{{Short description|2022 Austrian horror film}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}} {{Infobox film | name = Razzennest | image = | caption = | director = Johannes Grenzfurthner | writer = Johannes Grenzfurthner | music = Alec Empire | country = Austria | language = English | producer = Jasmin Hagendorfer, Guenther Friesinger, Julianne Gabert, Johannes Grenzfurthner | cinematography = Florian Hofer, Philine Hofmann, Ronald von den Sternen | released = {{Film date|2022|09|29|df=y|Fantastic Fest}} | runtime = 81 minutes | studio = monochrom | distributor = | budget = }}
'''''Razzennest''''' is a 2022 Austrian supernatural, satirical horror film written and directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Top FM4 |series=Top FM4 |network=FM4 |date=24 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Razzennest Trailer präsentiert euch eine andere Art Horror |url=https://www.thrillandkill.com/news-razzennest-trailer-anderer-horror/ |website=Thrill and Kill |date=3 August 2022 |access-date=4 August 2022 |archive-date=16 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016164753/https://www.thrillandkill.com/news-razzennest-trailer-anderer-horror/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The film was produced by art group monochrom.
Grenzfurthner has described ''Razzennest'' as part of a loose trilogy with ''Masking Threshold'' (2021) and ''Solvent'' (2024), connected by their emphasis on horror and sound.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fm4.orf.at/stories/3031930/ |title=Sound ist das Wichtigste beim Film! |date=19 March 2023 |language=de |access-date=19 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kino-zeit.de/film-kritiken-trailer-streaming/razzennest-2023 |title=Kino-Zeit: Razzennest |language=de |access-date=3 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://keyframe.fandor.com/interview-johannes-grenzfurthner-on-razzennest/ |title=Fandor Keyframe: Razzennest |date=5 May 2023 |language=en |access-date=5 May 2023}}</ref>
==Plot== South African filmmaker and enfant terrible Manus Oosthuizen meets with film critic Babette Cruickshank in a Los Angeles sound studio. With key members of Manus's crew joining, they record an audio commentary track for his new "elegiac feature documentary ''Razzennest''" that cryptically deals with the legacy of the Thirty Years' War. Strange incidents occur during the recording session; one by one, the film crew members are possessed by the ghosts of soldiers and peasants from 1645, and history repeats itself.<ref name="iHorror">{{cite web |title='Razzennest' Trailer Introduces an Entirely New Kind of Horror Film From 'Masking Threshold' Director |url=https://ihorror.com/razzennest-trailer-introduces-an-entirely-new-kind-of-horror-film-from-masking-threshold-director/ |website=iHorror |date=29 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=B3 Biennale in Frankfurt: Die Kunst der bewegten Bilder |url=https://www.fr.de/frankfurt/b3-biennale-in-frankfurt-die-kunst-der-bewegten-bilder-91849137.html |website=Frankfurter Rundschau |date=13 October 2022 |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-date=16 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016164753/https://www.fr.de/frankfurt/b3-biennale-in-frankfurt-die-kunst-der-bewegten-bilder-91849137.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Cast== {{colbegin}} * Sophie Kathleen Kozeluh as Babette Cruickshank * Michael Smulik as Manus Oosthuizen * Anne Weiner as Ellen Zampaglione * Roland Gratzer as Hetti Friesenbichler * Jim Libby as Pat Kirkpatrick * Bob Rose as Bob * Joe Dante as Joe Dante, narrator<ref name="static" /> {{colend}}
==Themes== ''Razzennest'' combines elements of satire, tragicomedy, drama, horror, and ghost story,<ref name="static">{{cite web |title=Horror Writer/Director Johannes Grenzfurthner Unveils 'Razzennest' |url=https://staticmultimedia.com/horror-writer-director-johannes-grenzfurthner-unveils-razzennest/ |website=Static Multimedia |date=29 August 2022 |access-date=29 August 2022 |archive-date=29 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829210508/https://staticmultimedia.com/horror-writer-director-johannes-grenzfurthner-unveils-razzennest/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and has been described as a self-reflexive film about filmmaking. In a statement for ''Daily Dead'', Grenzfurthner said that the film allowed him to write both "a love letter to genre films" and a satire of "pretentious arthouse films", while also mocking the conventions of genre cinema. He also described the film as a reflection on the legacy of the Thirty Years' War and on what he called the "undead legacy of murderous Christianity".<ref name="Daily Dead">{{cite web |title=Interview with Filmmaker, Writer, Artist and Performer Johannes Grenzfurthner |url=https://www.grimoireofhorror.com/the-banshee/interview-johannes-grenzfurthner/ |website=Grimoire of Horror |date=27 July 2022 |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001060006/https://www.grimoireofhorror.com/the-banshee/interview-johannes-grenzfurthner/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
