye of the camera to join fragments together.
(this particular eye was first conceived by the Buddhist but that's another story altogether).
Now this is rumored to be the DP's project working under an alias, a Polish man who knows the camera. The opening shot exhibits masterful knowledge of Welles; a crane shot that establishes location by joining together many different planes of perspective. It would have been a film to watch with just this mode, that others like Argento and DePalma exercised in adventurous flourishes of spatial exploration.
It's actually a little more elaborate than that. We have two eyes instead of the one. The first is the killer's eye, tightly screwed and always at eye-level as he prowls around. Interior monologue plays out in voice-over, itself taken from the diaries of an actual killer, and meant to recast everything as internal space: victims are an invalid, an old woman and her daughter, each one mapping to a person that deeply wounded in the past as we find out. So we have exceedingly tormented soul spilled out and contorting physical space, very much like Zulawski practiced. Another Pole, another piece of the puzzle.
The second eye you will notice is always mounted on a crane and pulled upwards in steep ascends. A bird's eye far removed from human madness, which is the Buddhist eye of woodblock prints. To the film's credit, and this is a lot of its power for me, it remains abstract enough that we may use this perspective as we are inclined: is it a godless and uncaring or a merciful eye, pulling us from the carnage or skipping to the next? -
Horst_In_Translation19 May 2015"Angst" is an Austrian 32-year-old movie written and directed by Gerald Kargl. It is easily his most known effort as he has not been really prolific. His body of work on IMDb is almost empty, but I read that he directed many television ads as well. The same cannot be said about the Polish co-writer Rybczynski, who won an Oscar in the animated short film category the very same year "Angst" was released. This film runs for no longer than 75 minutes, but is very intense and at times tough to watch. A man with a history of violence (even towards his own mother and sister) gets released out of prison after 10 years and immediately plans his next massacre. He ends up at a rich family's house, where he kills everybody. If you are more interested in the psychological aspect of this movie and prefer to skip the murders, you can simply omit minutes 30-45 as this is where the trio gets killed. He has fantasies about young women at a café and about a taxi driver as well, but does not succeed there already. Anyway, he seems to have a pretty misogynist attitude, probably because of bad experiences with his female relatives.
The lead character is played by Erwin Leder, an actor you may also have come across in "Das Boot" or "Schindler's List". While we watch him, we constantly hear the thought of what is going on in his head, how he makes parallels between his victims (or even creatures like swans) and his family members or ex-girlfriends. The rest of the cast is fairly unknown. Many of them have never appeared in a film before or after this. If you like horror films with simple premises or just enjoy slashers where a sadist kills many people, this is probably exactly your cup of tea. However, I should probably not say slasher as there is really not much blood in here except when he kills the daughter of the family. There is also no really explicit agony, suffering or screaming. The daughter, for example, in her last moments, still thinks about her mother's illness. After he killed the trio, the film gets a bit worse, mostly because his inner monologues get less too and he is not telling us that much anymore why he became who he is. The ending, however, is pretty good again at the café and outside when the cops come and catch him. All in all, I recommend it. It is a pretty good character study of a disturbed sadist. But it is certainly not for the easily offended. -
TheAgonyOfPlasma5 October 2006"Angst" follows the murderous schizophrenic, just released from prison, who breaks into a huge villa of the family of three and savagely murders them. He strangles old woman, drowns her invalid son in the bathtub, butchers the daughter with a knife and rapes her bloody corpse. "Angst" is definitely the most realistic serial killer film I have ever seen. Nothing even comes close to the stunning greatness of Gerald Kargl's masterpiece. The murder sequences are truly disturbing and the film is filled with innovative visuals, in particular the floating camera shots. I can not think of another film that so effectively places its audience into the sustained mania of a serial killer's mind. See it and weep as hard as you can!
You who know all, great king of hidden things, The familiar healer of human sufferings,
O Satan, take pity on my long misery!
Charles Baudelaire. -
This movie is like watching/experiencing a nightmare.
There are slow parts, intense parts, parts that only make sense in the moment, but it all works!
Very cool cinematography (from the first shot) and the music adds to the drifting dreamy/nightmarish effect.
