This is "Melancholie der Engel" or "The Angels' Melancholia", a German film from 2009 and before watching this one (again), I read that some people consider this the most shocking and disturbing film they have ever seen. Well, it certainly is shocking and disturbing, that much is safe. The director and one of the writers is Marian Dora and here we have a contender for his most known work. It's probably either this one or "Cannibal". But lets talk a bit more about this one. It runs for a massive 2 hours and 40 minutes almost, which is really really long and you feel it during the watch. It drags so much and it is never an achievement in terms of convincing story-telling. No matter how much Dora or anybody else tries to convince me about the cinematic value of this movie, I will never say that there is any. Several of the actors are extremely untalented and their line delivery sounded wooden beyond belief. Kinda expected though, why would a seriously talented actor destroy his career with something like this. The title sounds like a Wim Wenders film and reading the storyline here on the title's IMDb page, one could think that this could really be a cinematic achievement actually. It is no such thing. It is violence (against humans and animals), cheap thrills, obscenities, naked people being physically and emotionally tortured. I mean I am perfectly fine with this as long as it fits in and adds to a creative approach and outcome. Haneke and Tarantino have shown this many times how violence can turn a good story into a great one. But Marian Dora is obviously not a gifted filmmaker looking at this one. It is all for the gore, for the violence for the abuse (also the one of the audience) in here. There is absolutely nothing beyond that and that's why I think that this project has become a massive failure. I highly recommend to stay away.
30 Reviews
Wannabe Serbian Film
itrevorallen1 February 2020
This movie is as though a lesser talented director took a shot at breaking every taboo boundary that exists. Unfortunately, even with English subs the overall story lacks significantly (if it exists at all). Instead, you are left with a long movie collage of ramblings and animal torture, disturbing , and images of corpses littered around religious monuments with no true background or context. "Extreme" movie done poorly.
The definition of "edgy"
cradleoffilthlover7 March 2021
Holy hell, I've just watched this since I finally got my hands on the English subtitles.
The movie has little to no plot, backstory or continuity whatsoever. The only thing that saves this movie is the excellent way in which the director manages to depict decay, death and several mental illnesses. Unfortunately, these themes however, exist within a vacuum and feel disjointed as hell. Trying to understand this film objectively is largely a futile exercise. The movie feeds on the reaction of the viewer, that's the only power it has, which makes it extremely fragile.
I would suggest to skip this movie, or if you're just curious about the sheer madness on display, watch a few selected scenes, there are plenty, I assure you.
The movie has little to no plot, backstory or continuity whatsoever. The only thing that saves this movie is the excellent way in which the director manages to depict decay, death and several mental illnesses. Unfortunately, these themes however, exist within a vacuum and feel disjointed as hell. Trying to understand this film objectively is largely a futile exercise. The movie feeds on the reaction of the viewer, that's the only power it has, which makes it extremely fragile.
I would suggest to skip this movie, or if you're just curious about the sheer madness on display, watch a few selected scenes, there are plenty, I assure you.
Art house sickness, with far too much content.
nasteen831 March 2014
I picked up a copy of this film back in 2010 but was highly disappointed when I found there were no subtitles, so for a long time I had no idea what was going on. Sufficed to say, I finally found the subtitles so I can properly give this title a review.
Many people may regard this as a horror film, due to the horrific content, but to me this is about as far from horror as you can get. There's no build up of tension, no jarring moments (other than the extreme gore, excrement and decay) and no backstory. This is as art house as art house gets, and if you've seen any of Marian Dora's other films, you know what you're getting. At first glance, this film is rather tedious and underwhelming. But after really watching it, I found the cinematography to be rather awesome. To me this film portrays decay and death rather well. You can almost smell the rotting flesh, human excrement and other foul stenches you would find in an open air mass grave. Marian Dora certainly knows how to portray putrefaction and disgust. This sort of film will have it's supporters and it's definite critics, as it should, but perhaps that's just because it's so hard to define. The acting was mediocre, the script a bit overplayed but well made and the camera work quite well for the obvious small budget. So I'll give it high marks on these merits. There's one thing that I absolutely hate...
The animal cruelty. No movie producer should ever feel the need to kill a cat on camera for shock value. That's just stupid, wrong, and should be punishable by prison time. I give this film a big fat ZERO for the use of several animals for death scenes. I can look past the pig slaughter, because you eat a pig after you kill it. But just wasting an animal for no reason? That's terrible. Torturing a human on camera, or smearing excrement on them, or whatever is fine because people have the cognition to understand what's happening, a cat does not.
For the latter part of this review, I will never be supporting Marian Dora's work from this point forward. This is sad because I really like his work as an artist, but I cannot get behind art that harms animals for no reason. I give this a 5 star only on the merits it deserves, if it had been without the cruelty, I would have rated it far higher and I would be purchasing all of his work.
