Der Todesking (1990) watch online HD

'Der Todesking' is my first experience with Jorg Buttgereit. I have no idea whether it is representative of his other work or not, but after watching this puzzling movie I intend finding out. A verbal description of this movie does it very little justice. Scenes of suicides by various individuals are interspersed with footage of a decomposing corpse. That really gives you NO idea how thought provoking, repellant AND beautiful this movie is in places.

I'm not sure if I fully understand Buttgereit's "message" or indeed, if there really IS one. But I did get something from watching this movie. It is much more than just a collection of disturbing images. Maybe it is like a painting or a poem, and everybody who experiences comes away with their own ideas or emotions about what it's "about".

Whatever your reaction to 'Der Todesking' I don't think you will regret having watched it. There are moments in this movie that will stay with you for a VERY long time... I was fascinated. A movie that blurs the distinctions between art and exploitation, and makes you question yourself. Yes, I was impressed.

I read a small ad in some horror magazine in the early nineties about Liebe des Totes (the love of the dead) or something similar. This of course awoke my curiosity so I ordered Nekromantik 1 & 2 and Der Todesking (The Death King). The Nekromantik movies are Ok, even kind of interesting and unique in their approach to the subject Necrophilia (even if they obviously are horror-opera entries rather than intended to invoke fear in the viewers mind, they are actually quite funny.)

TODESKING, on the other hand is, in my opinion, one of the best films ever made. It consist of a series of scenes depicting the many facets of death. Death as an enemy; Death as a reliever, Death as the very fysical decomposition of the body. The film is a metaphor over life. It shows how fragile life is and how short our lives are. It reduces its viewers to the childs they (we) actually are. The fact that we cannot really understand the nature of Death, and hence neither the process of dying, is the core message of the film. This is a most realistic film. Never does Buttgereit try to hide death behind white roses or whatever. No matter what moral standards you set up, death is unevitable, and will sooner or later be not a fiction but YOUR reality. This applies to YOU, Dear Reader, like it applies to the viewers of the film. Some juvenile reviewers seem not to grasp this, which is fully excused, since they of course will live forever...

This is no exploitation movie. Why? Because death does not exploit us humans. It harvests us. We grow for seven days, then we are brought back to the schopenhauerian state of pre-birth, that is Death. Buttgereit gives us his version of the oldest of tales. Whether you choose to regard it as "optimistic" or "pessimistic" is up to you. At first glance it may seem very dark. Consider though, that in order for something to live, something else must die. "Who wants to live forever?"

I believe that when Buttgereit shows a body, that are being consumed by maggots, he shows not only decomposition, but GENERATION of new life. Is it not better to die and give life to maggots and then birds and eventually become soil, than to remain the living dead zombie that is one of the the favorite pets of the genre?

When you realize this, you see Der Todesking it its right context.

Sieben Tage hat die Woche, siebenmal letzte Stunden. Seven are the days of week (weak, mortal !), seven times the last hour.

Dont fear the Reaper, Buttgereit tells us, because the Reaper takes only what is ripe. And apples that are not plucked for food will rot!



Have a good life, fellow IMDB'ers !

(And watch this film, that compares only to Ingemar Bergmans "The Seventh Seal" in terms of depth and universality)

My god ! Buttgereit's masterpiece is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Closer to Peter Greenaway and Jean-Luc Godard's movies, this one is really disturbing but not gruesome as the Nekromantiks. All the little stories have a deep philosophic interest and the directing is totally inventive, in spite of the lack of money (see the "bridge" sketch). Highly highly recommended !

I've watched Schramm, Nekromantik 1 and 2. Der Todesking is really at the top of them. I spent like 40 EU on the movie. I didn't buyed it because I was a 100% sure it was good, I bought it because it was a rare film to find. When I finally saw it, I knew that the value of the film was above money.

The film is an essay on death and more than that is an analysis on audiovisual violence.

Der Todesking is an Art film with the soul of a Horror film.

If I would have to make a list of the films that I've saw in my life this film would definitely be on the top 10.

This is not a splatter film. Blood is shown only in a couple of scenes, nevertheless the film leaves you powerful visual impression.

