As my intended screening Rabies sold out, late afternoon arrived and I was looking at my second unexpected film of the day, German underground thriller Urban Explorers. Directed by Andy Fetscher, the film follows a group of adventurous twenty-something who get their kicks by explorering the neglected underground world of Berlin.
As they get dangerously into increasingly, remote Nazi themed areas, one of them has an accident and is unable to move, but getting help becomes tricky as a strange and clearly mental Former East German body guard named Armin is discovered to be living beneath the surface, stuck in something of a time warp.
Unfortunately that’s about as much as an honest review as I can give as the screening was a bit of a botched job. After having no sound for the first five minutes, it turned out that the print was without subtitles. This seemed to have two effects on the audience – some enjoyed the threatening sense of alienation at not totally understanding the ramblings of the psychotic Armin, others found it frustrating. I fell into the latter.
However, without having a clue what Armin was saying didn’t ruin what was a generally well was made, genuinely suspenseful film with one great fridge-related scare and a surprisingly brutal ending.
An extremely shocked and apologetic Fetscher took to the stage afterwards and apologised for the print, telling Frightfesters that the dialogue was important and that we unfortunately missed some great jokes. Out of respect for what could be a better film with subtitles, I will let my review rest until I get the chance to see the film as it was intended.
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