Although Grenzfurthner called ''Razzennest'' "bizarre", he stated that he considered it more accessible than his previous film ''Masking Threshold''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Der Wahnsinn unter dem Mikroskop |url=https://fm4.orf.at/stories/3023312/ |website=ORF FM4 |date=12 April 2022 |access-date=24 June 2022 |archive-date=26 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626001024/https://fm4.orf.at/stories/3023312/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Production==
===Development=== Grenzfurthner has described the film's form as a practical and aesthetic response to the difficulty of making a historical film about the Thirty Years' War on an independent budget. In a 2025 interview, he said that several ideas merged into the project, including his long-standing interest in the Thirty Years' War and the question of how to make such a subject feasible without producing a large-scale historical epic. This led to the idea of using a film commentary track as the narrative engine, allowing the events of the film to unfold primarily through audio rather than through conventional dramatic reconstruction.<ref>{{cite web |last=Panico |first=Sam |title=Exclusive interview with Johannes Grenzfurthner part 3 |url=https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2025/01/08/exclusive-interview-with-johannes-grenzfurthner-part-3/ |website=B&S About Movies |date=8 January 2025 |access-date=23 May 2026}}</ref>
In an interview with VOD Club, Grenzfurthner connected the film to his broader interest in first-person narration in horror cinema. He stated that literary horror frequently uses the first-person perspective, while horror films often translate such material into a more conventional visual third-person mode. He described ''Razzennest'' as an attempt to explore how the atrocities of the Thirty Years' War could be represented cinematically, using the film's metafictional structure to examine the difficulty of communicating such violence through a montage of images alone.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview Johannes Grenzfurthner |url=https://www.vodclub.online/magazin/interview-johannes-grenzfurthner/ |website=VOD Club |access-date=23 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref>
===Filming=== [[File:Razzennest film shoot inside one of the Schwedenhöhlen (Rohrwald).jpg|thumb|''Razzennest'' film shoot inside one of the Schwedenhöhlen (Rohrwald)]] Principal photography started on 2 March 2022, entirely in the Rohrwald region, with most of the shots in the villages Oberrohrbach (Leobendorf), Niederhollabrunn, Niederfellabrunn, and Leitzersdorf.<ref name="thundergrunt">{{cite web |title=Shrimp Night! #22, Johannes Grenzfurthner |url=https://thundergrunt.com/e/shrimp-night-o22-johannes-grenzfurthner/ |website=Thundergrunt |date=5 September 2022 |access-date=6 September 2022 |archive-date=6 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906141324/https://thundergrunt.com/e/shrimp-night-o22-johannes-grenzfurthner/ |url-status=live |last1=Development |first1=Podbean }}</ref> Grenzfurthner stated that the film "provided an exciting chance to portray a fascinating landscape, the Rohrwald, which is only a few kilometers from where I grew up."<ref name="Daily Dead" />
As the plot focuses on the so-called ''Schwedenhöhlen'' (Swedish Caves), earthen stables that were carved into the loess in the 16th and 17th centuries, the film was shot at these locations, using them as part of its visual and historical setting.
The visual layer of the film consists largely of unpopulated images of the Rohrwald and its surroundings. Reviews described the fictional documentary footage as including static shots of rural objects and landscapes, drone images of the area and nearby Burg Kreuzenstein, as well as cave-like tunnels in the forest.<ref>{{cite web |title=Johannes Grenzfurthner’s experimental supernatural horror “Razzennest” is a disquieting sensory experience that’ll leave you stunned |url=https://elementsofmadness.com/2022/11/28/razzennest/ |website=Elements of Madness |date=28 November 2022 |access-date=23 May 2026}}</ref> Grenzfurthner cited Nikolaus Geyrhalter's documentary ''Homo Sapiens'' as an influence on the static, depopulated visual style of the fictional documentary within the film.<ref>{{cite web |last=Panico |first=Sam |title=Exclusive interview with Johannes Grenzfurthner part 3 |url=https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2025/01/08/exclusive-interview-with-johannes-grenzfurthner-part-3/ |website=B&S About Movies |date=8 January 2025 |access-date=23 May 2026}}</ref>
===Post-production and sound design=== Grenzfurthner edited the film himself and said in interviews that he wanted to be precise with the style and pace associated with the fictitious director/editor Oosthuizen.<ref>{{cite web |title=Johannes Grenzfurthner, interview |url=https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-ahsb8-12de865 |website=The Overlook Hour Podcast |access-date=14 October 2022 |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014135847/https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-ahsb8-12de865 |url-status=live |last1=Development |first1=Podbean }}</ref>