Jorg "Nekromantik" Buttgereit continued his serious obsession with death on this harrowing suicide-fest. One suicide per week day. Der Todesking, however, is far from being any sort of video nasty. Rather, it is a brooding, raw, brutally frank art-house hysteria punctuated by avantgarde delivery, particularly the recurring interludes of a decomposing corpse. There is also a spoof on "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS," which is weird and totally unexpected if you consider Buttgereit's nationality. In any case, utterly depressing, plodding atmosphere and unnerving lack of dialogue bring this work even further into the category of obscure cult classics, not for the weak of heart or mind. But would you expect anything less from the man who gave us "Nekromantik," "Schramm," "Hot Love?" Indeed. "This is the Death King. He makes it so that people don't want to live anymore." Can YOU look him in the eyes?

"Der Todesking"-Jorg Buttgereit's second full-length feature film(the first one was notorious "Nekromantik")has no central character or characters,but instead thematic continuity in the act of suicide.Divided into days of the week,it comprises of a series of set-pieces,each of which featuring the self-destruction of a complete stranger.Yes,the production values are low and it's disturbing,but in many ways "Der Todesking" is extremely effective.It makes you think which is sometimes more important than pure entertainment.Unlike the other Buttgereit's works it isn't very gory,but there are some unpleasant images like castration scene in the Tuesday episode,a decomposing corpse and various acts of suicide.The last(Sunday)episode is so depressing and full of pain!-just amazing if you want my opinion.10 out of 10-check out this post-modernism shocker!Disturbing art in the purest form!

Jörg Buttgereit's films are not for everyone, but I have to say he has become my favorite horror director in the period 1985-1995. Buttgeriet has made his own art-house-horror genre and the more I watch, the more I like his style.

In Der Todesking Jörg Buttgereit was obviously inspired by Ole Luk-Oie (transl: "Ole Shut-Eye") - H.C. Anderssen's famous fairytale about the Sandman. As a kid the Sunday story always got me, the one where Ole Luk-Oie tells he has brother - also named Ole Luk-Oie - who only comes to you once and another name for him is...Death Jørg Buttgereit's fairytale is similar in structure: For every day in the week we are presented with a short story. But this is no fairytale for kids about sweet dreams. It's a diary of suicide and death. In the end you learn the truth about people going crazy and killing others and who the Death King really is...

As usual the film is accompanied by Buttgereit's trademark soundtracks: The lonely piano, the dissonant (bit amateurish) fiddle tunes etc. If Buttgereit is your cup of tea you can't go wrong...

A movie about suicide! Actually it's seven movies about suicide. We get to follow Buttgereit in to his strange world of death, it's not a fun trip, but I can guarantee you that it's not meant to be an enjoyable film. The film is divided into different short stories, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... If you haven't seen any of Buttgereits earlier movies this one can be pretty hard to sit through cause it is pretty bizarre although not as graphic as his other movies, Nekromantik, Schramm. Needless to say; I love it, I love Buttgereit for making death into the blackness that it's doomed to be, he's not joking around. Another thing that needs to be praised is the soundtrack; beautiful. Buy this film, then buy his other movies.

I wouldn't care if Spielberg, Scorsese and Coppola never made another film (actually, I'd be rather grateful), but the possibility that Joerg Buttgereit might never direct another movie is truly upsetting. It's been 13 years since his last film, Schramm, but I live in hope.

Der Todesking is one of Buttgereit's most accessible films. That could be the very reason why I was so disappointed with it when I first saw it. After the filth and carnage of Nekromantik, Der Todesking seemed almost timid. The film is a collection of vignettes relating to suicide and death, linked by footage of a rotting corpse. The gore is very mild in comparison to Joerg's other movies and the violence is largely implicit. Strangely enough, the film has grown on me immensely over time and despite my initial misgivings, I now consider it to be my favourite Buttgereit opus.

This is a cerebral and beautifully constructed film. Buttgereit has always exceeded in making the most repulsive act (having a threesome with a rotting corpse, for example) visually appealing. This film is no exception, containing some truly brilliant imagery. The scene where a man shoots his wife and then puts an empty picture frame on the blood splattered wall is one example, the man who screams and beats his head against a wall for literally five minutes is another. The film also benefits from a higher standard of acting than some of Buttgereit's other films. The director himself even has a nice cameo in the Ilsa inspired video.

