Sick criminals use torture and random brutality in their attempts to recover a computer virus.They kidnap an innocent wheelchair guy,who is not involved and torture the hell out of him.His brother comes to help him and the bloodbath ensues..."Rigor Mortis" is a pretty nasty flick loaded with gore and brutality.The plot is pretty silly,the criminals are totally over-the-top and the impact of gory violence equals zero.Admittedly the chemistry between the disabled dude and his brother is developed pretty well,but most of the acting is truly awful.At least gore effects made by German splattermeister Olaf Ittenbach look professional.Unfortunately "Rigor Mortis" is pretty damn boring and is recommended only to rabid fans of German gore.4 out of 10.
5 Reviews
not enough splatter to recommend it
trashgang20 February 2017
Before splatter director made better flicks he was making flicks that came out on video. This here is a perfect example of what the German kings of splatter (Olaf Ittenbach did effects) were doing in their early years. Problem all over is the fact that it's all spoken in German and it do has English subs but the translation is full of mistakes. The sentences aren't correct so it doesn't makes it easier to watch it.
Clearly made on a low budget it's only watchable for the effects. Because the acting is so exaggerated it's rather hard to watch it without being bored or even laugh with the characters, but hey, it's German splatter so it's all about the red stuff. There's a bit in it but not enough to call it a must see. Only for the fans of German splatter or for those who want to see the earlier attempts of Olaf and Timo.
Gore 2/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 1/5 Comedy 0/5
Clearly made on a low budget it's only watchable for the effects. Because the acting is so exaggerated it's rather hard to watch it without being bored or even laugh with the characters, but hey, it's German splatter so it's all about the red stuff. There's a bit in it but not enough to call it a must see. Only for the fans of German splatter or for those who want to see the earlier attempts of Olaf and Timo.
Gore 2/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 1/5 Comedy 0/5
Interesting German Gore
Crap_Connoisseur19 January 2006
"Rigor Mortis" is a very strange horror film. The director, Timo Rose, combines elements of ultra violence, gore, black comedy and human drama with a less than subtle dose of social commentary to come up with an odd, but always interesting, film.
The film's plot centres on two brothers, Ritchie and Norman. Wheelchair bound Norman is given a CD by a blood covered stranger and then becomes the target of a psychotic gangster, who subsequently kidnaps him and his female companion in order to retrieve the CD. This is when the blood starts to flow, with several gruesome and well staged torture scenes.
Despite the contrived and somewhat ridiculous nature of the film's plot, the script is surprisingly successful at fleshing out the central characters (no pun intended). The character of Ritchie is particularly well done and his relationship with Norman is genuinely affecting. The minor characters are less successfully realised and are really only there to kill or be killed.
The gore effects, supervised by the awesome Olaf Ittenbach, are fantastic. A scene in which a woman's face is slowly cut off is fantastically vile. Timo Rose displays a lot of originality by inter cutting this scene with footage of the same woman smiling and having her breasts painted. The result is pretty sick but also strangely artistic, reminiscent of the perverted genius of Joerg Buttgereit.
By the film's conclusion, I couldn't help thinking that Timo Rose had bitten off more than he could chew. The film tries to cover too much ground and leaves a lot of loose ends untied. The mixing of genres is not always successful and the psychos are embarrassing caricatures. Nevertheless, the film does have much to offer and showcases the director's vast potential.
Fans of Ittenbach, Schnaas and Buttgereit will enjoy Rigor Mortis. Just don't expect the usual splatter fest, Timo Rose has a lot on his agenda.
The film's plot centres on two brothers, Ritchie and Norman. Wheelchair bound Norman is given a CD by a blood covered stranger and then becomes the target of a psychotic gangster, who subsequently kidnaps him and his female companion in order to retrieve the CD. This is when the blood starts to flow, with several gruesome and well staged torture scenes.
Despite the contrived and somewhat ridiculous nature of the film's plot, the script is surprisingly successful at fleshing out the central characters (no pun intended). The character of Ritchie is particularly well done and his relationship with Norman is genuinely affecting. The minor characters are less successfully realised and are really only there to kill or be killed.
The gore effects, supervised by the awesome Olaf Ittenbach, are fantastic. A scene in which a woman's face is slowly cut off is fantastically vile. Timo Rose displays a lot of originality by inter cutting this scene with footage of the same woman smiling and having her breasts painted. The result is pretty sick but also strangely artistic, reminiscent of the perverted genius of Joerg Buttgereit.
By the film's conclusion, I couldn't help thinking that Timo Rose had bitten off more than he could chew. The film tries to cover too much ground and leaves a lot of loose ends untied. The mixing of genres is not always successful and the psychos are embarrassing caricatures. Nevertheless, the film does have much to offer and showcases the director's vast potential.
Fans of Ittenbach, Schnaas and Buttgereit will enjoy Rigor Mortis. Just don't expect the usual splatter fest, Timo Rose has a lot on his agenda.
Deliberately bad...
vishvakarman24 May 2004
It is as though the makers of this movie intended to make the story (story !?), acting, and dialogue as hilariously bad as they are, but I am not sure why.
The splatter scenes are actually quite shocking and partially well done, but are set off by the total lack of story and incredibly stupid characters. This one feels like a high-school production from beginning to end.
Even if this was intended to be a (black)comedy, it fully deserves to be ranked among the worst movies ever. Unless you watch movies to laugh about the movie itself, steer clear of this one.
1/10.
The splatter scenes are actually quite shocking and partially well done, but are set off by the total lack of story and incredibly stupid characters. This one feels like a high-school production from beginning to end.
Even if this was intended to be a (black)comedy, it fully deserves to be ranked among the worst movies ever. Unless you watch movies to laugh about the movie itself, steer clear of this one.
1/10.
Very Decent But Disjointed German-Gore Outing...
EVOL6664 January 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Timo Rose's RIGOR MORTIS - THE FINAL COLORS is a pretty solid entry in the German "ultra-gore" genre in comparison to a lot other films of its ilk. Problem is - the good points are done really well (for a film of its kind), but the bad points are really noticeable. The plot goes somethin' like this:
A wheel-chair bound retarded guy and his brother's girlfriend become embroiled in some sort of computer-virus CD scheme when they are inadvertently in the wrong place at the wrong time. The two have no knowledge of anything relating to said CD or it's whereabouts, but their denials don't appease the psychos that are on the lookout for said disc. Vicious and graphic torture awaits all who stand in the way of the "bad-guy's" recovery of their disc, but the retarded guy's protective brother isn't gonna let his brother or his girlfriend get carved up without a fight...
Good points - the storyline itself isn't bad. It's basically an easy premise to introduce a lot of bloodshed, so I'm not complaining about that. The gore-FX (handled by German grue-extraordinaire, Olaf Ittenbach) are suitably nasty - including some vicious axe-mutilations, throat-slittings, a female face-carving, and some other "goodies" for those of us that prefer to see the red-stuff on-screen as opposed to imagining it. There is even a damn-near "masterful" scene (regarding the aforementioned face-carving...) where a psychopathic torturer graphically and gleefully slices up his female victim's face with a scalpel, while becoming sexually aroused by envisioning her as a work of art that he's painting - all eerily set to a soundtrack of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" - good stuff. And there's actually even some decent acting in this one. But notice that I said "some" - and now, to the bad points: though the portrayal of the bond between the brothers is well-portrayed - and even the girlfriend, psycho-face-carver, and the lead "bad-guy" are all decent - pretty much every other performance in the film is bad enough to take the overall product down a notch or two. Also - although the storyline itself wasn't too bad, I kept expecting a "twist" that never came, and it seems like the ending - though not "bad" per se, wasn't very well thought-out and could have been better realized. Oh - and there's very little nudity (a quick titty-shot or two in the "Moonlight Sonata" sequence...), which sucks. Overall though - I will say that RIGOR MORTIS will be a winner for those that dig some pretty nasty gore while still retaining some semblance of a storyline. I've seen a pretty good amount of this sort of thing by now, and I will say that at least it's better than anything Andreas Schnaas has yet to put out - and rated against other such films, I feel the need to give it a pretty solid rating...7/10
A wheel-chair bound retarded guy and his brother's girlfriend become embroiled in some sort of computer-virus CD scheme when they are inadvertently in the wrong place at the wrong time. The two have no knowledge of anything relating to said CD or it's whereabouts, but their denials don't appease the psychos that are on the lookout for said disc. Vicious and graphic torture awaits all who stand in the way of the "bad-guy's" recovery of their disc, but the retarded guy's protective brother isn't gonna let his brother or his girlfriend get carved up without a fight...
Good points - the storyline itself isn't bad. It's basically an easy premise to introduce a lot of bloodshed, so I'm not complaining about that. The gore-FX (handled by German grue-extraordinaire, Olaf Ittenbach) are suitably nasty - including some vicious axe-mutilations, throat-slittings, a female face-carving, and some other "goodies" for those of us that prefer to see the red-stuff on-screen as opposed to imagining it. There is even a damn-near "masterful" scene (regarding the aforementioned face-carving...) where a psychopathic torturer graphically and gleefully slices up his female victim's face with a scalpel, while becoming sexually aroused by envisioning her as a work of art that he's painting - all eerily set to a soundtrack of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" - good stuff. And there's actually even some decent acting in this one. But notice that I said "some" - and now, to the bad points: though the portrayal of the bond between the brothers is well-portrayed - and even the girlfriend, psycho-face-carver, and the lead "bad-guy" are all decent - pretty much every other performance in the film is bad enough to take the overall product down a notch or two. Also - although the storyline itself wasn't too bad, I kept expecting a "twist" that never came, and it seems like the ending - though not "bad" per se, wasn't very well thought-out and could have been better realized. Oh - and there's very little nudity (a quick titty-shot or two in the "Moonlight Sonata" sequence...), which sucks. Overall though - I will say that RIGOR MORTIS will be a winner for those that dig some pretty nasty gore while still retaining some semblance of a storyline. I've seen a pretty good amount of this sort of thing by now, and I will say that at least it's better than anything Andreas Schnaas has yet to put out - and rated against other such films, I feel the need to give it a pretty solid rating...7/10
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