Sound was central to the film's production concept. In a 2023 interview with ''Keyframe'', Grenzfurthner said that his work on ''Masking Threshold'', especially its use of sound to represent tinnitus and psychological disintegration, led him to further explore dramatic sound in ''Razzennest''. He worked with Daniel Hasibar and Fabian Wessely on the film's sound design.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dollar |first=Steve |title=Interview: Johannes Grenzfurthner on “Razzennest” |url=https://keyframe.fandor.com/interview-johannes-grenzfurthner-on-razzennest/ |website=Keyframe |publisher=Fandor |date=5 May 2023 |access-date=23 May 2026}}</ref> Critics frequently noted that the film's horror is conveyed primarily through voices, foley effects, and sound rather than through visible action. ''Film Threat'' described the film as an unusually claustrophobic work in which the audience never sees the main characters' actions, while the images function as tonal counterpoints to what is heard on the commentary track.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gibson |first=Bradley |title=Razzennest |url=https://filmthreat.com/reviews/razzennest/ |website=Film Threat |date=7 October 2022 |access-date=23 May 2026}}</ref>
===Music=== The soundtrack was created by German experimental electronic musician Alec Empire.<ref>{{cite web |title=Razzennest (2022) |url=https://www.monochrom.film/feature/razzennest/ |website=monochrom.film |date=29 August 2022 |access-date=28 August 2022 |archive-date=28 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828112024/https://www.monochrom.film/feature/razzennest/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet |author=Alec Empire (Atari Teenage Riot) |user=ATRiot_ |number=1553129700473638913 |title=Razzennest Trailer is out! Upcoming film with Alec Empire's soundtrack}}</ref> Critic Richard Propes described Empire's original score as complementing the visuals without dominating them.<ref>{{cite web |title=Razzennest (2022) |url=https://theindependentcritic.com/razzennest |website=The Independent Critic |date=2 October 2022 |access-date=2 October 2022 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002032120/https://theindependentcritic.com/razzennest |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Release== ''Razzennest'' had its world premiere on 29 September 2022 at Fantastic Fest as part of the ''Burnt Ends'' showcase. Festival curator Annick Mahnert called it "an audio commentary feature film filled with surprises and inside jokes."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Film lineup |url=https://2022.fantasticfest.com/burnt-ends |access-date=16 October 2022 |website=2022.fantasticfest.com |archive-date=5 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005053654/https://2022.fantasticfest.com/burnt-ends |url-status=live}}</ref> The European premiere took place at the B3 Biennial of the Moving Image in Frankfurt.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/kultur/nft-und-neuer-film-bei-der-frankfurter-biennale-b3-18388796.html |title=Frankfurter Biennale B3: Kunst für Goldgräber |website=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung |access-date=15 October 2022 |last=Magel |first=Eva-Maria |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014204241/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/kultur/nft-und-neuer-film-bei-der-frankfurter-biennale-b3-18388796.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Razzennest |url=https://b3biennale.de/en/works/razzennest |access-date=16 October 2022 |website=B3 Biennial of the Moving Image |language=en |archive-date=10 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010011755/https://b3biennale.de/en/works/razzennest |url-status=live}}</ref> Festivals such as Nightmares Film Festival, A Night of Horror International Film Festival,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Program 2022 |url=http://www.anightofhorror.com/2022-program |access-date=16 October 2022 |website=A Night of Horror International Film Festival |language=en-US |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014193421/http://www.anightofhorror.com/2022-program |url-status=live}}</ref> South African Horrorfest, Cucalorus Film Festival,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cucalorus Film Festival |url=https://cucalorus.eventive.org/schedule/633deab9430cc4006a349d59 |access-date=16 October 2022 |website=cucalorus.eventive.org |archive-date=6 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006202009/https://cucalorus.eventive.org/schedule/633deab9430cc4006a349d59 |url-status=live}}</ref> Feratum Film Festival in Mexico,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://encuadres.com.mx/nota/2706/Feratum-XI-listo-para-aterrorizar-calles-y-plazas-de-Patzcuaro |title=Feratum XI listo para aterrorizar calles y plazas de Pátzcuaro |language=es |access-date=26 October 2022}}</ref> and BizarroLand Film Festival have screened the film. The Austrian premiere was at Diagonale 2023 in Graz.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000144332497/diagonale-2023-zwischen-schraegen-liebesfilmen-und-horrorpornofilmen |title=Schräge Liebe und Horror-Porno auf der Diagonale 2023 |language=de-AT |access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref>
It was released on the US streaming service Fandor on 2 May 2023.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}
==Reception==
