Angst 4K 1983 Ultra HD 2160p

Storyline
A man is released from prison after serving ten years for murdering an elderly woman. He quickly begins to feel the compulsion to kill again. After failing to murder a cab driver, he flees and discovers a secluded rural home, where a young woman lives with her sick mother and disabled brother. He then begins to take out his sadistic pleasures on them, attempting to hold them hostage, while thinking of his troubled childhood with his abusive mother and grandmother...

User Review

Among the plethora of films about maniacs of all stripes, races, and nationalities, Angst stands out, if not entirely, then at least slightly apart from the usual genre films. The story literally recounts a single day in the life of yet another psychopath. Based on the case of Werner Knizek and embellished with the personality of Peter Kürten, the main character is released from prison after serving a ten-year sentence for the murder of a 70-year-old woman. He has no family members left who care about him, no home to return to, and no reasonable plans for the future. Only one thought in his head about his future is predetermined and beyond doubt: once he steps outside the prison gates, he will kill again, and as soon as he can.

Framed by a very fresh and original filming style for its time, the narrative brings us as close as possible to the killer under investigation. There are no shots of places where the main character is not present, no pluralism of views on the unfolding tragedy, only the cameraman's dry following of the short walk of the maniac, brilliantly played by Erwin Leder, accompanied by monologues read in his head. Although the term “dry” here refers more to a certain impartiality with which the camera glides along the path of the main character (hero?) going about his business, then revolves around his face trembling with tension, then takes ultra-close-ups for the sake of another contribution to the fund of physiological authenticity and the viewer's proximity to what is happening. The cinematography, one of the strongest components of the film, has worn slightly over the years in terms of the freshness of the techniques used, but still fits perfectly with the overall concept of the film. Angst is perhaps one of the best ways to see the world through the eyes of a maniac without facing criminal punishment. Far removed from Hollywood thrillers about elusive and sometimes charming killers, the film also distances itself as much as possible from the usual torture porn, shifting the genre's focus towards pseudo-documentary.

Nevertheless, it will hardly surprise anyone that the realism and down-to-earth nature of the film has once again proved to be a double-edged sword. While one part of the film allowed the viewer to experience with maximum accuracy the feeling of panic that overwhelms the central character every time something goes wrong, the other part strives to hurt the viewer who is losing interest due to the lack of events. The local killer is not a cold-blooded genius like in the movies, which is why his adventures on the loose will end very abruptly for a variety of reasons caused by purely human errors multiplied by inhuman behavior. Because of this, as soon as the viewer's attention wanes, what is happening begins to seem not ultra-realistic, but simply unjustifiably drawn out. It is difficult to say how much you need to be able to empathize with the central character in order to watch with interest even as he drags corpses around for several minutes and drives a car.

However, when the largely predictable and even mundane ending arrives, you look at it with a strange feeling of slight shock at the maniac's way of thinking, mixed with the simultaneous realization of its logical consistency in its own twisted way. And, most horribly, there is a deep-seated feeling of peculiar joy for the psychopath who has experienced one last satisfaction. Strange, sometimes slightly boring, and sometimes tense and adrenaline-fueled due to its proximity to a documentary style of storytelling, Angst has managed to carve out its own niche in what seems to be a long-worn-out theme. And, funnily enough, it remains there in almost complete solitude — isn't that a fitting punishment for involving the viewer in a triple murder?

Info Video

Codec: HEVC / H.265 (91.6 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1

Info Audio

#German: FLAC 1.0
#German: FLAC 2.0
#German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
#French: Dolby Digital 2.0

Info Subtitles