We just checked out Grimm Love aka Butterfly A Grimm Love Story, and man did that one do a number on my head! I don’t know if it was because I had just finished Project Runway and jumped into that one, but Grimm Love will not get out of my head so there’s definitely something to it.
Best horror movies ever isn’t sure if it’s because Grimm Love was based on the true story that made the worldwide news about Armin Meiwes also known as the Cannibal of Rotenburg, but I think that even if I didn’t know that, this film would’ve still played with my head. In early 2001 a German man was arrested for killing, disemboweling, cooking and eating another man. What makes this story so bizarre is that the victim was a willing participant in the event. When I first read about this story, it just seemed so horrific and I couldn’t imagine anyone being able to make a film about this that could do it justice. Grimm Love does a pretty good job of it though. It held me throughout the entire film and it just kept making me feel the darkness and loneliness that was part of their lives.
Obviously this is a fictionalized film, but to go to those lengths of feeling that you’re self worth is mainly to be eaten says quite a bit for that human psyche. The only films that got best horror movies ever feeling the darkness of a film subject was Henry, Portrait of A Serial Killer and Kids. We can be pretty jaded when it comes to horror and try to find humor, but there is no moment of levity in Grimm Love, and it is definitely not for all tastes, but his is a really well made film, and it doesn’t need to speed along. The pace director Martin Weisz sets is perfect for us to digest (bad pun, I know) these characters and what has driven them to this point in their lives. Best horror movies ever has seen enough friends in New York City go down some dark paths trying to feel like they can belong to something and it usually wound up with them getting hooked on Crystal…when it was called Tina then.
For Grimm Love, naturally it’s a fictionalized account, but it’s done in a very smart way and surprisingly Keri Russell (yeah Felicity) plays Katie Armstrong, a young American woman studying Criminal Psychology in Germany finds herself inexplicably drawn to a murder case which would soon become the subject of her thesis. Russell is perfect for this role and I never would have thought her for this type of thing. The psychology behind Oliver Hartwin, a homosexual cannibal killer who advertised on the Internet for a lover willing to be murdered and devoured as the ultimate act of love and self-sacrifice. As a woman whose past relationships have all failed, Katie doubts her own ability to find love and becomes obsessed with understanding their relationship. I think we can all relate to getting obsesses or nearly obsessed researching subjects and sometimes romanticizing them until we are face with the cold hard reality of the situation, and this happens with Armstrong when faced with watching the actual videotape of the act. Any thoughts of this being a romantic type final act are quickly dashed, but we won’t ruin it for those who are prepared to watch this film.
Scheduled for release in Germany on March 9, 2006, the film was banned by a German court for infringing the personal rights. In October 2006, the film won four awards at the Festival de Cine de Sitges: Best Director, Best Actor (Thomas Kretschmann and Thomas Huber), and Best Cinematography. I don’t believe it ever got a theatrical release here in North American either, and I was more than surprised when we stumbled on it at the local Blockbuster. While Ben’s recuperating from that horrible car accident we’ve been in a horror mode and we’d already watched Live Animals, followed by Project Runway and then Grimm Love.
Best horror movies ever cannot recommend Grimm Love enough, but don’t say we didn’t warn you. It’ll will play with your head and I still can’t get to sleep at this late hour.