Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
Yash Wade
Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
Allissa
.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Flashback - Mörderische Ferien" or "Murderous Vacation" or just "Flashback" is a German (mostly) German-language film from 2000, so not that long anymore until it has its 20th anniversary soon. For director Karen and writer Scharf it is a contender for most known work for sure and the co-writer is Jimmy Sangster and this film was a bit of a comeback for him and also his very final work.The cast includes many names and faces that German film buffs will recognize. Of course, there is the soap opera category of attractive actresses like Hanselmann, Deyle, Niehaus, Neldel and Harder, probably more that I don't know, in here (sounds almost like a GZSZ recycling bin), but also people like Buck, Sommer who have worked on well-received films actually. The good thing about these 1.5 hours here is that the film never really takes itself seriously, the bad thing is that a great deal of the comedy is not working at all and this especially refers to Neldel's sex references. She may not be a particularly great actress gently-speaking, but it is a shame to what she is reduced to in here.Anyway, here and there there is a good moment. I liked for example the plot twist who the killer was, but then they also went badly over the top on some occasions like also at the very end with another twist involving Buck and especially Hanselmann's character. Yes this film has a great deal of Scream to it, not just because of how the victims are killed, but also for example the very first scene in the train and there are also moments in here that reminded me of the Scary Movie series. As a whole I would still say that the positive was less frequent than the weak/negative and the film's lows were certainly lower than the film's highs were high. Also with the exception of 3-4 scenes and moments perhaps (like I wrote before), the movie also lacks originality in my opinion. A bit of a shame as the potential was there. Not a failure by any means, but also it is not on a level where I would recommend it. Thumbs-down overall. Don't watch.
jangu
* minor spoiler * The director of this movie apparently helmed a lot of TV-movies in Germany and it sure shows. This German slasher tries very hard to be stylish looking in a "gallic" way, but seldom succeeds. The look is distinctly like a German TV-movie with harsh lighting in the night scenes and a rather flat look in the daytime scenes. The plot however is very "giallo" with twists and turns. The screenwriters really try to fool the viewer, but since everything is telegraphed in advance in different ways, I was rarely surprised and saw the outcome miles away in advance. Also hurtful is the way the characters are presented. We can feel no sympathy for these young spoiled brats as they meet their bloody ends. The awful dubbing on the DVD I saw was also a big drawback. At best it's amusing, for the most part it's irritating. However, everything is not bad. The scenery is awesome, we get some nice killings with a sickle and Elke Sommer does a quite nice turn as the stern housekeeper (it would have been nice if she had been the villain of this movie, but alas...), still looking quite good for her age.This movie also contains quite a few comedic scenes, rarely found in American or Italian slashers. They mostly involve some bumbling cops and if you like that or not is a matter of taste. Quite a few scenes border on farce actually, even a few bloody ones. Especially as they are accompanied by some really strange and in-appropriate music.So "Flashback" is a decent time waster, but I wouldn't pay too much to see it.
Martyn-9
Ik like Horror movies very much. And I rented this movie because I liked the story. The movie is spoken in German, but that doesn´t mind me. I like story with big houses and this is one of them. The movie isn´t very scary but it is much fun to watch. 8 of 10
bargross
I did not have very high hopes for this one (a German slasher movie? "Anatomie" was quite good but I never heard of "Flashback" before...) But Flashback was actually a pleasant surprise! It is rather gory and has certainly earned its FSK 18 classification, but it is also quite clever, thrilling and has just the right small dose of humor. The story has some interesting twists and turns and I was glued to the screen throughout the whole movie. More of this, please!
