Review of Angst (1983) by Camden N — 21 Feb 2009

I'm not as enamored with the camerawork as most people are (perhaps because the lighting itself wasn't that great), but the film is still undeniably powerful. I can imagine this film having influenced Shinya Tsukamoto, and I've read that both Pascal Laugier and Gaspar Noe are fans.

The film's power (and what sets it apart) comes from not only the very frank depiction of murder (which, while not the goriest, are definitely some of the most brutal and disgusting I've seen in film) but also from the way in which we're constantly inside the killer's head (through the device of his nearly constant voiceover). I've read also that some of the narration is taken directly from a real serial killer's confession, and given how real it feels I'm not surprised. Simply put, this is just as much a psychology lesson as it is a horror film.

My only major complaint is the ending voiceover, which comes from a court appointed psychologist. It doesn't really serve much a purpose, only really to say what the man's fate will be, and in some ways goes against the approach the film took earlier. The audience already got what they needed from the killer's narration, and didn't need anything directly explained by a psychologist character. And yet, for some reason, I like the similar scene from Psycho, but in that case we hadn't gotten inside Norman's head like we do the killer in this one.

Anyway, I'd recommend it, but I don't think it's a masterpiece. Close, but not quite there.