When most horror fans think of German extreme films, the likes of Jörg Buttgereit’s Nekromantiks and Andreas Schnaas’ Violent Shit series come to mind. But there is another pioneer from the ‘90s, Heiko Fipper. Showing up with his first film, Ostermontag aka I Spit On Your Fucking Grave Bitch! (1991), showed that he was there to make a splash in the ultra-violent German splatter subgenre.
Heiko only released one more film and it is considered the most violent horror film ever made. It is Das Komabrutale Duell (1999) aka The Coma-Brutal Duel and it is probably the goriest movie ever made as well. It even beats Brain Dead (1992) (Dead Alive) , Premutos and even Untot: Undead Unleashed! If you’re an ultra-gore fan, this movie was made for you.
Heiko Fipper and the Komabrutale Duell
Das Komabrutale Duell is actually a collection of shorts edited together between 1984 and 1999. The event that starts this madness is a drunk driver that accidentally kills a young man’s father. The son then gets help from a Mafia to get revenge and a war rages on for years to come. It’s too hard to explain every detail and event but I will give you the jist of all the madness.
The Eightlets prepare for a war of epic proportionsGory Pandemonium
We start in 1984 where we see the Eightlets Mafia, which is one actor mirrored into eight persons lined up against a brick wall. A young man then appears in front of them and is told by the leader of the Mafia that his father has been squashed against a wall by a drunk driver name John Eisentempler. Due to him being intoxicated he would be in jail only for a short time and out on parole. The leader then offers to take revenge out on the entire family if the young man, Stephan Bandera, would work with the Mafia.
Now the gore kicks in as Bandera accepts the job. It cuts to a scene with the mother tied up, nude and her face is bludgeoned. Next it cuts to the father disemboweled and parts of his body left laying on the ground. These two gore pieces are ridiculously realistic. I remember being in awe the first time seeing these. After the parents, sisters and a few friends are slaughtered, the only ones left is a son named Heiko, his two half-brothers and Heiko’s girlfriend.
Heiko’s brother takes a shot to the head that he will never forgetDisorganized Crime
This is where the movie gets unintelligible, and it seems as if the dialogue gets ahead of the sequences. Heiko is now tied up and being tortured when a person come to his rescue. While this is happening, he narrates that it has now been a year since one of the Eightlets joined his side and liberated him. A new killer joins the Eightlets and then literally kills everyone.
Everyone is either shot, stabbed or sliced. Even our main character, Heiko. You would think something like this would be an ending, but no. This is only the beginning of the Coma-Brutal Duel between Heiko and The Eightlets.
Heiko and his brothers are still alive after all the abuse they has takenWaking from a Coma
Heiko, our protagonist, survived the Massacre and has been in a coma for the last ten years. The movie cuts to a grown up Heiko leaving the hospital and heading back into the world. It’s almost like the slow motion ending of an ‘80s film where they walk-off, jump-up and are frozen into a sunset. But it doesn’t turn out that way for our main character. Stefan meets him at the edge of the woods and a gory fight ensues.
This is an epically long fight that leads to shots fired and chainsaw wounds. In the end both men are left incapacitated, covered in blood.
But Wait, There’s More… Gore
The movie changes up tone and gets a bit more sadistic. We enter a dark room with what looks like a person under a white sheet lying on a table and someone tied up with rope in a white sheet shaking and having convulsions on the floor. This scene always gives me an eerie feeling because the person tied up is very realistic. A doctor then comes on to have some fun creating a playground filled with gore.
The Eightlets have now captured Heiko and crucified him on a beam. The Eightlets also grabbed Stefan complete lifeless due to his chainsaw wound to the chest from the earlier fight. Stefan is then brought back to life but as he’s awakening a zombie comes out and attacks them.
Did someone invite the zombie from Fulci’s Zombi 2?Time Heals All Wounds… Time to Make More
Four months have past now and we see Stefan at a grave site but Heiko and a few of his friends are close by waiting for him. Another fight ensues and doesn’t go as planned for Heiko. They chase Stefan down once again but he bests them and slips away.
Thinking this movie couldn’t get more ridiculous is wrong. Back at Heikos residence, he and his brother discuss how to fix their injured brother. This leads to Heiko ripping of both his brothers heads with his bare hands taking half of one’s brain out and putting it into the others skull. By no means does this look realistic but the squishing sounds get to you… especially during the hot glue gun sequences. After doing all of this make-shift surgery, all three are back in action and ready to get Stefan.
The Eightlets are back and one finds Stefan and goes to get Heiko. This is one of the most cringe scenes as Heiko gets his penis cut off and must staple it back on. Though not graphic on the mutilation, the amount of blood makes the imagination go wild. While all this is going on, zombies start attacking. One looks as if the very same boat zombie from Lucio Fulci’s Zombi 2. Injured again, Stefan is missing his arm, but it’s nothing a soldering with an iron won’t fix!
The movie gets really gritty here and downright nasty. We meet Heiko’s girlfriend, through a flashback. A member of the Eightlets finds her and terminates her pregnancy. This is a very gruesome scene that is brutally depraved. The action jumps back to Stefan getting a new arm bolted into place in an archaic fashion. He then sets an example for a Mafia member, allowing his arm to be sawed off.
Hot glue and duct tape make for the perfect brain surgeryA Coma Brutal Finale
One of the Mafia members finds Heiko and his brother still dazed and wounded. He takes advantage of their state and reeks havoc with a sword on the two. Before he can finish them his chest explodes from a shot delivered by the third brother. This leads to the three of them being tortured and killing the downed enemy sadistically.
Fed up with the lack of success from the Eightlets Mafia, Stefan looks for help. He finds new help to bring Heiko back alive. Once again the assassins are no match for the brothers. At one point Heiko is told by his brother that Stefan has a pregnant girlfriend that they could kidnap.
The brutality sets in once again as we now see the abducted brother tied to a tree. The mafia’s mad doctor takes a makeshift drilling device and starts to torture him. The oscillates between Heiko and Michael stomping on Stefan’s pregnant girlfriend and the torture by the Eightlets. This is one of the craziest and most disturbing scenes in this crazy and disturbing film. Once more a final battle ensues between Stefan and Heiko.
The end is a bit odd, with Heiko having to kill his zombie girlfriend. He does finally get to kill Stefan and there are some awesome effects in this scene. Heiko finishes by ripping off Stefan’s face just before heading home with his only surviving brother.
The movie then cuts to black and the credits are filled with bloopers.
Talk about having a really bad day…Zack’s Take
Compared to the many horror movies I’ve seen, I have to say that this isn’t the best movie by any means. This is more of a shut your brain off and enjoy the carnage kind of movie. But, you can tell it was a passion project to the director and all involved. It is also awesome to watch and see how throughout the years they grew and evolved. Overall I would give this honestly I wouldn’t give this a high score if I was rating acting but looking at the time and effort definitely bumps it up. I have to recommend this if you ever want to just see all out craziness and gore… this is the go to movie.
Das Komabrutale Duell (1999) - A Bavarian Bloodbath - Malevolent Dark
Director: Heiko Fipper
Date Created: 1970-01-01 00:33
2.5