Black Comedy

Son Of Hitler

Sometimes you just can’t understand how or why a film was forgotten about. Sometimes you really can. Let’s just start with the title: it doesn’t bode well (or perhaps it does, depending on your opinion!). Son Of Hitler. Ok. Right. It’s a film about the son of Adolf Hitler. Unless of course it’s another Hitler or some kind of clever metaphor for… no, no, no, it’s that Hitler. Yes.

Well… - you might say - perhaps it’s some kind of historical documentary about Hitler’s ideas living on (no…) or… let me see…. could it be some kind of conspiracy theory about real surviving heirs? Again.. no. This is a fictional film about Hitler’s son. It is also a comedy.

Wow. A comedy, you say? Yes, a comedy.

Peter Cushing stars as nazi-saluting Heinrich Haussener, camping it up rather as he stomps around in a desperate attempt to find young Wilhelm Hitler, Hitler’s surviving son who was raised in the mountains in complete ignorance of the war. Or of reading. Or writing. Or what his name is. (He’s also implausibly young, given that this is set when it is filmed - some 30 years after the war - but that’s another issue)

And herein lies the er… ‘comedy’. Young Wilhelm is coming down from the mountains, birth-certificate (that he can’t read) in hand and is completely mystified by everyone’s astonished reactions. A local post-master chases him out the shop, he goes to a bar and drinks beer wearing full Nazi insignia, a judge declares his ’lies’ the workings of a damaged mind and commits him to a mental institute immediately.

It’s a bizarre mix of political ‘humour’ and slapstick fun. The slapstick element in fact almost succeeds in it’s complete bizarre senselessness - the straight-jacketed mental patients being forced to play football in the mental institute is a stand-out scene, the institute officer acting as referee finding it impossible to understand why they can’t master a simple throw-in… - as well as some mildly diverting comedy involving a paternoster lift - although whilst watching you can’t help but wish there were more skilled slapstick comedians diving in and out; it’s ever so Marx brothers but with none of the finesse.

This should hardly come as a surprise, as finesse is surely a word that few could associate with this film. Quite what poor old Peter Cushing is doing in this film, making over young Wilhelm in the desperate hope that he can continue the work of his father, is anybody’s guess. You really hope that he told his agent to get him back onto a Hammer Horror set as fast as possible. This was just one year after his appearance in Star Wars! Surely there must have been some mistake in signing up for this?

For those of us who can sit through anything with Peter Cushing in, it might well be worth a look, and for the rest? Well, it’s not entirely without merit…. merely almost entirely without merit! The handful of semi-humorous scenes do relatively little to make up for the tragically unfunny script, appallingly bad central concept and cack-handed production. You really do wonder at point this seemed like a good idea. And how many of the cast and production team kept coming back each day fully aware of what kind of monster they were making.

This film should never have been made. But as it has been made, you certainly ought to watch it. Sadly, it’s rare as hell and - I WONDER WHY? - appears never to have had a very limited release and has never made it to DVD. Let’s hold out for the Blu-Ray copy then, yes? Fingers crossed.

Murder Party

Murder Party. Has there ever been a film so perfectly summed up by it’s title? Apart from Underwater City of course. Oh, or Godzilla Vs. SpaceGodzilla. Or actually pretty much half of the films I watch….

Regardless, Murder Party is both described by and lives up to it’s title. And the tagline? “Everybody Dies”? Believe it.

The film has split it’s viewers. With IMDb boards claiming that it is both the best film of 2007 and the “worst movie I have ever seen”. I have to say I don’t understand the haters at all; this film is a work of genius. It’s well-thought out, darkly comic and really great fun. The only negative point I’d pick up on is that it’s perhaps not the best paced film of all time; more on that soon.

The premise is this: a handfull of achingly hip art-students have formed a plan. They, being so terribly avant-garde (darling) are going to break boundaries, smash taboos and cross lines like never before. Modern Art often sets out to shock or offend. Or both. These guys are going to smash previous efforts out of the water; they are planning to murder in the name of Art. To this end, they scatter invites to come alone to a “Murder Party” on Halloween, in the hope that some dumb lonely fool will take the bait and turn up. Needless to say, he does. Dressed as a Knight in carboard armour.

It’s all here: the characters are perfect larger-than-life stereotypes. From face-painted coke-snorting video-artist Lexi, through heavily side-burned Paul - ever reaching for his medium format camera - to Alexander, rich-kid art poser, giving pre-prepared pseudo-intellectual speeches.

The humour here is curious. Many of the complaints on IMDb are that “it was supposed to be funny and we didn’t laugh once in the whole film”. Well… I’m not sure if I laughed out loud once either, it’s just not that kind of funny - but it’s certainly not meant to be either. This is one of the only films where you could ever hear “paper-mache elements of a massive multi-media meta-structure” coupled with “staple a pancake to his face and push him infront of a train”. There’s slapstick, there’s violence, there’s perfectly pitched piss-taking of art-students (Lexi wants to film the murder and call it ‘Valediction in Black’, Alexander assures them that the hapless Knight’s death certificate will read ‘Art’ as cause of death). I might not have laughed out loud as I watched, but I didn’t stop grinning at all.

Now for the problem with the pacing. The film divides more or less into three sections. The setting up of the premise and the capture of the Brown Knight is never less than interesting. The end third is completely bonkers, with some brilliant bloodshed all over the place. But the middle third? The middle-third is undoubtedly the cleverest bit; the dialogue is pretty incredible, but never means a lot. They play an inspired game of ’truth or dare’, preceded by shooting up CIA-grade Truth Serum (supplied by ‘Zycho’ the Eastern-European (?) drug-dealer). The only shame is that the clever middle-third doesn’t amount to much in terms of plot; it creates the brilliantly realised characters, yes, but never really reaches its full potential, which is a shame.

But, despite any of these criticisms, the film is fantastic. Being low-budget should never be an excuse for a film’s failings but here we need no excuse. The budget here has been spent impeccably; almost never do they attempt to create an effect beyond their budget (though Macon’s burns would be debateable…), which is so often the failing of a low-budget film. No, this is a case of ambition kept carefully within budget and it is all the better for it.

I have tried to give almost nothing away about the end-segment, and I believe it’ll be all the better for it. This is by no means a perfect film, but it is definitely a very good film, a funny film, and a film that suggests good things for an inexperienced director’s career.

If I needed to say it again, the ending is totally awesome.

I would never normally advertise a DVD, but hey, this costs a fiver in the UK or just 8 bucks in the Us. It’s easily worth that much.

Trailer here: