For the first hour this is a slow, even stately paced movie, utterly mundane and pretty boring for those who expect action scenes every ten minutes and a twist-a-minute plot. It's a West German production that feels very much like other product from that country (I'm thinking in particular of MOSQUITO THE RAPIST here) in that the characters are cold and the film has a clinically detached feel to it, as if we're scientists watching events play out in a laboratory. There's not a great deal of room for emotion here, but there is a high degree of realism – everything we see is matter-of-fact and everyday stuff, from a teenage girl's pop star obsession to the daily life that goes on around her.
Then, at around the hour mark, there is an absolutely massive plot twist and the film suddenly turns into this dark psychological horror yarn that isn't for the squeamish. It's never gory, but the subtle events that play out involving dismemberment and cannibalism are extremely disturbing precisely because they're presented in a mundane, normal way; as if this stuff was expected to happen, and is nothing out of the ordinary. This makes things all the more disturbing. As the young protagonist, Desiree Nosbusch gives an understated performance that works precisely because she hides most of her character's feelings, especially towards the climax of the movie. She's also far from shy, and spends most of the latter half of the film walking around completely naked, which is a little distracting for the viewer.
The supporting cast members vary in quality, but I did like Bodo Steiger as the odd, pale pop performer and it's one annoyingly catchy tune he sings. So, in essence, this is a film where exploitation meets subtlety, where depraved horrors are the stuff of normal existence, and it works precisely because of that reason for viewers who are patient enough to sit it out to the end. As such it's a neat precursor to the kind of modern Japanese shockers like AUDITION, where the surprises are saved for the final reel to blow the reader out of their seat at the film's climax. Just remember that TRANCE got there first.
Then, at around the hour mark, there is an absolutely massive plot twist and the film suddenly turns into this dark psychological horror yarn that isn't for the squeamish. It's never gory, but the subtle events that play out involving dismemberment and cannibalism are extremely disturbing precisely because they're presented in a mundane, normal way; as if this stuff was expected to happen, and is nothing out of the ordinary. This makes things all the more disturbing. As the young protagonist, Desiree Nosbusch gives an understated performance that works precisely because she hides most of her character's feelings, especially towards the climax of the movie. She's also far from shy, and spends most of the latter half of the film walking around completely naked, which is a little distracting for the viewer.
The supporting cast members vary in quality, but I did like Bodo Steiger as the odd, pale pop performer and it's one annoyingly catchy tune he sings. So, in essence, this is a film where exploitation meets subtlety, where depraved horrors are the stuff of normal existence, and it works precisely because of that reason for viewers who are patient enough to sit it out to the end. As such it's a neat precursor to the kind of modern Japanese shockers like AUDITION, where the surprises are saved for the final reel to blow the reader out of their seat at the film's climax. Just remember that TRANCE got there first.