Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Rodrigo Amaro I'd really wish to remember the last film I've seen that not only had me on the edge of my seat but also left me twisting my senses, nervous and disturbed all the way yet it allowed to compensate me with a different perspective without being extremely critical of what I was seeing. In all of its strange ways and crushing parts, "Angst" felt like an open door of which I had to enter, despite having seen similar experiences before time and again, but this one had some form of urgency and virtuosity that seemed different, offered unusual insights and made me see further to an already worn out exposed theme: the mind of a psychopath. Gerald Kargl's film is a tremendous effort that requires a certain coldness from the viewer in order to comprehend (or at least try) what goes on inside the devious and sickening acts of a cold-blooded murderer and his desperate needs to obtain satisfaction and pleasure with killing other people. Without Hollywood's stylized fashion and popular stars which always appeals to audiences, the European "Angst" feels like a vividly real experience that is hard to wash away from your mind. Everything's told from the perspective of the psychopath (brilliantly played by Erwin Leder, he was in "Das Boot"), from the moment he's released from prison after doing some time for his attempt to kill his mother, and from then on we already know that this sick man wasn't reformed while in there. He can't wait for his chance to commit more murders and that what's his journey is all about. Observing potential victims on a diner and trying his way with a taxi driver doesn't help him at first glance. Too difficult and he gets himself scared quite easily, almost as if were a beginner (the more he narrates about his past is that we realize that he's actually new to this "business" since he reveals failure after failure, and ideas he wanted to do but never accomplished). During one of those panic moments he finds a house, breaks into it and wait for his possible new victims - to his luck he finds them: an old lady, her daughter and her invalid brother. The rest isn't worth mentioning. "Angst" succeeds where all similar flicks fails because it isn't about just someone who randomly kills people and there's authorities trying to get him. Above all, this is a psychological view to a deranged state of mind, carefully elaborated by Mr. Kargl with his planned sequences filmed with a body-cam tied to the lead actor, spinning out of control and in several directions while the paranoid killer is on the loose, running away from scenarios he could easily get away if he managed to control himself or when his mind is echoing memories from the past. Most of the movie consists of those shots (brilliantly filmed and edited), edgy and dizzy but with a purpose; and Leder is a courageous and patient actor who understood exactly the frame of mind his character was going through. His character doesn't pity anyone, all he needs its the immediate relief while stabbing, torturing and killing people. The way he moves, the intensity on his eyes and acts, it's a complete feeling of delusion, insanity and at a deep level, true happiness (when he reaches his ultimate sadistic goal). But the screenplay doesn't make him much of of a bright guy as we tend to watch in many similar movies. Surely, he could fool the prison's psychiatrists with his fake dream stories but once he's out, the desperation takes over and he makes one sloppy mistake after another and you start to wonder why this guy isn't so clever like most psycho folks are. At least, this is what we hear and read in several sources that those dangerous minds are far more clever than the average joe. The egocentrism, the nihilism, the hatred, the contempt...it's all there - even the charm, evidenced at the diner sequences where he flirts with two pretty girls. He's not so cute but there's an appeal to him that some would fall for him with no problem. But it lacks a higher intelligence for this man. It's not like he's trying to commit the perfect crime, obviously, but for someone who's avoiding getting back to jail, he's too careless, not typical for serial killers. However, perhaps that's the real focus of the movie with this character: he's so inside his world and worried about doing what he needs, that he forgets about everything else, it's a whole new level of mentality. The obsession takes over, he goes along regardless of consequences and then it's all about improvising to what comes next. The experience is not for the faint of heart. It's brutal, dark, real, violent and extremely tense film but one that gives you the opportunity to see with precision and detail through variations of a disturbed personality, which makes of "Angst" a unique thrilling experiment. It's a shocking pity that the director made only this film after dealing with many budget obstacles during its making. He vowed to never return to filmmaking again, and it's a shame because Mr. Kargl had an incredible eye and talent for the job. Anyway, this is a shining moment for an one-hit wonder. 9/10

george.schmidt ANGST (1983) ** Bizarre take on the psychopath on the loose horror flick from German filmmaker Gerald Kargl (this his one and only film ever produced leaves one wonder What Could Have Been?) that has a documentarian feel 'based on a true story' involving a recently released lunatic from prison (creepy as hell Erwin Leder who suggests the bastard child of Mick Jagger & Brian Jones!) whose insatiable, desperate need to kill again leads him onto an isolated house and terrorizing the denizens - a family that echoes his …leading to some disturbing moments of unease with a few bloody moments that feel agonizingly one beat too long. The film only doesn't work in the relentless narrative and a character that is truly almost blackly comically inept in the unskilled or planned crimes he perpetuates. Remarkable cinematography by screenwriter Zbignew Rybcynski who also edited with interesting composition, skewed angles and POVs that take some genuine risk.

