After the death of her husband in 1604, the Hungarian noble Elisabeth Báthory inherited all his fortune: vineyards, lands, castles and small cities in today's areas of Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and Romania. That a woman focused on so much power and wealth was just as exceptional at this time as the process that Elisabeth Báthory was done in 1611. Dozens of young girls are said to have lured, tortured and killed them on their castles – partly as employees. According to a later legend, she is said to have even bathed or drank it in the blood of her victims in order to maintain her youthful appearance – which brought her posthumous “blood countess”.
It is clear that this historically not completely processed horror story has inspired a variety of horror films, of which the scary classic “Blood on the lips” (1971) is one of the best known. Also “The Bitter button“By director Guido Tölke, who, according to the environmental thriller“ Mission Ninetytwo ”, now realizes a sustainably produced low-budget gene refill, together with his producer, co-author and leading actress Julia Dordel, deals with the legend around Elisabeth Báthory. Just “newly told with contemporary twist”, as it says in the press booklet. According to a fresh cell cure, the mystery horror does not feel despite a women's men's ratio of 2: 1 behind the scenes: a whole bathtub content on horror film clichés and screenplay gaps is cried as a truly bitter, almost inedible cocktail.
Athlete Marcia (Julia Dordel) and Fischer Josh (Nicolo Pasetti) explore the mysterious estate of the countess.
The ex-top athlete Marcia Lorenz (Julia Dordel), plagued by pain, works as a hunting guide near the fictional town of Kashtitz. After work, she runs the anxious Silva (Imme Beccard) on the way to the train station in front of the car – however, it is pursued by a rapid fast and fearful shape and deported to the forest.
Since she has to stay on site for longer than planned and the alarmed policewoman George (Anne Alexander-Sieder) abatters the strange incident as a spinning mill, Marcia herself is looking for traces. They lead them to an countess (Christiane Obermayer) who repeatedly invites top international athletes (supposed) competitions to their extensive property. Together with the mysterious Fischer Josh (Nicolo Pasetti), Marcia reveals the disturbing secret of the countess …
Much is well known to you
Do the clocks in rural Lower Saxony around Göttingen, Hanover, Celle, Verden and Walsrode tick, where “The Bitter Taste” was already shot at original locations from April to October 2019? The fact is that the use of cell phones does not really fit that not only old steam trains and ancient gramophones appear here, but also seem to come from the police uniforms such as cars from Anno. In any case, there is no narrative motivation for this in the as well as clumsy script by Guido Tölke and Julia Dordel.
A former top fencer has to hire as a hunting guide in the province, where her unappealing client during the game! – A sealed envelope with valuable, historical content tumbled out of your pocket to get the plot going. The usual non -clipping cars and clinking keys are also used as tension drivers – while there are plenty of tough research in the second third, the pregnant pregnant, but fast -paced scenario, begin to arrange.
A refreshing blood cure would definitely be necessary here!
Apart from content weaknesses, “The Bitter Taste” is also missing from real identification figures. With her tough, but also extremely hypothermic species, Julia Dordel simply leaves cold in the leading role away from repeated pain pushing. Nicolo Pasetti (“The Pre-Kosters”) as her male supporter and Anne Alexander-Sieder (“Grimm's children-the messengers of death”) as a policewoman, who likes to take a big sip from the flat man, look more likeable than sympathetic. So remain the numerous action scenes and effective gore performances in which the entire sporting spectrum of the modern pentathlon is played: so swimming, fencing, riding, shooting and running.
The problem with this: almost every chase, every duel, every shootout and even an extremely hearty chainsaw insert, which does not even have to hide in terms of artificial blood before the final of Peter Jackson's Splatsk classic “Braindead”, sick (hand-) camera wackel full of close-up shots, which are also furriedly assembled. A striking feeling of permanent visual disorientation experiences its dubious perfection through abundant subsequent digital image processing. The spectrum ranges from solid color degrees (preferably with green tinge) to lens flare effects, blurring, digital color blobs on the lens to artificial fog swaths, which sometimes only suggests what is going on. Masterfully how a very atmospheric and handsome trailer could be cut from the whole visual mud …
Conclusion: Even the craftsmanship with the hard action scenes and hearty gore inserts can only be guessed with thanks to the wobble camera and cutting storm. A rare German indie horror thriller, which gives away a lot from his potential through pale figures and exuberant digital image processing.