Beautiful, moving film.

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Most people who have seen this movie compare it to Silence of the Lambs, which there's a definite allusion to, no question. However, the delivery of this German thriller is very effective in that you think half way through you have guessed what the outcome will be - well, think again. I am generally good at guessing the outcome of many movies (I even guessed the end to Sixth Sense), but I wasn't as smart as I thought with this one. It is very clever, very clever indeed. I can liken its end to another brilliant film called Incendies, which totally almost takes your breath away, as is the same with Antibodies. It packs a gritty punch and is quite difficult to watch in parts - I found myself wincing quite a bit. I just wish all thrillers were as exciting and thrilling as this. If you liked Se7en, you'll definitely like this. I never guessed the end of that either. Enjoy!

....otherwise avoid at all costs.A very lame attempt to emulate The Silence of the Lambs/Se7en etc that drags on for at least an hour more than necessary and has nothing to hold your interest. Boring, badly acted, terrible script, half-a$$ed plot & no suspense or thrills or scares. I didn't care about the characters (only about the poor animals unfortunate enough to be in this flick). The direction was terrible and the fanatical religious voice- over was as irritating as I imagine hell to be.Everything anyone did was dragged out with long periods of nothing happening. So for example, no-one could just walk into a room and pick up something they came for. No no. They had to stare at the door for a while, move slowly to the doorway, think about opening the door, push the door open but stand around pondering whether to enter... you know what I mean. Something a lot of European dramas are infected with - this bizarre notion that the way to build suspense is to have absolutely nothing happen or have characters act like they're all on tranquilizers. This doesn't build suspense it just builds frustration & boredom and causes much hitting of fast forward controls. This characteristic had put me off European films for many years until I found a couple of brilliant ones recently. This flick just set my opinion back again, sadly.The movie tries very hard to be "dark" but instead just comes across as pointlessly cruel, revolting and ludicrous. The shooting of the dog scene for example occurred at the beginning of the film as one very annoying, ugly old bloke shot his son-in-laws dog just for the fun of it. This sick scene actually bore no relationship to anything else going on in the plot and never did. It seemed to be just stuck in there because they were trying for "dark" & "disturbing" and thought "Hey people get upset by dogs getting hurt or killed so let's put a pointless 'dog getting killed' scene in the flick". Another scene involving a very young lamb was also concerning because it looked real when the lamb panicked and ran into the fence so I'm guessing they actually tormented the sheep to get that footage. What a pity they couldn't have used their "awesome" CGI skills instead, you know the ones they later brought in to ludicrous effect when they had the world's most fake looking bunch of deer showing up as God's divine representatives, or whatever they were supposed to be, to 'save the day'. We were laughing our bottoms off at that point.If animal abuse isn't enough there's always the child abuse angle. And no, I'm not entertained by a long detailed monologue about "how I raped and murdered a young boy" while the speaker masturbates in front of me. That might have some appeal to pedophile predators but not to me and I hope, not to the general viewing audience.And that "ride of the Valkyries" soundtrack in the closing scenes was the dumbest thing I've seen/heard in a long, long time.Seriously.... what on earth is this piece of rubbish doing with a 7 point rating? Honestly. Don't waste your time with this pollution.

This movie grabs you from the beginning as something that is original and daring. It is not just another police/serial killer drama, but one that is well worth watching despite the fact that it is in German.With haunting music by Michl Britsch, songs by Nadeshda Brennicke, and brilliant cinematography by Hagen Bogdanski (how can you not be brilliant when filming in Germany, one of the most beautiful countries on Earth?), you will quickly forget the language barrier and enjoy.The acting in this film is among the finest I have seen.You will see things during the police interrogation that you have never seen before.The intricate cat and mouse between the rural policeman and the rapist/serial killer is captivating. The line between good and evil is thoroughly analyzed and tested to the point where you are not sure of it's location.The last twenty minutes...what a treasure to watch!

I watched the DVD last night and thought it to be one of the best movies I've seen this year. The acting from the leads was excellent - never overdone and highly believable. The opening sequence gripped me and from thereon in I couldn't wait to see what happened next. The story develops at a great pace with some lovely twists and red herrings. Yes - some may see them coming but even so, it doesn't detract from a hugely enjoyable and often disturbing story. The direction and cinematography was also were superb - some great camera work and use of (sometimes washed out and grainy) colour and slow-motion. Highly recommended viewing before the inevitable Hollywood treatment. (CGI deer - ouch - 'nuff said!)