Dard Divorce (2007)

Dard Divorce (2007): Reviewed by BRYAN SCHUESSLER

Dard Divorce (2007), Directed by Olaf Ittenbach, was a very bloody, gory, and sadistic horror film that has been a trademark for Ittenbach in every film that I have seen of his. I like them and he does them well. In each of his films, the ones that I have seen so far such as Beyond the Limits (2003) and the afore-mentioned (Dard Divorce (2007)), Ittenbach has directed a story centered around gore and the cruelty of his tormentors. The first question in my mind was what the hell does ‘dard’ mean? Well, in the film it is explained as being Persian for the word “pain”. Well, I guess that sorta sums up much of what divorces are filled with-pain. Lots and lots of pain. In writing this review, the reader may note that I watched the UNCUT version of this film and the edited version runs about 82 minutes long. If the version you watch runs longer, you are watching the UNCUT version and the only version worth watching in an Ittenbach gorefest.

Ittenbach, who began his career as a dental technician before he began making gorefests, also is responsible for the make-up effects, the special effects, directing, writing, and acting in his films. Many of his films have low-budgets and are shot on video and not film, but they seem to put most of their time and money into creative, blood-gushing, special effects driven toward epic torture-pics that he was developing long before Hostel ever hit the market. One redeeming quality in Ittenbach’s torture epics is that the violence befalls upon individuals that have tried to screw over someone for money, fortune, or fame. So many of the “victims” in Ittenbach’s films had it coming to them and this particular creator of horror films gives the audience exactly what they want and maybe a little bit more then can handle.

Extreme are Ittenbach’s films and as long as you know what you are getting into, then I believe you will be pleasantly pleased. I know I was the first time I viewed an Ittenbach film. Dard Divorce (2007) stars Martina Ittenbach (Olaf’s wife in real life!) who plays Nathalie Stein, the soon-to-be ex-wife of Daniel (played by Daryl Jackson), and centers around their divorce and the struggles one encounters with lawyers, custody of children, and overall financial issues. Nathalie is the seemingly wealthier of the two (she got the nice big house!) and Daniel is seen struggling  as a short-order cook that at a restaraunt that he once owned.

The problems just pile up for poor Daniel, whose wife is also a lawyer, and just when Nathalie decides to have a change of heart, realizing that now that she will probably be getting full custody of the kids as well as having plenty of money, a great career, and plenty of time to drown away her sorrows that she may or may not be having due to losing becoming divorced from her husband, things start to go south of heaven.

One night Nathalie’s dog turns up missing and then dead, obviously more than a random animal attack or an accident.  When the viewer learns that Nathalie’s husband was involved in some illicit activities with cocaine and the gangster element, things start to pick up. Her husband shows up dead on her doorstep, blood everywhere and when she runs inside to phone the authorities, his body has mysteriously vanished as do all the traces of blood.

The scenes of torture and bloody mayhem soon follow and fans of extremely gory and mean-spirited films will enjoy Dard Divorce (2007), for it delivers the goods. I felt that the dialogue in his films had a very diabolical edge to them and created some suspense and build-up before each grisly scene of torture or sadism.  His films are dialogue driven and have decent acting in them. Ittenbach does not pull any punches in the blood and guts department, so the viewer will have to be the one to pull back and look away because the cameraman just zooms in closer and closer, panning every angle to get the best possible shot so no one misses any exquistite detail of carnage.

My favorite parts of Ittenbach’s movies are each murderer has his or her own bag of surgical tools to implement pain, torture, and misery. This film is no exception. Not for the squirmish, Dard Divorce delivers the gore and violence that gorehounds will be rejoicing over world-wide. This film has a few scenes in it that I could do without, like the full-frontal male nudity where one of the killers takes off all his clothing so he can chop-up a dead guy in the bath tub. I am assuming this scene of gratuitous nudity was for forensic reasons-the killer did not want a trace of blood on his nice suit, but it just may be to break the trend that most horror films have in them, such as women parading around nude and rarely are men seen on the screen in shots of full-frontal nudity with their organ swinging to and fro in front of the camera.

As in most low-budget horror films, their is a decrease in quality on all levels, but one saving grace is that Ittenbach films have a very distinct style and flair to them, especially in the cinematography, as you will see if you go rent this film. Along with the intelligent dialogue, I believe that is what sets apart Ittenbach from say, Jorg Buttgereit (Nekromantik (1987)) or Andreas Schnaas (Violent Shit (1989)), two more German directors that deliver the gore, but each on totally different levels.

I recommend seeing Dard Divorce (2007), and if you like that movie, get Beyond the Limits (2003) and thank me for recommending them both. If you do not like either of these films, you can go fu*k yourself!