Hopefully Germany's most fabulous pervert will get off his butt and make another film in the near future. In the meantime, Der Todesking is a great reminder of Joerg Buttgereit's skill and genius.

"Der Todesking" is not exactly the type of film that makes you merry… Jörg Buttgereit's second cult monument in a row, which is actually a lot better than the infamous "Nekromantik", exists of seven short episodes – one for each day of the week – revolving on unrelated people's suicides. In between these already very disturbing episodes, Buttgereit inserts truly horrifying images of a severely decomposing male corpse. The episodes aren't all equally powerful but, as a wholesome, "Der Todesking" is ranked quite high on the list of all-time most depressing art-house films. Particularly the episodes on Wednesday, involving a man explaining his sexual frustrations to a total stranger in the park, and the one of Sunday, focusing on a younger man molesting himself to dead, are extremely intense and devastating to observe. The added value of this film, or any other shockumenary like it, is debatable and I'm not even sure whether or not Buttgereit had any type of message to communicate here. There's the vague mentioning of an eerie chain letter that encourages its readers to commit suicide but mostly we remain uninformed about these people's motivations to end their lives so dramatically. Entirely unlike I expected, "Der Todesking" isn't exploitative or repulsively graphic! On the contrary actually, I never could have hoped Buttgereit would be so subtle and thoughtful regarding the portrayal of pure human misery. The Thursday episode is a perfect example of this, as it stylishly shows different viewpoints of a famous German bridge while the names, ages and occupations of persons who jumped off appear on the screen. The production values are inescapably poor and the editing often lacks professionalism, but this isn't what really counts in this type of cinema. The subject matter is strong and forcing us to contemplate about the less cheerful – but also indispensable – aspects of life. GREAT use of tragic music, too!

This film is brought to you by the controversial German director, Jörg Buttgereit. I had a difficult time understanding the premise to its maximum potential – but from what I've gathered, for each day of the week, a short tale is told with the theme of death or suicide present in each one. It makes reference to a religious chain letter in circulation from a group calling themselves "The Brotherhood of the 7th Day." Also, the reoccurring scene of a decomposing corpse against a black back drop is shown with the use of classical music in the background.

"Life is an illusion and becomes ridiculous and meaningless once we face it. The one security life has to offer is DEATH."

This piece was constructed with an obvious existential nihilistic approach. Life is treated meaninglessly and the idea of suicide is likened to vengeance. Each person has control over their destiny and this enables them to become "The King of Death." This concept is not without interest, but Buttgereit's delivery was lackluster.

Unlike his previous film, Nekromantik, the abstract elements present in this film are deep – I'm not sure I've fully grasped what the director was trying to convey. Certain scenes are splashed together and inconsistent. I partially blame the uncut copy I viewed for its poor use of subtitles – if I had a more coherent version, it surely would have been easier for me to piece together the meaning of certain segments.

If I was to accurately judge this movie I would say that it's mostly boring and unprovocative. Buttgereit doesn't spell the message of his film out to the audience, and whatever feeling you're left with after watching Der Todesking is the right one. There are no definitive answers.

Only a handful of horror directors are true craftsmen when it comes to constructing fear out of celluloid, and Jorg Buttgereit is one of them. "Der Todesking" is an early, virtually plot less effort from the German auteur that follows a week in the life of a deadly chain letter. The film possesses a stream-of-consciousness style which strings together a series of random, nightmarish images (the sped-up decomposition of a corpse; castration; suicide) that rely on a coldly realistic tone to deliver chills. Additionally, the musical score is as hauntingly effective as anything Goblin composed for Dario Argento. Be warned, however--depending on your mood, "Der Todesking" might plunge you into a deep depression.

I just can't agree with the above comment - there's lots of interesting and indeed amazing filmic imagery in this one, it has an unusual structure and moves well toward a frightening climactic sequence that is notable for it's effective use of silence. What's more, it explores the odd impulse of suicide in a very frank way, not pulling any punches in what it shows, yet not dwelling and over-sensationalising the subject matter. it has hints of documentary about it as well as horror and art-house cinema, and deserves a place amongst the canon of 'different' horror films like The Blair Witch Project and the original Ring (both of which it predates and could well be an unacknowledged influence on). It's definitely worth seeing if you're interested in the edges of horror cinema.