Many people may regard this as a horror film, due to the horrific content, but to me this is about as far from horror as you can get. There's no build up of tension, no jarring moments (other than the extreme gore, excrement and decay) and no backstory. This is as art house as art house gets, and if you've seen any of Marian Dora's other films, you know what you're getting. At first glance, this film is rather tedious and underwhelming. But after really watching it, I found the cinematography to be rather awesome. To me this film portrays decay and death rather well. You can almost smell the rotting flesh, human excrement and other foul stenches you would find in an open air mass grave. Marian Dora certainly knows how to portray putrefaction and disgust. This sort of film will have it's supporters and it's definite critics, as it should, but perhaps that's just because it's so hard to define. The acting was mediocre, the script a bit overplayed but well made and the camera work quite well for the obvious small budget. So I'll give it high marks on these merits. There's one thing that I absolutely hate...
The animal cruelty. No movie producer should ever feel the need to kill a cat on camera for shock value. That's just stupid, wrong, and should be punishable by prison time. I give this film a big fat ZERO for the use of several animals for death scenes. I can look past the pig slaughter, because you eat a pig after you kill it. But just wasting an animal for no reason? That's terrible. Torturing a human on camera, or smearing excrement on them, or whatever is fine because people have the cognition to understand what's happening, a cat does not.
For the latter part of this review, I will never be supporting Marian Dora's work from this point forward. This is sad because I really like his work as an artist, but I cannot get behind art that harms animals for no reason. I give this a 5 star only on the merits it deserves, if it had been without the cruelty, I would have rated it far higher and I would be purchasing all of his work.
Pretentious garbage
nadblaster19 November 2017
Violence, gore, pornographic content and the like can be powerful things when used properly in cinema, and can help underscore an important point or to shock when well-placed. Melancholie der Engel is garbage of the highest quality simply because it has no placement and no subtlety in how it uses its arsenal of degeneracy and instead barrages you nonstop with stuff that is designed to disgust. There is no plot to speak of, just moments that dovetail to and from one another to create a new stage for something awful to happen.
I am not some conservative old man shaking my cane at the teevee for being "too lewd" or something, but I think that this movie needs to be destroyed and forgotten. This is like what a fourteen year old would create if given fifty thousand dollars and was told to make something "hardcore". Movies don't need to be art to be good, but this is neither and tries to be both.
I am not some conservative old man shaking my cane at the teevee for being "too lewd" or something, but I think that this movie needs to be destroyed and forgotten. This is like what a fourteen year old would create if given fifty thousand dollars and was told to make something "hardcore". Movies don't need to be art to be good, but this is neither and tries to be both.
Will definitely put you off your dinner!
kirkwuk24 June 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Melancholie Der Engel slipped the radar of sick art-house films back in 2009. Why exactly is not known however it might be to do with the fact the company marketing this just didn't do so way back then. However in 2013 it seems to have appeared on a few websites notorious for censorship and extreme cinema. Interest is suddenly swooning around this weird art-house thriller from Marian Dora, who also directed 2006's Cannibal.
For this reviewer, one watch of Melancholie Der Engel was enough. Being a big fan of controversial cinema, namely A Serbian Film and Salo, Dora's monster is almost three hours of complete weirdness and infrequent WTF moments. Zenza Raggi, who stars in an endless list of pornographic movies, leads this "tale" of a group of people who gather to strange house for the weekend to experiment in dark pleasures. Who they are and what they're doing is never fully realised or explained in dialogue or plot. Most of the films duration revolves around some seriously weird and beautiful music combining wonderful landscapes and cinematography. Some of the music sounds almost exactly like Brian Eno. However the flip side is most of the time you'll also see close-ups of skeletons of dead animals, burnt remains, bodily fluids, creepy crawlies, and just about everything imaginable to put you off your next meal. Well done to Dora for creating atmosphere which is truly grotesque and unique but most of all, powerful enough to convincingly unsettle. The characters together with the unsettling atmosphere make you believe Melancholie Der Engel takes place in another time, hundreds of years ago - another world even.
Dora has some serious skills for managing to cast a group together who were happy enough to be filmed and act through with the explicit, distasteful visuals which at one time belonged only to the webs darkest.
How it attains an atmosphere of depression and dread from the beginning however, is truly cheap and distasteful. Insects and animals are crushed and tortured at intervals; a small lizard is crushed to death, in another moment a snails eyes are cut off with scissors - all real. I didn't see (excuse the pun) any reason for this to happen, considering the movie has enough fictional violence and crazy debauchery on its own. For example, an old man who joins the group early on brings a girl in a wheelchair to the "party" who is openly abused and left lying around like an object. This man is later cut up (also for no reason) and left to crawl home with his guts hanging out. The group burn him on a bonfire, at which point another character is that excited he gets someone to masturbate him to climax in explicit close-up. In addition, the movie contains people being defecated and urinated on, both alive and dead.
