fairlesssam I enjoyed this movie. From the onset it was mysterious and engaging. There was no clear direction where the film was going. I knew nothing about the I story, hadn't read the back of the case (which is how I like to view movies).We meet a group of young bank robbers, who I have to say seem the most innocent kind of bank robbers ever featured in a film. They are on their way to a safe hotel set in the woods. On the way they come across a car blocking their path and a suspicious chap with a gun. The hotel is mysterious and enigmatic, the leader books them in under fairy tale names. Which for some reason stands out as a key moment in the film to me but probably isn't. There are several moments in the film like this.Even though the initial characters aren't particularly interesting there is something very watchable about the movie, what is happening around the main characters is more enthralling than they are. As the movie progresses the owners of the hotel become more prominent within the film and demand your attention. Details seem to be important. The crescendo is gory and violent, lots of blood. As the film closes it seems to lose some of it's charisma. The ending is a little disappointing, just seemed lacking the magic that ran through the rest of the film.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Bela Kiss: Prologue" is a German movie that is also mostly in the German language. It is the only full feature film work by writer and director Lucien Förstner so far and as this one is a 2013 movie, it will have its 5th anniversary next year. It runs for slightly over 100 minutes and combines the genres crime, thriller and horror in one movie. Bela Kiss was a serial killer early in the 20th century whose victims were predominantly women. This film here works with the premise that many many decades later Kiss may still be alive and that may be due to vampirism keeping him relatively young and fresh. So yes, it is a fictionalized film for sure and honestly, the entire Kiss reference works not at all in the film's favor. He sure is an interesting character that deserves his own movie, but this is not it. Maybe a documentary would even be more accurate as, eventually, we know very little about him, not even his exact time of death. As a consequence, this is a pretty generic thriller movie that turns more and more into horror the longer it goes. The Kiss reference in the title was probably just an attempt by the filmmaker to make this film sound more relevant and important than all the other horror films that disappear as quickly into oblivion as they appear on the radar. He was maybe even successful with this approach, but I cannot support it. The most known cast members may be Rudolf Martin ("NCIS") and Collien Fernandes, but the latter really only has a brief cameo. So all in all, this one is just for the very biggest vampire horror film fans. Everybody else will be mostly disappointed and underwhelmed. Here and there, we get a decent scene like the murder witnessed by the woman and hos she wants to check the hotel room despite the resistance of the owner, but it's just not enough for 100 minutes. Not even close. I would say the IMDb rating here is pretty accurate for a change. it just wasn't a good watch and I give it a thumbs-down. The acting is sometimes pretty embarrassing as well and I am not surprised at all that Förstner's career has not skyrocketed since then. I hope he has stepped up his game when he returns to making movies, even if his direction certainly wasn't the main problem in here, more like the mix of script and performances. The title also doesn't make much sense as this takes place way way later than Kiss' most prolific killing phase, so epilogue would be more accurate, and I hope it's not meant that there will be more films like this.

jacksonrose741 Bela Kiss - Prologue is a very atmospheric low budget horror-thing from Germany. It is a strange movie, but worth a look. It's got great atmosphere, a bizarre story line, excellent editing and cinematography plus some decent horror and suspense. The serial killer Bela Kiss is very charismatic (Rudolf Martin fits great). At times I wondered exactly what kind of movie I was watching - it has a sort of art house feel to it in places, and at other times devolves to an all-out slasher. It's an odd style, but captivating for an hour and a half. The movies sums up the plot somewhat, but opens new doorways at the end. I'll probably watch the sequel, whenever it comes out. Looks like a decent story in the making. 6 points from me.

Johnny_Dinero For some reason, despite falling victim to some of the tired horror movie clichés, this movie had me invested. Maybe it was the whole based on a true story. I mean I'm sure there was some sort of serial killer back before WWI started that disappeared, and bodies were found in barrels, I figure that is as much as the "truth" as we get. I think, after "Cabin in the Woods" I look at horror movies a bit different. I've always been a fan of horror movies, but now, I tend to see then as part of the universe of "Cabin in the Woods" Visually, I applaud the filmmakers. I like when I see a movie takes chances and visually, I think they had some fun with lenses, filters and post production color correction. If you haven't checked out "Cabin in the Woods", please do and please do it before you watch this movie. Then after watching that, just imagine this movie in the same universe. I think you'll appreciate it more. But let's say I want to just rate this movie on its own. What are my expectations going into a horror movie? People that have sex die. Cars will not start. People will fall down while running in the woods. Is this movie guilty? Yes. But what horror movie isn't? (A lot of them, I know, but also a good amount of them are.)I think we go into a horror movie hoping to get scared, see some blood and have those moments where we yell at the screen. Don't go in there! Don't trust him/her! Look out behind you! This movie had that.