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By Diana Thoren
The story goes like this: A drunken driver kills a man in a car accident. The drunken driver goes to jail but is released in a short time. The dead man is somehow involved with the Eightlets Mafia, and the Mafia decides to kill the driver’s entire family. The only member of the family that doesn’t get killed decides to kill the entire Mafia. I’m kind of confused because what I remember from the movie doesn’t seem to jibe with what’s on the back of the DVD. But that hardly matters, since that’s not the point of the film.
Once the “plot” is established, which takes about two minutes and is only addressed in flashbacks, the splatter fest begins. These guys do incredibly heinous things to each other, but somehow keep getting up and returning to the fight. Blood is everywhere, including sometimes on the camera lens, which is sort of funny. Some of the effects are impressive but most times they’re just really low budget, like the times you can literally see the balloon filled with blood under the victim’s shirt as he squeezes it and screams. After about twenty minutes of this I started to get bored and considered turning it off and bailing on the whole thing. Then it occurred to me that “Duell” could serve very well as a final project demo reel of kill shots to graduate from the German branch of Savini-Nicotero Community College. Very few effects are repeated. This is impressive! So I started keeping track. Here’s what the Duell Demo Reel consists of: Shot in head, front/back; shot in chest, front/back; shot in both legs; axe to chest; chainsaw to chest and neck; shot in face; hoe to face; mallet to face; hand saw to neck; power drill to hands and feet, crucifixion style; kick to face; smash face into car window; gaping chest wound; hoe to chest; sewing up of gaping wounds; foley slaps, kicks and punches; defibrillator to nipples and groin; random zombies; table saw to head; pulling off someone’s head with bare hands; headless body stumbling around; cutting off hand with knife; ribcage repairs with regular office stapler; shot to groin; stab to head; blackened eyes; sword through head; Freddy Kruger-style drill bit glove to face, hands, stomach, crotch, throat… actually I filled four pages with this stuff, so I’ll stop here. I think you get the idea.
“Das Komabrutale Duell’s” major claim to fame is that it is banned in Germany. I can only assume it’s because the German Film Board has some standards. It’s definitely not for the weak of stomach, but it’s the very definition of low budget, and banning it will only make it more appealing. I don’t know when people are going to learn their lesson about this. But I’m glad I stuck around because there are some really funny scenes. I won’t spoil them here, which would ruin it for the really tiny audience this movie would attract, but they confirm my suspicion that these guys were having a really good time blowing each other up. The behind the scenes stuff and outtakes also confirm this. I hope Messrs. Savini and Nicotero gave them at least a B minus.
Other extras include a digital effects comparison of scenes that were updated for this re-release, a few deleted scenes, and trailers for other Unearthed Films releases. No thanks.
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