Arrow Video has announced it will be releasing Memento Mori: The Jörg Buttgereit Collection Limited Edition 5-Disc Blu-ray in the UK on 26th August 2024.
Shocking and controversial, yet permeated with a dark, poetic beauty, the films of underground German auteur Jörg Buttgereit stand at the very intersection between art and exploitation.
In Nekromantik, the director’s groundbreaking 1987 debut, nihilistic couple Rob and Betty seek to enliven their relationship by bringing a freshly-acquired corpse into the equation, with predictably nauseating results. 1990’s Der Todesking takes a more experimental – but no less gruelling – approach, offering up seven vignettes of suicide, one for each day of the week, all prompted by a mysterious chain letter. In 1991, Buttgereit would return to the realm of corpse-loving with Nekromantik 2, which sees the young Monika torn between the two men in her life – the dorky yet doting Mark, and a rapidly-decomposing cadaver. Lastly, with 1993’s Schramm, Buttgereit takes us deep into the deranged mind of a psychopath, charting the final days in the life of twisted sex killer Lothar Schramm.
With Memento Mori: The Jörg Buttgereit Collection – which brings together all four of the director’s feature films, packed with extras and accompanied by a wealth of exclusive content – Arrow Video is proud to offer up the definitive compendium of this most singular of genre filmmakers.
5-DISC LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of all films
• Uncompressed PCM stereo 2.0 audio for all films and additional mono audio option for Nekromantik
• Optional English subtitles for all films
• Limited edition packaging incorporating an exclusive, 100-page rigid book featuring new writing by David Kerekes, author of Sex Murder Art: The Films of Jörg Buttgereit, a selection of archival essays and the colour debut of the Nekromantik comic book sequel, Son of Nekromantik
• Exclusive bonus disc containing the extended cut of Nekromantik 2, the home video premiere of the 2020 Jörg Buttgereit-directed documentary short Schweinchen, recently-unearthed short films and more!
• Original Nekromantik 2 16mm film strip
DISC ONE: NEKROMANTIK
• Audio commentary with Jörg Buttgereit and co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen
• 2014 introduction by Jörg Buttgereit
• Alternative “Grindhouse” version of Nekromantik
• In Conversation with The Death King – 2014 interview with Jörg Buttgereit
• Morbid Fascination: The Nekromantik Legacy – 2014 documentary
• 2014 Q&A with Jörg Buttgereit filmed at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow, Scotland
• The Making of Nekromantik – archival documentary
• Nekromantik premiere footage
• A 1997 retrospective on the film featuring interviews with Jörg Buttgereit and producer Manfred Jelinski
• Two short films by Jörg Buttgereit: Horror Heaven (1984, 23 mins) and Hot Love (1985, 29 mins), both with optional audio commentary
• Horror Heaven trailer
• Hot Love premiere footage
• Two Jörg Buttgereit-directed music videos: “I Can’t Let Go” by Shock Therapy and “Lemmy, I’m a Feminist” by Half Girl
• Image gallery
• Jörg Buttgereit trailer gallery
DISC TWO: DER TODESKING
• Audio commentary with Jörg Buttgereit and co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen
• From Bundy to Lautréamont – Jörg Buttgereit in conversation with journalist Graham Rae at the 2016 Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films
• Todesmusik: Conversations with the Fish Man – 2018 featurette with actor and composer Hermann Kopp
• Skeleton Beneath the Skin – 2018 featurette on Der Todesking tattoo culture with Graham Rae
• The Making of Der Todesking – archival documentary
• Der Todesking premiere footage
• Alternate English-language chain letter insert
• Corpse Fucking Art – 1992 documentary
• Der Gollob (1983, 25 mins) – short film by Jörg Buttgereit, with optional audio commentary
• Two short films by Manfred Jelinski: Die Reise ins Licht (1972, 25 mins), with optional audio commentary, and Geliebter Wahnsinn (1973, 8 mins)
• Image gallery
• Jörg Buttgereit trailer gallery
DISC THREE: NEKROMANTIK 2
• Audio commentary with Jörg Buttgereit, producer Manfred Jelinksi, co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen and actors Monika M. and Mark Reeder
• 2015 cast and crew introduction
• Masters of Life and Death – 2015 documentary on the making of Nekromantik 2
• City of the Loving Dead – 2015 featurette on the locations of Nekromantik 2
• Nekro Waltz: The Music of Nekromantik 2 – 2015 interview with actor and composer Mark Reeder
• Necropolis: Jörg Buttgereit’s Berlin – 2015 featurette with film scholar Dr. Marcus Stiglegger
• The Making of Nekromantik 2 – archival documentary
• Outtakes reel
• Nekromantik 2 Livekonzert – footage from the 20th anniversary Nekromantik 2 concert in Berlin
• Complete 20-track audio recording of the concert [BD-ROM content]
• Two short films by Jörg Buttgereit: Bloody Excess in the Leader’s Bunker (1982, 8 mins), with optional audio commentary, and A Moment of Silence at the Grave of Ed Gein (2012, 2 mins)
• Two Jörg Buttgereit-directed music videos: “Rise Up” by Die Krupps and “Die Frau in der Musik” by Stereo Total
• Image gallery
• Jörg Buttgereit trailer gallery
DISC FOUR: SCHRAMM
• Audio commentary with Jörg Buttgereit and co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen
• Audio commentary with actors Florian Koerner von Gustorf and Monika M.
• Tomorrow I Will Be Dirt (2019, 8 mins) – short animated sequel to Schramm by filmmaker Robert Morgan
• Tomorrow I Will Be Dirt behind-the-scenes and premiere featurettes
• Take My Body: The Journey of a Blow-up Doll – 2019 featurette with author and filmmaker Kier-La Janisse
• Buttgereit: Into the Mind of a Cult Filmmaker – Jörg Buttgereit in conversation with Ewan Cant at the 2019 Offscreen Film Festival in Brussels
• The Making of Schramm – archival documentary
• 1994 Q&A with Jörg Buttgereit, producer Manfred Jelinski, actor Monika M. and author David Kerekes, filmed at a UK screening of Schramm
• Two short films by Jörg Buttgereit: Mein Papi (1981-1995, 8 mins) and Jesus – Der Film (1986, 3 mins), the latter with optional audio commentary
• Two short films by Manfred Jelinski: Orpheus in der Oberwelt (1970, 31 mins) and Ein ku’ze’ Film übe’ Hambu’g (1990, 7 mins)
• Image galleries
• Jörg Buttgereit trailer gallery
DISC FIVE: BONUS DISC
• Nekromantik 2 Extended Cut (110 mins)
• Nekromantik 2 premiere footage, with audio commentary by Jörg Buttgereit
• Monika M. screen test footage for Nekromantik 2
• Schweinchen (2020, 19 mins) – short film directed by Jörg Buttgereit documenting a decomposition study conducted by renowned forensic biologist Dr. Mark Benecke
• Captain Berlin versus Hitler (2009, 75 mins) – filmed version of the stage play written and co-directed by Jörg Buttgereit, with optional audio commentary by composer Mark Reeder
• New York – Paris (1986, 9 mins) – never-before-seen short film by Jörg Buttgereit documenting his 1986 trip to New York, via Paris, for a screening of Hot Love, with optional audio commentary
• The Muschibärs Live at the Gleisdreieck (1981, 6 mins) – never-before-seen short satirical concert film by Jörg Buttgereit, with optional audio commentary
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