Der Todesking, the first film that I ever saw by the amazing director Jorg Buttereit, and what a profound film this is! It is a story all revolving around one topic: Suicide. A different story for every day of the week. All of the people receive a chain letter, which (to my knowledge) makes them kill themselves. The best episode is wednesday, because it is so simple, but yet completely beautiful and the dialoge is amazing. I will admit, that the intervals between each story of a decomposing body, can be quite slow, and I would suggest fast-forwading (because they seem to drag forever) but dont let you stray you away from the actual film! True work of art. I cant wait to see what Jorg puts out next.

Buttgereit does a beautiful film about suicide? Who would have thought that the same director of the filthy, Nekromantik, would be capable of bringing us such a moving portrait about suicide. Well, it is also a film about violent death, not just suicide. This is subject matter that most writers and directors would shy away from because it is too dark. It took someone like Buttgereit with enough audacity to give this disturbing topic its humanity. The film itself is actually seven short films each one dealing with violent death/suicide from different aspects. There are indeed some parts that will move you to tears such as a bridge (somewhere in Germany, we don't know where but that's not important) and on film captions of the occupations (no real names given) and ages of the people who have used the bridge to meet their end. At the very end of the film you are shown photos of smiling children obviously during more happier times. This scene got me emotionally more than any other. I have to spoil one thing but as a cautionary statement, there is one scene unfortunately that has become almost a trademark for Buttgereit: the obligatory castration scene. But get past that and this film is a wonderful, emotional experience. This one certainly has earned it's place on my all time top ten movie favorites. I feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to see such a marvelous film. Now if only it would be made available on DVD?

I am initially underwhelmed by Der Todesking (The Death King). So we are presented with 7 stories, one for each day of the week. Every story is depicting suicide, with cuts of a slowly decaying corpse(made from pigs guts and strawberry pudding) in between. So what we basically get is an anti-suicide movie made on a shoe- string budget it does work quite well for what its trying to achieve with the budget they had. However, Its a bit of a hit and miss with some of the stories some of the scenes tend to drag on and one day which was Thursday was just shots of the bridge in Germany called the suicide bridge. The director himself said that its very hard to capture what he had in his head due to the budget restraints. We also have a sneaky homage to the Ilsa films which are banned in Germany and a nice shootout at a cinema. The decomposition of the corpse looks great and its nice to watch you'd almost think it was real. The same skeleton was used from necromantic and the scene was shot at 1 frame per hour. As for sound, they repeat a rather depressing song over and over but it doesn't really get annoying. check it out if you're a film student or interested in the themes presented here but i can't recommend it personally.

So Der Todesking is not the most feel good film of all time, as it's subject matter is suicide, loneliness, depression, and also redemption in the absolute worst ways. It is a film about people who get the short end of the stick in life and how people at their worst can take control of their miserable lives through suicide, thus becoming Der TodesKing (or King of Death). The King of Death supposedly exists within all minds and can manifest when we are at our worst, driving suicidal thoughts into our minds. The film is broken up into 7 days following different people who are struggling to cope with existence in a world they view as empty. Thursday in particular was a strange sequence of just a German bridge and the camera floating all the way over it. While the camera is floating over the bridge we see names flashing on the screen, ages, and occupations, implying they are people who jumped from this bridge today. Between scenes a body is shown being devoured by bugs until over the span of the film it is eaten to almost it's entirety, and all while the film's score plays (nice score but wish it had more music). The film attempts to explain the concept of suicide as a radical escape from harsh reality, and a way of taking revenge against society for it's progressiveness that tends to leave so many behind. When left behind those who tend to take their own life know for but a moment that they will not be ignored if only for the moment, and in spite remind everybody of the emptiness in their existence that others may have contributed to.