If horror is your thing, check it out. -
christopher-underwood24 November 2013A full star rating, for me, usually indicates a film I would gladly sit down and watch again, straight away. Not this one. Not this mean disgusting, horrific, disturbing, involving and believable film from Gerald Kargl. If the refusal of distributors to show this upon release had been overcome, what mighty movies might, this clearly most talented man have brought us? Well, I suppose the influence is clear to see in much more recent and overwrought horror, but surely nothing so impressive as this. From start to finish, helped by a haunting score and free flowing cinematography, not afraid to mix intense POV shots with overhead and hand-held. Blistering and uncompromising film making helped much by a sensational central performance from Erwin Leder and also by the clever use of voice over where we learn what this guy has done before and how much pleasure it gives him and then what he hopes to do with these very people he is dragging around. A very tough film that is out there on its own. Grubby and hard to like but a genuine and sincere masterpiece.
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DarkSpotOn23 January 2023I have heard of this movie for a while now, and it was finally my chance to watch it! I have seen tons of serial killer/murder films: Ted Bundy, Golden Glove, Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer, Berdella, Man Bites Dog, Concrete, Cannibal, Freeway, etc. This movie is trying to be realistic as possible, and it works. However, the movie does drag at times, like the final 30 minutes or so. It's a movie that's trying to make you sympathize in a way with the murderer. It's trying to tell you what happened in the past, that made this psycho this way. It's unique how this movie showed the crime scene, while the backstory is being told... If you think about it, the three victims the psycho killed present all the trauma he had, the stepfather, mother, and sister. To clarify: Your trauma can be horrible, but that still does not excuse going out and butchering people, for your pleasure. It's a very simple film, there's no depth, not a big story. It's a very self-explanatory film that showcases what it does. Some of the music is extremely repetitive and annoying, it does kinda drags you out of the movie. Even tho the movie does drag at times, I still enjoyed it and wasn't bored for the most part, and was hoping our heroes escape somehow.
If you're into Henry, Golden Glove, or Ted Bundy by all means go right ahead and check this one out. -
DylanCanonge1 January 2020This German horror movie called ANGST (1983), which was supremely perverse and upsetting, but also featured some absolutely insane cinematography/camerawork for its time. The actor who plays the killer is excellent and scary, but the other actors are not convincing .. the characters' reactions are stupid. And the whole thing has aged badly. This film deserves to be watched for its realization especially. Dark, unsettling, brutal.. but with too idiot characters.
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HorrorFan198418 May 2020A deranged serial killer with mental health issues is released from prison sentence following a brutal murder. Immediately, he plans to kill again.
The movie starts with a man who shoots a woman at random in her home. He is arrested and tells the authorities that he had no motive and needs help. The courts put him away for only 10 years, charging him with a botched robbery despite his claims that this wasn't a robbery and that he doesn't know why he did it. The film explains a very troubled childhood for the killer involving an abusive relationship with his mother in which he attacked her with a knife. Fast forward to the killers release 10 years later on October 28th, 1983.
We start to follow the serial killer and his inner thoughts, including seeing his psychiatrist and telling that person all of the things inside of his mind including the urges to torture other human beings. Once released from prison, we see that he has immediate sexual thoughts of women he sees and it of course involves torture and pain to be inflicted on the female. He breaks into a house which seems like a perfect secluded paradise for him, and kills the family who lives there.
Angst is a very interesting and fairly unknown Austrian horror film from the early 80's. It pretty much follows the POV of the serial killer and his inner dark thoughts, which are extremely messed up and eerie. We get all of his memories from an abusive and warped childhood, which have shaped the way he is today. The acting of the serial killer played by Erwin Leder was really good. He looks and acts the part of a seriously deranged person. There is one killing scene in particular which is very gory and realistic, the make up/special FX people did well.
All in all, Angst is a very rare horror movie out of Austria that most people won't get a chance to see. I just caught it on Shudder by chance. I'd recommend it for sure. It's a bit intense and gritty/real at times which can be a bit much for some folks. I found it effectively disturbing.