Murder Slim ANGST is a thoroughly unpleasant film. But don't let that put you off. A movie about a messed-up serial killer should feel that way. It's testament to the skill of the filmmaking and the acting that a movie gets under your skin. Too many so-called shockers fail in that regard. The most obvious example is 'Saw', with its stupid, hyperactive editing and its ridiculous killer. 'Angst' feels as real as this type of movie can get.It starts with the nameless psychopath holed up in prison, aware of his own sadistic thoughts but hiding them from the prison's psychologists. When they try to psychoanalyse him, he just says he dreams about flowers. I guess the Austrian legal system is more trusting than other countries, because they let the guy out again after almost stabbing his mother to death (four-year sentence) and then killing a 70-year-old (ten-year sentence).Within an hour of release, he's gnawing on a sausage in a café (via some disgusting extreme close-ups) and leering at some women, wondering how he's going to kill them. But he's sane enough to know he can't get away with it, so he gets out of the place.It's only a brief delay. Soon the psychopath is in a taxi with a female driver. She reminds him of an ex-girlfriend who used to love being abused. When that plan goes tits-up, he runs into the woods, frustrated and desperate to kill. He breaks into what he thinks is a deserted house... until a disabled man wheels up to him and calls him "Papa". Then that guy's sister and elderly mother show up too....'Angst' is often compared to 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'... another troubling but excellent serial killer movie. ANGST lacks the depth of style that 'Henry' has, which is brilliantly acted and directed with a bunch of memorable moments. But 'Angst' has a number of unique things going for it. The hand-held shots are incredibly smooth and dreamlike, hovering in front of the killer's frantic face. It reminded me of the odd Eastern European style of 'The Cremator', another very creepy killer flick. The camera must be on some movable scaffold attached to the actor, either that or the camera operator was extremely light of their feet.The deaths in 'Angst' are also brutal, nasty, and (save for blood spurting on the killer's face from the wrong angle) uncomfortably real. There's also interesting artistic touches, one of which is the family's pet dachshund. The dog's reaction to events is shown a lot, working in the mutt as a character. He looks curiously at the killer a lot, tries to bite him as he kills the girl, and eventually ends up as the killer's companion.It's surprising that Kargl has no other credits other than a small documentary. I guess 'Angst' isn't the sort of movie that will ingratiate you to film producers. But it's a shame 'Angst' isn't better known. Apparently it was a big influence on Gaspar Noe ('Irreversible', 'I Stand Alone'), but I prefer 'Angst'. It doesn't revel in shocks so much as to desensitise you to them. The shocking moments work in 'Angst' because they're largely unpredictable.In fact, the whole movie is pitched at the right levels. The dark humour isn't overstated, the pace is fluid, and it's neatly structured with a great ending. Find a way to get hold of a subtitled version of 'Angst' and check out an excellent example of its genre.

fertilecelluloid Twenty-five years ago (three years before John McNaughton made "Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer"), Gerald Kargl made "Angst", a very different and unique portrait of a deeply disturbed man whose childhood traumas have decimated his thinking and fueled his destructive, sexually perverted fantasies. Released from jail, he sets out immediately to relieve the pressure inside his head by committing murder, necrophilia, and sundry sadistic acts. Breaking into a mansion, he waits for its inhabitants to return home and begins a frantic rampage. The lead performance by the now well-established character actor Erwin Leder is an exceptional one. His ability to take us with him on his damaged journey to happiness -- psychologically and physically -- reminded me of Klaus Kinski's best work. Leder possesses the same manic energy, the same unpredictability that made Kinski such a dangerous, unnerving screen presence. Wisely, Kargl does not insist on balancing the film with an opposite of Leder. Instead, the entire movie is told from the psychopath's fragmented, paranoid point of view and narrated by the killer himself. Worth pointing out is how effective the killer's thoughtful voice-over is when played during key moments of violence. The technique successfully conveys the lack of empathy the killer felt towards his victims (who were simply players in his fantasy). This singular perspective (of the killer) is further accomplished with bravura camera movement that seems to mirror Leder's thought processes. No moving shot feels extraneous or unnecessary. On the contrary, I couldn't imagine the film without it. German electronic genius Klaus Schulze (one of my favorite composer/musicians) provides a throbbing, nightmarish, minimalist score that is as unrelenting in its purpose as the killer himself. The pacing is measured but unstoppable and the violence is more realistic than sensationalistic. As serial killer films go, this is truly original and disturbing. My only problem with the film is that it ended too abruptly. Like the killer, I wanted more.