Overall being a Jorg Buttgereit (Nekromantik 1 & 2, and Schramm) film, I couldn't help but be surprised the film wasn't more exploitive like his past works. He says the film is supposed to be anti-suicide, but nobody in the film really has anything good happening in life. With that being said those who submit to their urges always appear in absolute agony, and therefore I can't claim it glorifies it in any way either. So I guess it's an ambiguous somewhat avante garde take on some very heavy subject matter. I don't hate it, but I wasn't overly entertained either, which I'm sure was the point. Maybe in some ways it shows the agonies in our life as impermanent, where as the ending of that life as an excruciating and sad task which in the end still brings no happiness. I guess I'd probably give it a 6/10 for it's attempt and sometimes successes at handling the controversial subject matter. Sometimes it was a beautiful film, but equally it was a drag at points.

Der Todesking (1990)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The "story" of this Jorg Buttgereit film is pretty simple. We get seven different tales all taking place on a different day of the week. All seven stories deal with people who commit suicide.

DER TODESKING was made by the director right after his notorious NEKROMANTIK and it seems that a lot of people call this film here his masterpiece but I'd argue that it's not nearly as good as the film that came before it. With that said, not too many filmmakers would make an entire movie based around suicide since, obviously, the story isn't going to go over well with the masses but it probably wouldn't go over too well even inside the horror community.

I must say that I was really letdown by this film. I had heard and read so many great things about it but I must say that I didn't find there to be anything overly great here. The film does manage to have a certain dark atmosphere that really works to its favor and the director also throws in some gore. The problem I had with the film is that none of the seven stories really struck me as being anything overly interesting. The direction was great and the atmosphere was there but there just wasn't anything great about the stories.

Lol. Here we go again, all the deep and meaningful movie explorers thinking they see things others don't. This appears to be a movie about suicide. And mostly boring at that. There are scenes set over a week with each one given a separate day.

Day one, someone takes some pills in a bath intercut with shots of a goldfish in a bowl and they kill themselves. Day two a guy hires a video tape about Nazis which he takes home and we see someone get their penis cut off with garden shears in it. The guys girlfriend then comes home nagging him about something so he shoots her in the head and puts a picture frame around the blood stain on the wall, he then hangs himself. Day three, a guy sits on a bench in the rain telling a girl about his relationship problems, she gives him a gun, he shoots himself. Then we see a decomposing body (looking like it's made from wax). Yawn.

Next there's some random scenes of a bridge for day four. Flashing up are names and occupations of those (I guess) that either jumped or fell from it, then it's back to Mr Waxy corpse again. Ooh, he's looking a bit smelly now with bubbly bits coming out. Still not very exciting though.

Day five (Friday) has an old woman snooping about an apartment block and finding a chain letter telling her she should kill herself, she's envious of a young couple she can see from her window. She goes to sleep and when she wakes up we see a shot of the couple dead and bloody in their bed. Then it's another clip of Mr rotty corpse.

Day six involves a girl reading some pseudo-philosophical rant about those killing with a gun, who then attaches a steadycam to herself and shoots a few folks at a rock gig, finally getting shot herself. Then back again to the corpse which has almost been reduced to a skeleton.

Day seven...a guy writhes about on a bed for no apparent reason and the film ends with a little girl drawing a skeleton labelled The Death King (the name of the film). But I can assure you my description of the film sounds much more interesting than it really is.

Excellent episode movie ala Pulp Fiction. 7 days - 7 suicides. It doesnt get more depressing than this. Movie rating: 8/10 Music rating: 10/10

The subject notwithstanding, this is an amateur, exhibitionist movie--or an effort at one--which is about as interesting and daring as a moody high school student's composition book full of death "poetry". To be sure, it will disturb viewers who are hell-bent on being disturbed, but the success will be attributable to themselves, not to the director. To genuinely get under somebody's skin requires sensibility, discipline, technique, and talent, as well as an eye and an ear. The film does contain one evocative image, shown as a still (and also used on the video case), but with no development leading up to or away from it. If the director had had an eye, he would have seen it as a possible starting point for an interesting movie--that is, a movie.

