Das Deutsche Kettensägen Massaker

In the second part of his loosely connected trilogy about Germany, Schlingensief presents a metaphor for the reunification of Germany and the relationship between West and East Germans, again in his characteristic hysterical meta-style. He tellingly and admittedly took inspiration from the classic horror flick The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. However, he didn’t use that film as the basis for some sort of remake or reflection on the genre, but in a typically punk spirit as a completely absurd standpoint from which he views his subject. Schlingensief’s provocation consists in his upending of the discourse of that time that depicted East Germans as those who came to feed off of years of western development. Contrary to that, The German Chainsaw Massacre shows West Germans as affected degenerates who, through a sense of privilege, appropriate everything and literally parasitize the East Germans who naïvely and guilelessly come to the West. (19.06.2022)

"The German Chainsaw Massacre" has a problem in that it appears cheap at first glance. I understand, there wasn't enough money, but it was really a problem to at least start the chainsaw in one scene, so it would look somewhat real, at least a little rough. Of course, no one wanted anyone to get hurt, but in this case, nothing will happen to the viewer either, and they will just stare blankly because even as trash, it won't really appeal. (21.05.2016)