Strangled (2016, A Martfüi Rem)

UK Eureka! Blu-ray and DVD combo edition


GREAT Hungarian crime drama about the murders that took place in the small country town of Martfüi during the 1950's and 1960's.
Hideous murders where the perp necrophiliac killer murdered his victims and then had sex with the bodies.
The film starts in 1957 and that's the year after the 1956 uprising against the Soviet junta. The revolution was quashed and no killers
on the loose was accepted by the regime. When a woman working at the factory is murdered and raped a suspect had to be found
quickly, and her boyfriend Akos Réti (Jaszberenyi Gábor) is sentenced to life after a being tortured and having a hasty trial.

The killer stalks women on their way home from work, and 7 years later, in 1964, he strikes again and the local police led by detective
Bóta (Anger Zsolt) unsuccessfully investigates and bogs upp the case ... until a young prosecutor (Bárnai Péter) turns up and takes
over the case. He believes that all the crimes are committed by one man, a serial killer, and he wants to re-open the Réti case.
But high officials involved in the 1957 rigged trial of Réti does everything to hinder the idealistic prosecutor and to bury the case.

After a while, about 36 minutes into the film, we get to see the killer, Pal Bognar (Hajduk Károly) and he's married and with a kid.
Working as a truck driver at the local shoe factory he's known ... and unfeared ... by all, including the female workers so when offering
them a lift they accept without any fear. Then he murders them and the killings are grisly, especially the last murder, beware, yuck!

The actors are great and the atmosphere almost oppressively dark. You can feel the fright and pain of the victims and Károly gives an
impressive if disgusting performance as the sick fuck perp. It's depressing thinking about it, that abominable freaks as Pal Bognar do
exist among us and so easily can exploit the naivety and positive thoughts off his victims causing so much pain and sorrow.
Nasty creeps like him should be exterminated like cockroaches.

Instead of, as with a swedish rapist-murderer who raped and killed a small girl out cycling, being given a "Fuck-room" at prison to meet
one of his girlfriends. Yes, probably excited over his crimes he gets bags of love letters from Swedish women. Humans are evil. Sick.
Yes, watching this film won't put you in a good mood for sure, but the film is very well made and raises thoughts about crime, twisted
souls, man's capacity of evil and the fragility of our existence.

Presented in 2.35:1 widescreen and a 5.1 DTS-HD MA hungarian audio with english subtitles or 2.0 stereo.
Blu-ray in region B and DVD in region 2

 

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