DIRECTOR Matthias Olof Eich WRITER Matthias Olof Eich; T. Vicky Germain (translation) STARS Lili Schackert; Esther Maaß; Ralph Willmann DVD 16 April
Where to begin… I generally jump at the chance to see a low-budget, first-time attempt; it’s a pleasure to view the work of passion these affairs tend to be. The problem with Break is there appears little potential in Matthias Olof Eich, director, writer and editor — the latter role he is particularly, excruciatingly bad at — of this pointless mess. It will make you laugh, but this will be for all the wrong reasons.
So, the story. A young woman has broken up with her boyfriend, and three of her chums decide on a camping trip in the woods to cheer her up. They’re hunted and killed, with a little bit of rape — to be fair, this particular aspect is done reasonably well — to make it interesting. Speaking of, the character-with-a-camera gimmickry was clearly an attempt to instil something of the like, interest, that is, but this comes across as nothing other than deeply irritating.
That is all there is in terms of story. Granted, films of this ilk don’t require complex subplot to work, the driving factor of a character’s fear more important. Break therefore places far too much focus on stunted, badly-acted banter. This is difficult to understand at points, and I wonder why subtitles weren’t chosen over spoken English; foreign language is no barrier for horror fans, after all. Bad film, however, is.
