"General Massacre" is truly an anomaly in Belgian cinema, because we barely ever do exploitation films. Granted, it does seem to present itself as a serious war drama, but the main selling point is clearly shock value. Unfortunately for writer/director Burr Jerger, he did his job a bit too well and got the movie banned from the more interesting markets. Nowadays, it's actually quite tough to find a VHS for this movie, but surprisingly it has gotten a DVD release as well.

Burr Jerger made this movie for pocket change, but the limitations definitely work to his advantage. The shoddy camera work, cheap film and questionable acting (particularly by Jerger himself) give the movie a grim atmosphere. It definitely needs it too, because there's not much going on in the way of story. A general (he's actually named Massacre, believe it or not) comes back from Vietnam and the war made him insane, which makes him do all kinds of weird, disturbing things. That's basically as far the story goes.

While some of the experimental stuff in this movie is pretty fun, there's one quite infamous scene that takes things way too far. At one point the general confuses a random cow with the enemy (it happens) and shoots it with a machine gun. Unless Burr Jerger is the best special effects wizard in cinema history (spoilers: he isn't), this is real. Animal cruelty isn't exactly rare in cheap B-movies from the 1970s, but even to those standards this scene is pretty disgusting. Did Jerger think he was making art here? To even things out, he also kills some ducks.

"General Massacre" is pretty interesting as a historic oddity, but I'm not really buying the supposed deeper meaning of this movie. It doesn't have enough substance to really work as an anti-war statement, which I think they were desperately going for. With that said, I did find it strangely fascinating, even if it will put me of burgers for quite some time.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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The war genre features armed conflicts, both historical and fictional, and the experiences of individuals and groups involved in warfare. This genre explores the physical, emotional, and moral challenges faced by soldiers, civilians, and others affected by war.

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General Massacre

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