I can't rate Melancholie Der Engel high on my list simply because it does seem to be a plot-less, direction-less compilation of weirdness and sick fantasies. The general ruthlessness of the animal cruelty also put me off recommending this to anyone, which I think is understandable. Good movies should present fiction and suspend the viewers disbelief without relying on real, unnecessary cruelty. The biggest problem it has going for it though, its length, will make many viewers fast forward through it before they get to the truly puke inducing scenes, in the last forty minutes.
Either way, if you're a fan of extreme movies, this one should be on your list. The way it comes together as a whole package though, is not as great as others. If Dora cut the animal cruelty and presented a new condensed cut - Melancholie Der Engel would score more points from me and be easier to recommend.
For this reviewer, one watch of Melancholie Der Engel was enough. Being a big fan of controversial cinema, namely A Serbian Film and Salo, Dora's monster is almost three hours of complete weirdness and infrequent WTF moments. Zenza Raggi, who stars in an endless list of pornographic movies, leads this "tale" of a group of people who gather to strange house for the weekend to experiment in dark pleasures. Who they are and what they're doing is never fully realised or explained in dialogue or plot. Most of the films duration revolves around some seriously weird and beautiful music combining wonderful landscapes and cinematography. Some of the music sounds almost exactly like Brian Eno. However the flip side is most of the time you'll also see close-ups of skeletons of dead animals, burnt remains, bodily fluids, creepy crawlies, and just about everything imaginable to put you off your next meal. Well done to Dora for creating atmosphere which is truly grotesque and unique but most of all, powerful enough to convincingly unsettle. The characters together with the unsettling atmosphere make you believe Melancholie Der Engel takes place in another time, hundreds of years ago - another world even.
Dora has some serious skills for managing to cast a group together who were happy enough to be filmed and act through with the explicit, distasteful visuals which at one time belonged only to the webs darkest.
How it attains an atmosphere of depression and dread from the beginning however, is truly cheap and distasteful. Insects and animals are crushed and tortured at intervals; a small lizard is crushed to death, in another moment a snails eyes are cut off with scissors - all real. I didn't see (excuse the pun) any reason for this to happen, considering the movie has enough fictional violence and crazy debauchery on its own. For example, an old man who joins the group early on brings a girl in a wheelchair to the "party" who is openly abused and left lying around like an object. This man is later cut up (also for no reason) and left to crawl home with his guts hanging out. The group burn him on a bonfire, at which point another character is that excited he gets someone to masturbate him to climax in explicit close-up. In addition, the movie contains people being defecated and urinated on, both alive and dead.
I can't rate Melancholie Der Engel high on my list simply because it does seem to be a plot-less, direction-less compilation of weirdness and sick fantasies. The general ruthlessness of the animal cruelty also put me off recommending this to anyone, which I think is understandable. Good movies should present fiction and suspend the viewers disbelief without relying on real, unnecessary cruelty. The biggest problem it has going for it though, its length, will make many viewers fast forward through it before they get to the truly puke inducing scenes, in the last forty minutes.
Either way, if you're a fan of extreme movies, this one should be on your list. The way it comes together as a whole package though, is not as great as others. If Dora cut the animal cruelty and presented a new condensed cut - Melancholie Der Engel would score more points from me and be easier to recommend.
If GG Allin made a movie...
redrobin62-321-20731118 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
The rating here on IMDb is too low. Yeah, this German movie is not a masterpiece (you wouldn't mistake it for Blade Runner) but it still may not be a waste of time if you're looking to peer into how depraved some humans can be. If you are then consider 'Melancholie the Engel' a master class.
The musical equivalent of this film would be a live GG Allin show, a spectacle meant to shock you involving violence, urine, poop and psychological nonsense. I'd searched far and wide for the subtitles for this film, but really, it wasn't necessary. The voice overs made no sense and doesn't propel the story at all. To be truthful there is no story, just an excuse to film human waste products.
I think this is the 4th film I've seen where the animal killings were real, the other three being 'Cannibal Holocaust' from Italy, 'Wake In Fright' from Australia and 'Touki Bouki', from Senegal - a real international treat there. Personally, I don't see how anyone would endorse the filming of a real animal killing. I'm not talking so much about the 'ick' factor but the morality and justification for it. An implied cutaway wouldn't have lessened its impact at all.
This rather sparse movie begins a little slowly before getting into the strong bits. 'Melancholie the Engel' is definitely not for everyone. You can stomach it if you aren't traumatized by the website 'Best Gore' or if 'A Serbiab Film' and 'Slaughtered Vomit Doll' is a walk in the park for you.
The musical equivalent of this film would be a live GG Allin show, a spectacle meant to shock you involving violence, urine, poop and psychological nonsense. I'd searched far and wide for the subtitles for this film, but really, it wasn't necessary. The voice overs made no sense and doesn't propel the story at all. To be truthful there is no story, just an excuse to film human waste products.
I think this is the 4th film I've seen where the animal killings were real, the other three being 'Cannibal Holocaust' from Italy, 'Wake In Fright' from Australia and 'Touki Bouki', from Senegal - a real international treat there. Personally, I don't see how anyone would endorse the filming of a real animal killing. I'm not talking so much about the 'ick' factor but the morality and justification for it. An implied cutaway wouldn't have lessened its impact at all.
This rather sparse movie begins a little slowly before getting into the strong bits. 'Melancholie the Engel' is definitely not for everyone. You can stomach it if you aren't traumatized by the website 'Best Gore' or if 'A Serbiab Film' and 'Slaughtered Vomit Doll' is a walk in the park for you.
Shocking, depraved, cruel, boring, confusing and way too long.
BA_Harrison30 November 2018
I've owned a copy of Melancholie der Engel for a few years now, but never watched it as it was in German without subtitles. Recently, I found the movie on YouTube with English subs, so I finally gave it a whirl.
Even with subtitles, it didn't make sense.
Directed by Marian Dora, who gave us the disturbing Cannibal (2006), this film is an extreme arthouse horror that pushes the boundaries in terms of shocking content, the filth and debasement depicted including vomiting, stoma and anus fingering, and the five '-tions' - mutilation, urination, defecation, masturbation, and ejaculation (all shown in graphic detail). While this might be exactly what extreme cinema fans are looking for, the whole thing proves extremely boring thanks to its pretentious approach, unfathomable storytelling and excruciating two and a half hour plus runtime.
Fool that I am, I carried on to the bitter end regardless of the fact that the execution was very tedious and I soon became inured to the abhorrent acts inflicted on the cast. What I did find upsetting was the unnecessary cruelty towards a variety of innocent critters: a tiny newt is slowly crushed, a snail has its eyes cut off with scissors, a worm is sliced into pieces with a scalpel, and a cute cat is killed. People can do what the hell they like to each other in the name of their art (and they do), but leave the animals out of it (unlike the turtle in Cannibal Holocaust, I can't imagine that the cat became food for the cast and crew).
1/10. A repetitive, incomprehensible exercise in repugnant behaviour that couldn't be more wearisome if it tried. If you think you're hardcore enough, watch it back to back with Philosophy Of A Knife.
Even with subtitles, it didn't make sense.
Directed by Marian Dora, who gave us the disturbing Cannibal (2006), this film is an extreme arthouse horror that pushes the boundaries in terms of shocking content, the filth and debasement depicted including vomiting, stoma and anus fingering, and the five '-tions' - mutilation, urination, defecation, masturbation, and ejaculation (all shown in graphic detail). While this might be exactly what extreme cinema fans are looking for, the whole thing proves extremely boring thanks to its pretentious approach, unfathomable storytelling and excruciating two and a half hour plus runtime.
Fool that I am, I carried on to the bitter end regardless of the fact that the execution was very tedious and I soon became inured to the abhorrent acts inflicted on the cast. What I did find upsetting was the unnecessary cruelty towards a variety of innocent critters: a tiny newt is slowly crushed, a snail has its eyes cut off with scissors, a worm is sliced into pieces with a scalpel, and a cute cat is killed. People can do what the hell they like to each other in the name of their art (and they do), but leave the animals out of it (unlike the turtle in Cannibal Holocaust, I can't imagine that the cat became food for the cast and crew).
1/10. A repetitive, incomprehensible exercise in repugnant behaviour that couldn't be more wearisome if it tried. If you think you're hardcore enough, watch it back to back with Philosophy Of A Knife.
A waste of time
gunslinger86125 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers
When i heard about this film i knew i had to see it. Having seen Cannibal, Marian Dora's first film i knew this was gong to be something worth mentioning. Cannibal was such a perverse and visceral film, not to mention realistic in its depiction of what happened so when i found this title there was no real hesitation. Anways i watched this title and i have to say that this easily ranked in my top 10 of the worst films i have watched. The only real time i have ever had to take breaks from a film on the grounds of just being overwhelmed. The story lacks but then again the version i saw was in German and had no subtitles so i can let that go.what i gather is that three men filled with contempt for all humanity and four women gather at an old run down house to basically have on last bang as one of the men clearly is dying. With that said once the everything descends into absolute hell.
Most of what you can think of is on display in the almost three hours of film. Rape, murder, necrophilia, bestiality, animal cruelty,fecal matter, urination, graphic nudity, close up shots of both male and female ejaculation, Blasphemy.With all that said i will give credit where it is due . Beyond the fact that this film is very harsh there are some absolutely breath taking scenery, and the score by the late great David Hess adds a haunting beauty that honestly makes this film that much worse.
Now don't get me wrong as bad as this is its still doesn't hold to that of a scat or fetish porn film as far as content in fact the films of Otto Muhel are far more graphic. however there is something in this film that is just very hard to watch and even harder to shake off later on. I don't recommend this film at all. Too long, too pretentious, graphic and between shock scenes very boring. I also feel too that the film is on top of all mentioned issues misogynistic and misanthropic. I don't recommend this one way or the other.
