The German Chainsaw Massacre

They came as friends and ended up as sausage. Christoph Schlingensief’s The German Chainsaw Massacre is German horror at its finest, most political, and most raw. A wild mash-up of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Schlingensief’s film delivers a bloody, tour-de-force through Germany’s reunification in just under sixty minutes, with a shoestring budget and a stellar ensemble cast. 

Streaming as part of “Spotlight on Genre”, a series revisiting post-war genre films made in Germany. From the postwar era to the present, this collection spans a wonderfully unruly range of genres: cult horror, dystopian science fiction, revisionist Westerns, dark fairy tales, psychological thrillers, rock musicals, and bittersweet social comedies. Whether embracing genre conventions or gleefully dismantling them, these films show how genre filmmaking can explore social anxieties, challenge expectations, and push cinematic boundaries. Discover the unexpected side of German cinema. 

Image © Filmgalerie 451