OGROFF
(1983)
aka MAD MUTILATOR
Directed by Norbert Moutier aka
N.G. Mount
Video Screams DVD-R
Buy
it from Video Screams!
THE FILM
American trash lover, welcome to
Paris! Here to greet you is our
International Ambassador Of Filth,
Mr. Ogroff. Wait...what's wrong?!
Oh, don't mind Mr. Ogroff's eccentricities...yes,
he lops off childrens' heads with
his little pick-axe all the time.
Water under the bridge, as we say.
He also enjoys raw cannibal feasts
in his bug-infested shack with great
regularity. Think nothing of it.
Also, if he chases you, just run!
He might get bored and give up.
All set? Trés, trés
bien! Let's get some francs.
Aside from the recent excellence
of High Tension and the
talents of Jean Rollin, French cinema
isn't particularly represented when
it comes to quirky horror...especially
in the minds of American connoisseurs.
In the early 80s, a video shoppe
owner/horror zine publisher from
Paris named Norbert Georges Moutier
(N.G. to you and me), decided to
take a crack at no-budget horror
filmmaking. Ogroff was
born. The world would never be the
same.
Out of control? Disturbing? Unbelievable?
Hilarious? All apt descriptors,
yet none fully convey the experience
that is Ogroff. Shot on
what appears to be Super 8 (or maybe
video printed to film), N.G. Mount's
debut feature is an evil fairy tale
from a warped mind, a gore soaked
series of creepy tangents that only
make sense as the entire picture
unfolds. Needless to say, it's a
film that will stick with you long
after viewing. With about five lines
of actual dialogue, even.
For the first half of the film,
there's no plot to speak of. When
the simplistic story arc nearly
takes shape, it's a complete surprise.
I won't ruin that for you, but there's
no harm in conveying the trip we
take to get there. Ogroff, clad
in his rubber boots, knit cap, and
leather mask, lives in a nasty shack
in the woods. He spends his time
viciously attacking passerby's,
destroying property, eating raw
meat, and pretending to masturbate
with his pick-axe. Really! But this
killer isn't picky; he'll rip apart
anything, including people, cars,
chessboards, and chainsaws. After
a random chainsaw duel with a lumberjack,
Ogroff meets a girl. That's where
we go from mindless grue to semi-poetic
flinching, at least as far as trashy
gore films are concerned. The last
half of the film explodes with twists...Jess
Franco alum Howard Vernon...a motorcycle...blinking
eyes...the undead. Your eyes will
be scorched in awe; the ending will
leave you wanting more.
I know this all sounds pretty intense.
To a certain point, it is. The sight
of a hopping Ogroff making his way
through the woods is equally eerie
and ominous. The crude presentation
of the film, capped with the expansive
wooded locales, only helps in this
respect. On the other hand, the
sheer insanity of the "anything
goes" budget, garage gore dismemberment,
and N.G.'s kinetic direction all
signal one thing: weirdo trash perfection.
With a soundtrack comprised of bedroom
synth-pop, ambient noises, and lifted
kung-fu sound effects, it's not
hard to see why. In fact, so much
happens during the runtime of this
film, that it's hard to process
the whole thing in one sitting.
The best I can do is offer this
analogy: Ogroff is kind
of like Nathan
Schiff directing Blood Feast
on a dimestore budgeted set of Texas
Chainsaw Massacre. Add a couple
of ripped scenes from other horror
films (The
Burning, most prominently)
and that about does it. Except when
Ogroff pops out of some lady's car
trunk for no apparent reason. You
got me there. One ticket to Paris,
pleeze!
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Although this is one of the oddest
looking dupes I've ever seen, my
eyes quickly adjusted and the mood
was enhanced. Coated in coffee stained
color, this copy of the film looks
three or four generations removed
from a master; doubled edges, blocky
faces, the whole shebang. Pretty
poor on normal terms. But this is
Ogroff. I'd love to see a pristine
print of this film, but something
tells me that the gritty mystery
might be lost. The mono sound was
surprisingly clear for such a rough
picture counterpart.
EXTRAS
Non.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ogroff mixes up a little
creepiness and z-rate perversion
with a handheld blender. It will
appeal to those that like 'em cracked,
visceral, and gleefully cheap. Video
Screams offers the only copy I've
ever seen of this film in the States,
so what are you waiting for?
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 08.18.05 |
Kind old Mr. Ogroff
First date
Oh, the subtlety
On Ogroff's s-list
|