Most of what you can think of is on display in the almost three hours of film. Rape, murder, necrophilia, bestiality, animal cruelty,fecal matter, urination, graphic nudity, close up shots of both male and female ejaculation, Blasphemy.With all that said i will give credit where it is due . Beyond the fact that this film is very harsh there are some absolutely breath taking scenery, and the score by the late great David Hess adds a haunting beauty that honestly makes this film that much worse.
Now don't get me wrong as bad as this is its still doesn't hold to that of a scat or fetish porn film as far as content in fact the films of Otto Muhel are far more graphic. however there is something in this film that is just very hard to watch and even harder to shake off later on. I don't recommend this film at all. Too long, too pretentious, graphic and between shock scenes very boring. I also feel too that the film is on top of all mentioned issues misogynistic and misanthropic. I don't recommend this one way or the other.
Angel with the Scabbed Wings.
morrison-dylan-fan11 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Gathering up Horror movies with "epic" running times to view for the Horror Challenge on IMDb's Horror board,I spotted an epic title that a fellow IMDber had kindly sent me,which led to me getting ready to meet the melancholy angel.
The plot:
Meeting up for the first time in years,2 old friends decide to go to a carnival.Walking round the carnival,the two guys catch the eyes of two women,who they end up inviting back to their place.Taken by their charms,the two women follow the guys back to their den,in an isolated woodland area.Entering the den,the women soon discover that they have entered a den of sadism and death.
View on the film:
Shoving the audiences faces deep into the characters depravity,co- writer/ (along with Frank Oliver) director Marian Dora uses chopped- off,fragmented angles to display the complete loss of sanity which the characters are under,that also stop the viewer from ever getting a full clear view of the demented characters.Running for over 2 and a half hours,Dora attempts to unleash a "shock and awe" attack on the viewer,as Dora matches religious mumbling's with ruthless acts of aggression,which include the horrific killing of a cat (who gives the best performance in the whole film.)
After showing the viewer everything on offer within the opening 30 minutes,Dora spends the next 2 hours constantly going over the same spot over and over again,which ends up taking the bite out of the title,thanks to Dora leaving behind any sense of experimental filming styles,plot or character building,by letting things boil down to Dora poking a bit of road kill with a stick for 158 minutes.
The plot:
Meeting up for the first time in years,2 old friends decide to go to a carnival.Walking round the carnival,the two guys catch the eyes of two women,who they end up inviting back to their place.Taken by their charms,the two women follow the guys back to their den,in an isolated woodland area.Entering the den,the women soon discover that they have entered a den of sadism and death.
View on the film:
Shoving the audiences faces deep into the characters depravity,co- writer/ (along with Frank Oliver) director Marian Dora uses chopped- off,fragmented angles to display the complete loss of sanity which the characters are under,that also stop the viewer from ever getting a full clear view of the demented characters.Running for over 2 and a half hours,Dora attempts to unleash a "shock and awe" attack on the viewer,as Dora matches religious mumbling's with ruthless acts of aggression,which include the horrific killing of a cat (who gives the best performance in the whole film.)
After showing the viewer everything on offer within the opening 30 minutes,Dora spends the next 2 hours constantly going over the same spot over and over again,which ends up taking the bite out of the title,thanks to Dora leaving behind any sense of experimental filming styles,plot or character building,by letting things boil down to Dora poking a bit of road kill with a stick for 158 minutes.
Pathetic, violent, associative, hypnotic, dramatic, romantic, musical, metaphysical, tragic
j_grewe17 October 2009
With its focus on audiovisual composition, THE ANGELS' MELANCHOLIA essentially is an emotional experience. Not enough, the complexly developed story also stretches out to themes of friendship, passion, revenge and death wish. This assumes intense preoccupation with all the multiple layers of the movie. In aesthetic, tender images the stunned audience witnesses events that blurred the frontiers between reality and fiction probably already during the shooting. Just apparently in contradiction the events are accompanied by citations of German contemporary history, which gives Marian Dora's work a powerful intellectual historical basis. The movie's structure is similar to the baroque cathedral which gets a central role in the movie: The story and (only on the first sight) marginal details get mirrored like a symmetry axis and seem to be the counterpart of the leading characters destiny.
A personal work of director Marian Dora, the movie defies all formal conventions of storytelling. In nearly all scenes the movie breaks up to the audience's expectations. Established viewing and thinking habits as well as generally accepted and provided moral patterns are getting destroyed and stay unusable. If comparisons are appropriate at all, THE ANGELS' MELANCHOLIA has its place between the work of Jodorowsky or Pasolini. However, the movie can't deny its German roots and openly admits its highly controversial underground cinema status: Poetic, radical, original, unwieldy and impossible to forget.
