U.S. DVD Release
Somebody get the meatwagon! The Eightlets Mafia is back in action after their leader Stephen awakens from a coma and discovers his woman and their unborn children have been murdered by an opposing crew lead by the nefarious yuppie mobster, Bandera. Both sides take it to the streets and begin whacking one another with unbridled bloodlust but wait…nobody seems to be dying! That’s right; both crews appear to be immortal and incapable of being permanently killed. Let the gore-a-thon commence!
So, Unearthed once again drops another little gooey nugget of German underground gore cinema on us and it’s a mixed bag indeed. I mean, nobody goes into German gore films for the acting so whether the acting was effective or compelling is a moot point. We come for the gore and gore is what “writer/director” Heiko Fipper delivers, in spades. There are all sorts of disgusting goodies in this including a hilarious brain transplant, a crucifixion, zombies, amputations and even fetuses being ripped from their mother’s womb and stomped! Oh yes, this is a truly disgusting and mildly disturbing indie film that appears to exist only to feature fight after fight while ratcheting up the violence and gore.
Despite LOVING German underground gore films, I did have some issues with the film. For starters, I thought the blood mixture they used looked like crap, literally. Any time there was a geyser of blood it resembled exploding fountains of diarrhea. Now, I know the film was low budget and having to purchase or mix up batches of authentic looking blood could be costly but c’mon, brown blood? I suppose I could have just chalked it up to being the video camera’s fault but there was bright, red blood on display as well as the poopy blood so there’s really no excuse, especially in a gore film.
Another problem I had was with the “writing,” or lack thereof. The synopsis Unearthed Films provided, and the one I slapped together above, really gives Fipper more credit than he deserves. We’re never told how both gangs became immortal, why they drink blood or where the occasional zombie comes from. While the whole “immortal gangs seeking revenge” synopsis may technically be accurate, you shouldn’t go into this expecting anything but loads of violence, insane murder and gruesome gore sequences. Hoping for a solid concept and cohesive story is expecting too much.
Das Komabrutale Duell (The Coma-Brutal Duel) is violent as hell and just as nonsensical. Continuity and coherency are replaced by a slavish devotion to Asian-style ultra-violence and crude gore effects but honestly there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that baby! I certainly can’t say I had a ball watching this but I was relatively entertained. Did I expect more? Sure, I’d say I expected a bit more on the explanation tip but the world isn’t going to end. It’s German underground filmmaking which means you often have to suffer through ineptitude in order to score big on bloody brutality. The goremongers are going to dig this; everybody else will probably have a hard time making it through the first 30 minutes.
