Macabre...ish Horror Review: Grimm Love

by Kimberly Walker January 10, 2019

Grimm Love, 2006/ 87 min. This is the American release of the German movie Rohtenburg, it’s a truly horrific psychological thriller based on the case of Armin Meiwes. If you recall that story, it’s about a German computer repairman put on trial for killing and eating a suicidal man who he met on the internet and volunteered to be killed and eaten.

I’m going to mention that he and the victim tried to eat his penis just before Meiwes killed him. It’s THAT kind of movie y’all.

So yeah, there’s a movie. And I, for some reason watched it...twice. The movie is very well done, the story is just hard to stomach.

An American student in Germany, Katie Armstrong (Keri Russell), is studying

human psychology and in her studies she’s chosen a subject for her thesis, a murderer and cannibal, Oliver Hartwin (Thomas Kretschman). Oliver has always wanted to kill and eat a willing victim and so searches the internet hoping to find a volunteer. What he does find is a whole community of people with fantasies of being eaten or those who want to eat someone. Turns out most are just fantasizing, no serious willing victims.

But after some time he does find one. A young man named Simon (Thomas Huber). So they set up a meeting. This movie is mostly told in flashback fashion. As well as much of the story being told in snuff film that Katie finds. Simon and Oliver sharing their stories and slowly moving toward the inevitable end. Oliver is very kind and gentle and leads him slowly toward his death, even when Simon loses his nerve and is struggling with it, Oliver backs off. I’m making this point to say he’s not a big, scary monster, he’s calm and quiet and that really adds to the creepiest that is this movie.

It is sad, heavy and graphic. Be ready because this is an excruciatingly slow moving train. I think what messes with me is Oliver approaches this like a romance, though he’s killing Simon.

And Simon is so sad and suicidal. And you’re watching it on a snuff film.

(You really don’t want to know what’s happening here)

It’s alot of conflicting, heavy emotions and actions, that are together that do not go together.

The full horror of it comes at you slowly. I think I held my breath for half the movie and I’ve seen it before. If you like dark, bleak, psychological horrors then, enjoy. This is one of those.

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If you’d like to see more on the story of Armin Meiwes, here’s a documentary.

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