The German Chainsaw Massacre & Other Oddities Finally Hit Streaming

Christoph Schlingensief’s The German Chainsaw Massacre has arrived on streaming for the very first time after languishing for decades as an infamous but obscure film. The imaginatively disgusting film frantically allegorizes the reunification of Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall as a kind of grindhouse horror. Instead of fighting off a deranged group of redneck cannibals (as in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre), The German Chainsaw Massacre follows an East German fugitive who, fleeing to the West after stabbing her husband, falls into the hands of a tribe of incestuous cannibals inhabiting a dilapidated factory. The streaming release announcement notes:

“Called ‘one of the greatest artists who ever lived’ by Austrian novelist and playwright Elfriede Jelinek, Schlingensief — who died in 2010 at age 49 — was a multi-hyphenate whirling dervish of chaotic creative energy and relentless provocation, the inheritor of the mantle of German cinema’s foremost enfant terrible left vacant following the death of R.W. Fassbinder. Here, in the savage, antic second film of his “Germany Trilogy” (featuring appearances from Fassbinder regulars Volker Spengler, Udo Kier, and Irmann), he gives the subject of German reunification the Grand Guignol grindhouse treatment.”

That’s just one of several oddities now streaming on Metrograph at Home. It comes from the film series An Alternate Cinema: Four Films from the Deutsche Kinemathek Archives, featuring the streaming premieres of restorations of three other independently made boundary-pushing German films — Pia Frankenberg’s Ain’t Nothin’ Without You, Will Tremper’s The Endless Night, and Michael Brynntrup’s Jesus: Der Film — following their recent showings at the theater.

There’s another exciting group of films coming to Metrograph at Home, a slate of new arrivals grouped in the collection, MEMORY: 10th Anniversary Retrospective. It’s a program celebrating a decade of impassioned work from the Los Angeles-based independent film company which produces, curates, and releases innovative work from multi-hyphenate filmmakers and artists. A highlight is David, starring Nathan Fielder and directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp (of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and the upcoming Lilo & Stitch remake).

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Laura Dern & Delphine Seyrig Come to Metrograph

As always, tons of movies are playing in-person at Metrograph this month, along with some anticipated film series. 15 Minutes takes its title from Andy Warhol’s much-repeated prophecy, featuring films like All About Eve, The King of Comedy, The Bling Ring, Sunset Boulevard, The Neon Demon, and Under the Silver Lake. Delphine Seyrig: Rebel Muse shines a light on one of the best performers to come out of the Nouvelle Vague and features such films as The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Stolen Kisses, and Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, which was named the greatest film of all time by Sight & Sound. It also features films that Seyrig directed, including Be Pretty and Shut Up and Maso and Miso Go Boating (both films are streaming as well, along with Seyrig’s Scum Manifesto).

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Every Movie Releasing in Theaters in January 2025

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The Many Lives of Laura Dern pays tribute to one of America’s favorites with 11 of her best films, including Blue Velvet, Marriage Story, Inland Empire, and Smooth Talk. Artist Andrew Norman Wilson returns to present his series Male Magnetism, which spans documentary, mockumentary, found footage, video diary, video art, and home video, including work from Conner O’Malley and Harmony Korine. The great film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum stops by Metrograph to promote his new book In Dreams Begin Responsibilities, have a conversation with filmmaker Michael Almereyda, and present a double feature of the phenomenal films WR: Mysteries of the Organism and Giants & Toys.

Finally, Sandhya Suri (of the excellent new Metrograph Pictures release, Santosh) handpicks a couple of curious titles to screen: Alain Gomis’s Senegal-set drama Félicité (2017) and Nilita Vachani’s tragicomic documentary Diamonds in a Vegetable Garden (1992). All that and more is happening at Metrograph Pictures, where there are multiple masterpieces screening every day; check out the full calendar here.