Carl Schenkel

Florian Widegger wrote:
‘Goodbye romance – welcome reality’ is the almost programmatic title of one of the songs that accompanies this remarkable film by Siggi Götz and Jess Franco’s former assistant, who died young. The 18-year-old Dave is imprisoned for stealing a motorbike, but fakes a suicide and, chased by law enforcement officers, makes his way through West Berlin, which was surrounded by a wall at the time and is the film’s secret main attraction. First he seeks out his girlfriend, a stripper in one of the city’s hippest clubs, then he settles unfinished business with his ex-client … Schenkel’s official directorial debut – enriched with great punk and new wave music made in West Germany – is a chilly and visually stunning document of the no-future generation. Rightly cult!Read More »

This slow-moving occult thriller has Pamela Sue Martin and hubbie Tim Matheson menaced by a coven of witches when they move to an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Director Carl Schenkel — who went on to make the interesting Knight Moves — does the best he can with a tedious script and a lot of miscasting, but it doesn’t make the movie any more interesting. It looks like a who’s who of ’80s sitcoms, with Woody Harrelson, Jeff Conaway, and Inga Swenson along for the evil doings, but some viewers will be rolling on the floor when they see Leave It to Beaver’s Barbara Billingsley as a 300-year-old witch. The highlight of the film is an exploding church, which may just be loud enough to wake you up so you can rewind the tape. “
by Robert FirschingRead More »

Joanne is married to Bradley, who’s a cop and who abuses her. One day she decides to run away. She then meets Sam, who is separated from his wife, who is obsessed with him. Bradley finds Joanne and the lead takes him to Sam’s boat. Now his wife is on the boat and somehow she’s killed. The police suspect Sam because she was stalking him and because of certain peculiarities in his actions on the day she died. Joanne knows that it’s Bradley who did it but is too afraid to come forward and Bradley has another cop alibi him.Read More »