Lothar is a con man and alpha male.He enjoys seducing and impregnating nurses and pharmacists.A beautiful nurse Maria embarks on a one-night stand with Lothar.She becomes pregnant and sinks into a nightmare from which there seems to be no escape.Other women become pregnant too and die horribly."Babylon:In Bed with the Devil" by Ralph Huettner is a stylish and slightly erotic horror movie with few unpleasant scenes.The plot is rarely linear and the climax is gleefully weird.There is plenty of nudity and some softcore sex scenes that are quite titillating.The most memorable scene of the film is definitely the abortion scene.If you liked Canadian "Grace" give this German oddity a look.7 pregnant women out of 10.
4 Reviews
German angst at its best
mkay-549-11049524 August 2011
His name's Lothar, sometimes Gustav, or any other name. He sells appliances that are supposed to help against tumors and whatever else may ail you. It's a scam, and when Lothar, the pick-up artist who never runs out of perverted things to say, hits it off with Maria, a nurse, it's not just for the sex, but also so he can get addresses of patients whose families are perfect targets for his scam. But this is the least of Maria's problems as Lothar has a very contagious sexual disease: his sperm eats through every rubber and leaves you with some very nasty and finally fatal bodily, well, dysfunctions...
One of the few serious German entries into the horror genre this movie is not the sex-horror trash film you might expect but rather a Cronenbergian nightmare - the sterile surroundings of the clinic, the operating procedures, the theme of rather weird physiological diseases (you could say there's a "new flesh" theme here), the weird apparatuses the male main character Lothar, aka Gustav, lives off selling - all that is reminiscent of my favorite director. Other than that, it has its own style, changing from rather realistic to surreal. The actors are good - Dominic Raacke is the definitive German schwein and has a lot of great dialog. Natja Brunckhorst (Christiane F in the movie of the same name) is a believable heroine, if you will. Michael Greiling is good as the sort of dry doctor you'd expect in, again, an early Cronenberg movie.
One of the few serious German entries into the horror genre this movie is not the sex-horror trash film you might expect but rather a Cronenbergian nightmare - the sterile surroundings of the clinic, the operating procedures, the theme of rather weird physiological diseases (you could say there's a "new flesh" theme here), the weird apparatuses the male main character Lothar, aka Gustav, lives off selling - all that is reminiscent of my favorite director. Other than that, it has its own style, changing from rather realistic to surreal. The actors are good - Dominic Raacke is the definitive German schwein and has a lot of great dialog. Natja Brunckhorst (Christiane F in the movie of the same name) is a believable heroine, if you will. Michael Greiling is good as the sort of dry doctor you'd expect in, again, an early Cronenberg movie.
Macabre Pregnancy Horror with Lynchian Twist!
samxxxul15 May 2020
The story is centered around Nurse Maria (Natja Brunckhorst) and her relationship with mysterious with Lothar (Dominic Raacke). In their early encounters, it is the fast purely libidinous sex that keeps Lothar and Maria together. Maria accepts his offer for a one-night stand, but a burst condom is a macabre hint that their one-night stand will not remain without consequences and escalates further and further to an ending that will leave your jaw on the floor. This film is a persuasively atmospheric scaffold, formally at least one leg in the art house cinema, mixed with a very stylish, dreamlike neo-noir cinematography similar to Mullholand drive or Inland Empire. It boasts dark lighting and sultry locations, with perfect soundtrack to match. The film is rarely linear with full of erotic macabre scenes and a weird climax. Babylon proves to be, one of the best original erotic horror thrillers ever made. It is well-paced, well-directed with excellent performances by Natja Brunckhorst, Veronica Ferres and Michael Greiling. Sadly, it is overlooked in the horror/thriller realm and deserves more attention.
Puzzled and Surprised
kurt_h1318 August 2013
Warning: Spoilers
While this movie might not be suited for the masses, it certainly is one of the best German movies I've ever seen. The storyline leave's you puzzled, it's full of symbolism, the acting is good for a German film and the camera shots are quite professional. I enjoy films that you can't grasp the meaning of and leave you puzzled until a twist at the end. In contrary to other such movies, this only has a runtime of 90 minutes, so you don't get time to question all scenes that don't seem to make sense. In the end you get a twist, so that most questionable scenes become to make scene and leaves you with a feeling that the plot-puzzle got solved with only some scene leaving you in the dark about their meaning. Taking into account the surprise effect about a German B-movie that can grasp you like that, I would give 8/10.
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