German underground horror is a subgenre of thehorror film, which has achieved cult popularity since first appearing in the mid-1980s. Horror films produced by the German underground scene are usually trademarked by their intensity, taking on topics that are culturally taboo such asrape,necrophilia, andextreme violence.
In an attempt to shed its violent image, horror films were very rarely made in Germany after the fall of theThird Reich. Movies such asHorrors of Spider Island,The Blood Demon, andThe Head were filmed and released in the decades followingWorld War II, but to very little success.
In 1987, filmmakerJörg Buttgereit wrote and directedNekromantik. Two years later, amateur filmmakerAndreas Schnaas made the movieViolent Shit for a reported $2000. Released as Germany's firstdirect-to-video film, it was a modest hit amongst fans of independent horror. Both films were banned by theGerman government, but their popularity influenced other filmmakers such asOlaf Ittenbach to bring Germany's underground horror film scene further into the media spotlight.
Since then, many other filmmakers have emerged from the German underground horror scene, includingUwe Boll andTimo Rose. Uwe Boll is notable as the only underground German director who has gone on to a career in big budget cinema.
Films that glorify violence are not technicallyillegal inGermany, but titles (meaning a specific medium) can be "confiscated" (beschlagnahmt [de]) by courts. However, the term is very misleading, because private possession is completely legal (excluding only child and youth pornography, although no film of the horror genre with this content is currently known).
But handing out or advertising such a medium to minors is a criminal offense.[1] Distribution and making available to the public is also punishable, although "distribution" is not to be understood in the conventional sense. Legal commentaries on this law explain that distribution (sale, gifting, etc.) for personal use within a small, controllable group of people does not fall under the term "distribution", provided no further distribution of the medium is intended.[2] Film exchange fairs with separate adult areas for booths selling restricted movies are therefore possible and are regularly organized in Germany.
Production, purchase, delivery, keeping in stock, offering, advertising, importing or exporting are only permitted as long as they do not serve the above-mentioned prohibited purposes.[1]
Popular examples of "confiscated" movies areBraindead,Halloween II,The Beyond,City of the Living Dead,Cannibal Holocaust,I Spit on Your Grave 2,Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines,Day of the Dead andHobo with a Shotgun.
Once a film has been rated by theGerman ratings board, that is its rating for both cinema and video releases. It is legal to have two versions of a film. Often, there is a cut "FSK 16" version (equivalent to theR-rating by theMPAA) released in cinemas and an uncut "FSK 18" version (equivalent to anNC-17 rating) on video. Films rated "FSK 18" are not stocked by all video shops, which affects rentals of violent German horror.
In Germany, there is also a category above "FSK 18" entitled "indiziert" or "on the index". "Indizierte" films are treated the same way as pornography. Distribution companies, cinemas, and video shops cannot advertise these films, nor can they be openly on display—unless a shop is open to "adults only". However, it is legal to sell and buy such material. Many video rental stores have back rooms or basements for such merchandise.
Examples of "indizierte" films includeCannibal Ferox,Cannibal Holocaust,Last House on the Left,From Dusk Till Dawn, andDario Argento'sProfondo Rosso (Deep Red). Several of these films were released uncut in Germany, but were subject to the limitations listed. Others were edited and then released as "indiziert".
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