A personal work of director Marian Dora, the movie defies all formal conventions of storytelling. In nearly all scenes the movie breaks up to the audience's expectations. Established viewing and thinking habits as well as generally accepted and provided moral patterns are getting destroyed and stay unusable. If comparisons are appropriate at all, THE ANGELS' MELANCHOLIA has its place between the work of Jodorowsky or Pasolini. However, the movie can't deny its German roots and openly admits its highly controversial underground cinema status: Poetic, radical, original, unwieldy and impossible to forget.
Transgressive cinema.
HumanoidOfFlesh29 January 2014
"Melancholie der Engel" by Marian Dora lasts over 2 hours of length.It's also one of the most extreme horror movies I have ever seen.I saw this vomit-fest without English subs,so the most of the dialogue went beyond me.Still the plot is fairly simple:two closely-bonded nihilists meet two women at a carnival and eventually bring them back to an abandoned house near the woods.The house which is filled with animal bones and decaying dolls.Other characters are introduced like BDSM woman,an old painter pervert and a wheelchair-bound girl.The orgy of drug use,rape,sexual perversion and animal cruelty begins there...Lots of pseudo-intellectual nonsense is spoken and many animals are killed.Even the cat has its throat slit."Melancholie der Engel" literally oozes decay.There is some of the most revolting gore ever captured on screen along with various scenes of sexual perversion bordering on hard-core porn.This is truly unforgiving and deplorable journey into perversion and death.8 extremities out of 10.
Certainly different: visually stunning and brave but rather boring
sybarite_200311 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This film is visually unlike any I have ever seen. The cinematography is really good and the constant cut scenes of animals being killed in various ways is almost documentary-like and eye-catching. However, the main problem I found was that the main story arc didn't make much sense to me and was just a chance to show a lot of graphic violence and explicit sex. Although very little of the sex was erotic-- I'm not sure it was meant to be. It was very realistically shot --almost the same as in natural wildlife films--and not sensationalised with close-ups, music etc. The other problem for me was that the main characters were just too nasty and unlike-able.
I have to admit that a lot of the scenes I saw, I never thought I'd ever see in a mainstream movie yet -- although if this is 'mainstream' is open to debate and that it is in a European film makes sense. Never will such a film be made in Hollywood and then get a general release. Never!
I never thought I'd see a scene of a man shitting on to a woman in a non-extreme-porn movie although the scene lasts a second. Then the man pulling apart the young girl's buttocks and licking her arsehole and she defecating on him....the bearded man pissing on the woman at his feet...
The most disturbing thing for me was the violence done to the women. That I found much more unwatchable than the sexual deviancy. With proper editing this could have been a masterpiece but it just remains an interesting exercise in shocking the viewer. But the director must be congratulated for daring to push boundaries. After all, we all urinate, defecate, have sexual fetishes, ejaculate --so why does cinema have to glamorise them? Just show them naturally. Seeing someone defecating is much less offensive than seeing someone's head being blown up or torture-porn.
I have to admit that a lot of the scenes I saw, I never thought I'd ever see in a mainstream movie yet -- although if this is 'mainstream' is open to debate and that it is in a European film makes sense. Never will such a film be made in Hollywood and then get a general release. Never!
I never thought I'd see a scene of a man shitting on to a woman in a non-extreme-porn movie although the scene lasts a second. Then the man pulling apart the young girl's buttocks and licking her arsehole and she defecating on him....the bearded man pissing on the woman at his feet...
The most disturbing thing for me was the violence done to the women. That I found much more unwatchable than the sexual deviancy. With proper editing this could have been a masterpiece but it just remains an interesting exercise in shocking the viewer. But the director must be congratulated for daring to push boundaries. After all, we all urinate, defecate, have sexual fetishes, ejaculate --so why does cinema have to glamorise them? Just show them naturally. Seeing someone defecating is much less offensive than seeing someone's head being blown up or torture-porn.
No waaay... As bad as people make out... 'A Serbian Film' Is still the daddy of sick movies!
Ningishzida9998 July 2013
The horror status this movie has got is pretty high... Possibly, seen as a must for die hard horror fans...
I'll start off on a high, Melancholie der Engel has great camera work, & to a large extent, the soundtrack is OK...
However... Its just waaay too long...
There is some great sick scenes in there, but it just gets boring in between, & the dialogue is terrible... Which for me is the biggest bummer, as regarding the storyline, there is just nothing to grab onto, at all, its basically just random scenes of emptiness...
I'm guessing this movie got rated so sick for the animal cruelty in it, which of course is bad... However compare that to the extreme scenes of paedophilia in 'A Serbian Film'... Well... I know which were more disturbing for me...
At the end of the day, this movie is only worth a watch to see how it compares to the rest of the so-called sick movies...
I'll start off on a high, Melancholie der Engel has great camera work, & to a large extent, the soundtrack is OK...