7/10 -
This film combines a hard history of one psychokiller whit a incredible use of the camera, i have never seen this before an after, the camera turns around the actors realizing imposible movement and hallucinating travellings (e.g. in the woods).The name of the camera is Risinsky, one of the best that i see, i don´t know much about him but i think that is a master. If you can see this film is a masterpice of the psychotrillers.
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atinder30 September 2012I wasn't to sure , what I was going to expect by this movie, it had a surreal plot to it.
The plot played out really well, we get to know why and how he as become so insane, due to his childhood.
The movie was really short, which is good a thing , as it did not get boring at all.
The last scene, really gave the creeps, I found the extras a little creepy as they all were keeping a eye on him. in the dinner scene.
And why would they follow him to the car, to see him feed a dog?
The acting from the main lead was outstanding, he really did look insane.
Short movie with surreal plot! and some things that didn't make sense to me. 6 out of 10 (only for the acting) -
brandonlewissmu8 November 2021There's nothing special about this film. Back in the early 80's, it was apparently controversial and taboo. Add that to the fact it's an old foreign horror movie, and film geeks flock to this.
In terms of the movie itself, there's zero reason to watch this. It's just a weirdo killing a few people that you don't care about, guided by his never ending voice-over about how his childhood sucked. Good films provoke emotions, good or bad. This film provokes nothing but absolute indifference.
If your genre of choice is horror, you've seen this sort of film plenty of times and you've seen it done far better. -
MurderSlimPress18 December 2010ANGST is a thoroughly unpleasant film. But don't let that put you off. A movie about a messed-up serial killer should feel that way. It's testament to the skill of the filmmaking and the acting that a movie gets under your skin. Too many so-called shockers fail in that regard. The most obvious example is 'Saw', with its stupid, hyperactive editing and its ridiculous killer. 'Angst' feels as real as this type of movie can get.
It starts with the nameless psychopath holed up in prison, aware of his own sadistic thoughts but hiding them from the prison's psychologists. When they try to psychoanalyse him, he just says he dreams about flowers. I guess the Austrian legal system is more trusting than other countries, because they let the guy out again after almost stabbing his mother to death (four-year sentence) and then killing a 70-year-old (ten-year sentence).
Within an hour of release, he's gnawing on a sausage in a café (via some disgusting extreme close-ups) and leering at some women, wondering how he's going to kill them. But he's sane enough to know he can't get away with it, so he gets out of the place.
It's only a brief delay. Soon the psychopath is in a taxi with a female driver. She reminds him of an ex-girlfriend who used to love being abused. When that plan goes tits-up, he runs into the woods, frustrated and desperate to kill. He breaks into what he thinks is a deserted house... until a disabled man wheels up to him and calls him "Papa". Then that guy's sister and elderly mother show up too....
'Angst' is often compared to 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'... another troubling but excellent serial killer movie. ANGST lacks the depth of style that 'Henry' has, which is brilliantly acted and directed with a bunch of memorable moments. But 'Angst' has a number of unique things going for it. The hand-held shots are incredibly smooth and dreamlike, hovering in front of the killer's frantic face. It reminded me of the odd Eastern European style of 'The Cremator', another very creepy killer flick. The camera must be on some movable scaffold attached to the actor, either that or the camera operator was extremely light of their feet.
The deaths in 'Angst' are also brutal, nasty, and (save for blood spurting on the killer's face from the wrong angle) uncomfortably real. There's also interesting artistic touches, one of which is the family's pet dachshund. The dog's reaction to events is shown a lot, working in the mutt as a character. He looks curiously at the killer a lot, tries to bite him as he kills the girl, and eventually ends up as the killer's companion.
It's surprising that Kargl has no other credits other than a small documentary. I guess 'Angst' isn't the sort of movie that will ingratiate you to film producers. But it's a shame 'Angst' isn't better known. Apparently it was a big influence on Gaspar Noe ('Irreversible', 'I Stand Alone'), but I prefer 'Angst'. It doesn't revel in shocks so much as to desensitise you to them. The shocking moments work in 'Angst' because they're largely unpredictable.
In fact, the whole movie is pitched at the right levels. The dark humour isn't overstated, the pace is fluid, and it's neatly structured with a great ending. Find a way to get hold of a subtitled version of 'Angst' and check out an excellent example of its genre.