BY TODD GARBARINI
Angst is a 1982-lensed horror thriller based
upon the real-life case of Werner Kniesek, an Austrian loner who,
in 1972, shot and killed a random woman and spent time behind bars until his
release(!) in 1980 when he was set free on a
three-day furlough to search for employment. Gotta love their judicial system. Unfortunately, his murderous urges came back to the forefront, and three
other innocent people perished at his hands. It is this horrific event that Angst
depicts to startling effect.
Angst is extremely effective in depicting The
Psychopath, brilliantly played by Erwin Leder, on his first time out with a
gun, ringing the bell of a random home and, without reason, murdering the
elderly woman who answers the door, her husband falling by her side in shock
(the camera is attached to The Psychopath’s body to enhance the sense of unease
and make the audience play into his distorted mind). Captured and jailed, the problem that lies
with him is his inability to control himself. Why does no one do anything about this?
Blowing off his freedom and knowing
full well that he wants to murder again, he immediately sets out to find a
female victim to hurt (when he was thirteen, he was seduced into
sadomasochistic games by a woman in her forties, and this and similar scenarios
are reveled to the audience through the creepy and effective use of his
voiceover narration). An attempt to
seduce two young and attractive female diner patrons stops before it can get
started, and a taxi ride with a female driver ends abruptly before he can
muster the guts to harm her. Stressed,
he breaks into a house and finds a man in a wheelchair who can only recite the
word “Pappaâ€. When the mother and her
daughter return home, all hell breaks loose in real time as The Psychopath
tortures and eventually murders the house dwellers. He takes their dog and feeds him well, but is
eventually captured.
The most distressing parts of this film
are, of course, the murders, carried out before the eyes of the family
Dachshund who attempts to stop The Psychopath but ends up hiding under a
blanket in one of the film’s most heartbreaking moments. Actor Erwin Leder throws himself into the
role with such gusto and commitment it is almost unbearable to watch as he
strangles the mother, drowns the paraplegic, and stabs the tied-up daughter to
death, all for his own perverse reasons. We hear his thoughts through a perpetual voiceover that reveals why he
is the way he is. We want to reach into
the screen and scream at him to stop, though he is powerless to do so. Do we hate him? Do we feel sorry for him? In reality, Kniesek is still
alive and in prison, a fact that will make even pacifists ponder whether his
monstrous deeds should have seen him condemned to death.
As
far as the film goes, I don’t recall ever hearing about it in the days of VHS
rentals. The closest I ever came to
seeing anything this disturbing was the well-known Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) on video in 1992. Henry
was a composite of real-like serial killers, and even 2008’s The Strangers was based upon the brutal
and grisly Keddie Murders which took place on April 11, 1981, a case which, 35
years later, has gone completely cold.
Angst had a tough time
getting theatrical exhibition in 1983. Now, with the Internet and real images of people dying almost daily, the
film has had a much easier time of being distributed as the public is probably
almost numb to such imagery (sad to say). The film’s director, Gerald
Kargl, made this one film and although it is expertly made, it is also highly disturbing
and not for the faint of heart.
The Blu-ray
of the film from Cult Epics contains the following extras:
A new high-definition Transfer
Optional playback with or without the prologue
New DTS HD MA 5.1 Surround
A 2015 introduction by Gaspar Noé, the director of the highly controversial Irreversible (2002)
Featurette: Erwin Leder in Fear (an
alternate title for the film) (2015)
Interview with director Gerald Kargl by Jorg Buttgeriet (2003)
Interview with cinematographer Zbigniew Rybzcynski (2004)
Audio commentary by Gerald Kargl conducted by film critic Marcus Stiglegger
New HD Trailer
BD Exclusive perfect-bound 40 page booklet includes interviews with Gerald
Kargl, Erwin Leder, Silvia Rabenreither, essay by Carl Andersen, illustrated
with rare photos and Werner Kniesek original Kurier articles
– Collectible Blu-ray Slipcase and Sleeve
Is the film a masterpiece? Perhaps.
It is a powerful work, with cinematography by Polish
animator Zbig Rybczynski, and elegiac music by early Tangerine Dream member
Klaus Schultze. However, it is not the sort of film
that I would want to watch again…
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON- IF YOU DARE.