However... Its just waaay too long...
There is some great sick scenes in there, but it just gets boring in between, & the dialogue is terrible... Which for me is the biggest bummer, as regarding the storyline, there is just nothing to grab onto, at all, its basically just random scenes of emptiness...
I'm guessing this movie got rated so sick for the animal cruelty in it, which of course is bad... However compare that to the extreme scenes of paedophilia in 'A Serbian Film'... Well... I know which were more disturbing for me...
At the end of the day, this movie is only worth a watch to see how it compares to the rest of the so-called sick movies...
The Only Thing Offensive in This Movie is the Incessant Blathering
TheCrazyCatGuy5 November 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I've used IMDb since it started and never made an account, but after watching this over hyped sham, I had to say some thing to spare future viewers from this load of pseudo-pretentious offal.
NOTE: SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW....not that it matters as the only thing spoiled is the time wasted to watch this tripe.
This is the type of movie when some crack head director with dreams of nihilist angst tries to bore to death anyone foolish enough to endure two hours and thirty-eight minutes of cerebral pain, utter random nonsense, and stupidity.
Other reviewers talk about the animal deaths and get all "faux squeamish" in a contrived attempt to puke some "artistic license" to this turd. Yeah, right. Only a PETA goop would find this offensive, but I must say forcing one to watch this would be better than water boarding them. Actually, instead of water boarding, this movie should be used to force confessions from "terrorists." The o-so-shocking violent sex scenes had me chuckling. They are so bad, they give bad porn a bad name. A simple tube search for BDSM movies will provide the REAL enlightenment.
They way the editor jumped from one babbling monologue to another in an attempt to legitimize the moral (or lack of) struggles made me think he was on crack...or was just wanting to get this dung heap finished! IMPORTANT: There is NOTHING redeeming about this movie. Endless pseudo-psychological blathering, poor effects, laughable violent sex scenes, and characters, that halfway through, will have you screaming for Jason Voorhees to show up and hack-n-slash them all to oblivion! If I was given the choice of mashing my toes with a ball-peen hammer or watching this slobbering drivel, I'd be grabbing the nearest hammer! Avoid...AVOID...at all costs!
NOTE: SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW....not that it matters as the only thing spoiled is the time wasted to watch this tripe.
This is the type of movie when some crack head director with dreams of nihilist angst tries to bore to death anyone foolish enough to endure two hours and thirty-eight minutes of cerebral pain, utter random nonsense, and stupidity.
Other reviewers talk about the animal deaths and get all "faux squeamish" in a contrived attempt to puke some "artistic license" to this turd. Yeah, right. Only a PETA goop would find this offensive, but I must say forcing one to watch this would be better than water boarding them. Actually, instead of water boarding, this movie should be used to force confessions from "terrorists." The o-so-shocking violent sex scenes had me chuckling. They are so bad, they give bad porn a bad name. A simple tube search for BDSM movies will provide the REAL enlightenment.
They way the editor jumped from one babbling monologue to another in an attempt to legitimize the moral (or lack of) struggles made me think he was on crack...or was just wanting to get this dung heap finished! IMPORTANT: There is NOTHING redeeming about this movie. Endless pseudo-psychological blathering, poor effects, laughable violent sex scenes, and characters, that halfway through, will have you screaming for Jason Voorhees to show up and hack-n-slash them all to oblivion! If I was given the choice of mashing my toes with a ball-peen hammer or watching this slobbering drivel, I'd be grabbing the nearest hammer! Avoid...AVOID...at all costs!
an experience I wish I hadn't had
hillaryjeen15 July 2021
First Film I Have Ever Rated A 1
J_Birdy906 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I've seen a plethora of strange movies lately, which means I've seen a surplus of strange intros to movies, but this takes the cake. It starts with two creepy men who convince two beautiful women to come to their underground layer; then on to a spine-chilling house in the middle of the night. At this point I'm believing these two to be vampires, compelling these women. Spoiler, they're not, it is just that bizarre of a film. It does not get any more sensible as the film continues, it gets worse; a lot worse. You construct new questions for the film about every 15 seconds, but never get an answer. As I kept watching I realized this entire thing is just meaningless depravity and nihilism. What a ghastly horrendous excuse for a film. Yes, it had disturbing artifacts, but my Lord in heaven, how do you expect someone to sit through that and enjoy themselves? Usually I rate dreadful films a 2 or higher, established by some base effort or willingness to succeed, yet this is the worst film I have ever had to observe; it will get a 1. This will now be the standard film to which I compare all movies I do not enjoy.
Shocking and boring
brainevildead-756-8596394 August 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Melancholie der Engel's length is close to 3 hours and that already says a lot about it. It's almost a miracle to watch a movie with 3 hours and find yourself interested till the end (or till half of it). To be sincere, most of the times 1 hour and a half is enough and this one is no exception. I think that if this movie had 1 hour length it would be so much better. Well, there is a lot of gore, guts, torture, sex, rape, pissing, shitting and violence to women. But there's also a lot of animal cruelty and killing and that's just sad. Cats, pigs, birds, insects and other animals couldn't escape from this one. I almost give up watching "Melancholie der Engel" because of it. I read somewhere that the director tried to make a connection between animals and humans, but I don't think the killing and torturing scenes were needed at all. I watched the movie without subtitles (and I don't speak German), so I didn't understood the story, if there's something to understand. To finish my review I would say that it's pretty shocking, disgusting and boring. See it for your self.
Help me recover this 2.5 hours of my life
christopheredwards-652-2413903 August 2021
What the heck was this movie about? I can never ever get back the 2.5 hours that I used of my life to watch this movie. There is very little sequential movement through this story and the randomness and extensive focus on the irrelevant produced a waking coma that I may never recover from. The symbolism is impossible to follow and even the nudity, to include random ball and sack shots, was out of place and added little to the comprehensibility of this film. This would be a perfect film for someone on death row who had nothing else to live for and was anxious to end their life in confusion.
A collage of random violence
Davidvisection23 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I think there is always a value and a recognition that we all have to do when we watch the distopic version of the world made by someone else, I must admit there is always room for the shock value in cinema, however, there is no artistic value in this nonexisting script and the meaningless use of animal violence through all the film.
I know perfectlly that directors like Marian are just "artists" looking for this kind of reaction "this movie is so bad, is just meaningless violence and gore" and well, here you have it. Is this a good film? not at all, Is this more disturbing than any other film out there? not really, it is just stupid and annoying... Also, if you wanted to make solemn music, there are more ways to do it than just steal the chords from Cannon in C.
I may not be the best person to appreciate the "art house" but this one sucks.
I know perfectlly that directors like Marian are just "artists" looking for this kind of reaction "this movie is so bad, is just meaningless violence and gore" and well, here you have it. Is this a good film? not at all, Is this more disturbing than any other film out there? not really, it is just stupid and annoying... Also, if you wanted to make solemn music, there are more ways to do it than just steal the chords from Cannon in C.
I may not be the best person to appreciate the "art house" but this one sucks.
A most engulfing movie
lakibuk18 December 2017
A decent art house horror
bees89321 April 2015
Marian Dova's film was indeed a step up from Cannibal. It's a dream like visual art-house film that turns the graphic and grotesque into a beautiful piece of film making. I have to say the uncut version I'm reviewing was in German language with no subtitles but that was not a major issue as there is no real narrative. The film appears to be about death and decay. We see old dolls, dead birds, insects, pigs, cats, fish, insects, and copses in coffins, cigars burning down, and old bones. The scenes involve sexual violence towards women, mutilation, urine, the smearing of excrement and general extreme horror that would normally shock. However, this is no exploitation movie; all the scenes have a dream like quality and an unsettling atmosphere which leave for an emotional experience. Good cinematography and a score by David Hess make this better than it really should be. Lots of sex, nudity and masturbation which is in no way erotic and scenes that would be controversial if in a different picture. At over two and a half hours long it's best to watch in two or three sittings as this is not a movie to grip or even shock you, just a decent piece of extreme horror art-house.
Confusing and twisted
niemjuuso12 October 2021
Extraordinary movie which makes you think why it exists. Because there is certainly something in Marian Doras mind which is not easy for the mainstream to grasp. I'm sure there is something deeper meaning in this movie which I was not able acknowledge and I might need to watch it again to get better picture of this piece of art and the mindset of it's creator.
There was a couple of beautiful moments in the movie even thought they might seem very twisted and disturbing for majority of people. Basically this movie is what the title promises which makes it a quite succesful on it's purpose.
In the end this movie was quite boring and long. It points out the sickness in our society quite accurately and after all this whole movie was something I've never seen before on the screen which makes it unique.
There was a couple of beautiful moments in the movie even thought they might seem very twisted and disturbing for majority of people. Basically this movie is what the title promises which makes it a quite succesful on it's purpose.
In the end this movie was quite boring and long. It points out the sickness in our society quite accurately and after all this whole movie was something I've never seen before on the screen which makes it unique.
Artsy, unconvoluted, disturbing and way too long
aronharde8 April 2024
In 2009's "Melancholie der Engel" we are introduced to a group of people that have gathered in an old house and from there on the movie turns to a pretentious art house movie with disgusting imagery. There are quite a few scenes in this that are stomach-turning because they are so disgusting and disturbing that not everyone will even be able to watch this. The plot is weird and full of artsy stuff that was not entertaining at all. Every now and then something sick and disturbing happens to shock the audience just for the sake of it. In between there are quite a few nice shots and the overall cinematography was pretty good considering the low budget. However the overall result is way too long and unconvoluted. In the end some of the pictures will stay in the viewers head for a while but that's about the only achievement this movie gets. [3,0/10]
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