Name: Die Totenschmecker
Genre: Thriller
Released: 1979-02-22
Duration: 1 h 25 min
Rating: 5.2
Cast: William Berger, Herb Andress, Peter Jacob

This alpine drama tells the story of a father and his three sons who unintentionally cause the death of two women on their remote farm and, in order to cover it up, have to eliminate more and more witnesses.

On one hand, the story has a moral lesson, because once they took the first wrong step, the main characters become entangled in more and more criminal acts. On the other hand, it is rooted in the political incorrectness of the time it was written, with clichés about the mentally handicapped, the rural population, and also Roma and Sinti. The ambiguity of the story aside, this is good craftsmanship with strong acting performances in particular from Maria Beck as the daughter who freezes in horror at her family's guilt, the Loonie (Claus Fuchs) and William Berger as the eldest son, who feels he has to show his younger brother (Herb Andress) how not to be a wimp, consumed by the ambition to finally run his father's (Peter Jacob) farm, at any price.

The film was no success in the cinema because it was too disturbing for many people. I'm not talking about the murders here, but for example the grandmother's funeral scene when the pretense of religiosity is exposed as hypocrisy. On the other hand, the attempt to sell it as a Zombie movie (with the alternative title "Der Irre vom Zombiehof" = "The Madman from the Zombie farm") to the horror audience was entirely misleading. This is a controversial movie, interesting, but with a target audience problem.

German cinema is famous for its historical depth, expressionist aesthetics, and social-political engagement. It has moved from Expressionism to political reckoning, from New German Cinema's raw realism to contemporary genre experiments. Its legacy lies in both technical innovation and deep explorations of history, morality, and philosophy.

The thriller genre features suspense, tension, and excitement. These stories are known for keeping audiences on the edge of their seats and delivering intense emotional experiences by revolving around high-stakes situations, dangerous conflicts, and the constant anticipation of unexpected events.

When a Romani family stops for a rest in a remote mountain village, the boy befriends a local girl, but the girl's family, the farmer and his sons react with adamant hatred to the strangers and trigger a spiral of violence.

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Io monaca... per tre carogne e sette peccatrici

William Berger and Peter Jacob in Die Totenschmecker (1979)

Herb Andress, William Berger, Claus Fuchs, and Peter Jacob in Die Totenschmecker (1979)

Claus Fuchs and Lore Graf in Die Totenschmecker (1979)

Die Totenschmecker

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