I honestly hate myself after watching this piece of crap. The people who claim this movie to be "art" were probably fooled into watching it and are too embarrassed to admit what a poor movie this is. The production value is extremely low (almost as bad as the over rated Nekromantic), absolutely no plot, no 'shocking' violence - just absolutely nothing. I watched this film with agonizing patience waiting for something - ANYTHING to happen. A huge let down. This is pure garbage that some art student directed to try to impress a girl that he has a crush on that he really is 'deep'. I cannot state enough what a piece of s**t this movie is - Avoid this movie at all costs (and ignore the comments that praise this film as 'art')

German nut case Jörg Buttgereit apparently has fans - but I don't know why, and I'm Definitely not one of them! The only Buttgereit film I'd seen previously was Nekromantik and I hated every minute of it, but - shockingly - this film is worse! Der Todesking is pointless in the same way as Nekromantik, but it's a worse film because it's boring in a way that few movies have ever managed (it's not far off The Blair Witch Project, seriously). Some people say that this film is 'sick' and 'shocking', but it really isn't. The director may have been making a point about death, but only he knows what it is. How anyone could watch this film and be anything other than bored with it is completely beyond me. The film revolves around the theme of suicide, and follows the deaths of seven different people over the course of a week. Yes, that means we have a pointless and boring episode for Monday, a pointless and boring episode for Tuesday, a pointless and boring episode for Wednesday etc etc. This film manages to be even more boring than my average week!

Der Todesking is apparently an 'art' film, although this would appear to be a reference to the way that not very much makes sense rather than a reference to the film bearing any resemblance to 'art'. Each segment of the film is meant to tell a separate story - but it doesn't! We just get a quick little sketch on suicide, and it only makes you wonder what the point is. The film feels like it should be deep, but there's a great big void where the intelligence should be and nothing there to fill it. Buttgereit uses a few evocative images; but I'm unlikely to remember any of them for more than a week or so because this film just isn't that memorable. There's a shot involving a decomposing man's body that features fairly often, but that gets old pretty quick and all you're left with is the rest of the film, which is unfortunate. If I were to struggle for good things to say about this crap, all I can think of is this; the title sounds cool. As I mentioned, Nekromantik is the only other film I've seen from this amateur director; I have copies of Schramm and Nekromantik 2, and now I'm really in no rush to watch either. Der Todesking is a dull film with no point and anyone that calls it 'art' is very much mistaken. Give it a miss.

DER TODESKING is not one of my favorite Jorg Buttgereit film - but still is an interesting film dealing with suicide and it's reasons and ramifications. Those looking for a gore-fest, or exploitation in the style of the NEKROMANTIK films or SCHRAMM will probably be disappointed. DER TODESKING is definitely an "art-house" style film, so those that need linear, explainable narratives need not apply...

The basic concept of DER TODESKING is that there is an "episode" for each day of the week that revolves around a strange chain letter that apparently causes people to commit suicide, interspersed with scenes of a slowly decomposing corpse...

There are some very well done and thought provoking scenes, including the man talking about the "problems" with his wife, and the concert massacre (which unfortunately lost some of it's "power" on me, because I was too busy laughing at the SCORPIONS look-alike band on stage...). But seriously - this is a sometimes beautiful (the scene that shows different angles of that huge bridge is particularly effective - especially if you understand the significance of the scene, and that the names shown are of people that actually committed suicide from jumping from the bridge...), sometimes confusing, sometimes silly (the SHE WOLF OF THE SS rip-off is pretty amusing), sometimes harrowing (I found the scene of the guy talking to the girl in the park about his wife particularly effective) film that is more of an "experience" then just entertainment, as many of these "art" films are meant to be. Still, I didn't find DER TODESKING to be as strong as NEKROMANTIK or SCHRAMM, and would probably put it on relatively even footing with NEKROMANTIK 2 in terms of my personally "enjoyment level". Definitely worth a look to any Buttgereit or "art" film fan. If you dig this type of film - check out SUBCONSCIOUS CRUELTY - in my opinion the BEST art-house/horror film that I've seen. 7/10 for DER TODESKING

This film wishes so hard to be art, but it just doesn't have what it takes to get there. It is gruesome in an unpleasant way, and the gruesomeness may be intense enough to steer the naive viewer into thinking that there is something deep beneath all the gore.

There is nothing. Nothing but the guarantee that it will irreversibly cut 80 minutes out of your precious life, should you endure all the way to the ending credits. Unfortunately, I did. I'm afraid there is no way that I can ever be reimbursed.

It's not horror. Horror should scare you. This amateurish piece of clap-trap will just nauseate you.