===Critical response=== Critical response has been positive. The film holds a 93% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with a weighted average of 7/10.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/razzennest |title=''Razzennest'' Movie Reviews |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=2 December 2021 |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011162437/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/razzennest |url-status=live}}</ref> ''Film Threat'' awarded ''Razzennest'' 8/10 and wrote that "[t]he soundscape and voice acting create an alternate world", calling the film "an effective and unique filmic (and audio) experience."<ref>{{cite web |title=Review: Razzennest |url=https://filmthreat.com/reviews/razzennest/ |website=Film Threat |date=7 October 2022 |access-date=7 October 2022 |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007192750/https://filmthreat.com/reviews/razzennest/ |url-status=live}}</ref> ''Daily Dead'' called ''Razzennest'' "genuinely thought-provoking, scary, a bit satirical and bitingly funny."<ref>{{cite web |title=Fantastic Fest 2022 Review: Razzennest is a Crazy, Fun Outside-the-Box Horror Story |url=https://dailydead.com/fantastic-fest-2022-razzennest-is-a-crazy-fun-outside-the-box-horror-story/ |website=Daily Dead |date=26 September 2022 |access-date=26 September 2022 |archive-date=26 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926033757/https://dailydead.com/fantastic-fest-2022-razzennest-is-a-crazy-fun-outside-the-box-horror-story/ |url-status=live}}</ref> ''iHorror'' wrote that the film is "an entirely new kind of horror film."<ref name="iHorror" />
''Daily Grindhouse''{{'s}} Katelyn Nelson described the film as "a novel approach to the forced confrontation with history", while Melissa Hannon of ''Horror Geek Life'' wrote that "the sharp satirical dialogue rarely misses a beat."<ref>{{cite web |title='Razzennest' Blends Ghost Story and Satire in Avant Garde Fashion |url=http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/fantastic-fest-2022-razzennest-blends-ghost-story-and-satire-in-avant-garde-fashion/ |website=Daily Grindhouse |date=27 September 2022 |access-date=26 September 2022 |archive-date=26 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926221059/http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/fantastic-fest-2022-razzennest-blends-ghost-story-and-satire-in-avant-garde-fashion/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title='Razzennest' Review: A Uniquely Horrifying Auditory Experience |url=https://www.horrorgeeklife.com/2022/09/29/razzennest-johannes-grenzfurthner-review |website=Horror Geek Life |date=29 September 2022 |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001055135/https://www.horrorgeeklife.com/2022/09/29/razzennest-johannes-grenzfurthner-review |url-status=live}}</ref> Timothy Glaraton of ''Horror Obsessive'' wrote that ''Razzennest'' was "truly unlike anything I've ever seen", and Louisa Moore of ''Screen Zealots'' said that "from the vivid and violent descriptions to the bloodcurdling screams, ''Razzennest'' is the stuff of nightmares."<ref>{{cite web |title=Fantastic Fest 2022: My Top Five Films From The Fest! |url=https://horrorobsessive.com/2022/10/01/fantastic-fest-2022-my-top-five-films-from-the-fest/ |website=Horror Obsessive |date=1 October 2022 |access-date=5 October 2022 |archive-date=5 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005060826/https://horrorobsessive.com/2022/10/01/fantastic-fest-2022-my-top-five-films-from-the-fest/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Razzennest |url=https://screenzealots.com/2022/10/07/razzennest/ |website=Screen Zealots |date=7 October 2022 |access-date=9 October 2022 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009105840/https://screenzealots.com/2022/10/07/razzennest/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Screen Anarchy's Kyle Logan wrote that the film brings "a horrific audio drama into cinema" while retaining "the power of its images" and audio-only narrative.<ref>{{cite web |title=Panic Fest 2023 Review: Razzennest Successfully Brings an Audio Drama to Film |url=https://screenanarchy.com/2023/04/panic-fest-2023-review-razzennest-successfully-brings-the-audio-drama-to-film.html |website=Screen Anarchy |date=24 April 2023 |access-date=25 April 2023}}</ref>
===Awards=== * ''Best Director'' for Johannes Grenzfurthner for ''Razzennest'' at Nightmares Film Festival 2022 * ''Best Screenplay'' for Johannes Grenzfurthner for ''Razzennest'' at South African Horrorfest 2022 * ''Best Editing'' for Johannes Grenzfurthner for ''Razzennest'' at South African Horrorfest 2022 * ''Special Jury Mention'' for ''Razzennest'' at ''Film Maudit 2.0'' in Los Angeles, 2023 * ''Antonio Margheriti Award'' for ''Razzennest'' at the ''TOHorror Fantastic Film Fest'' in Turin, Italy, 2023
==See also== {{Portal|Austria|Horror|Film|Comedy}} * Art horror * Supernatural horror film
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * {{IMDb title|id=19445266|title=Razzennest}} * {{Letterboxd title|razzennest}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Razzennest}} Category:2022 films Category:Austrian horror films Category:Austrian independent films Category:2022 English-language films Category:2022 multilingual films Category:2022 horror films Category:Found footage horror films Category:Films shot in Austria Category:Films set in Austria Category:Films set in 2022 Category:Films about filmmaking Category:Self-reflexive films Category:Films about death Category:Films about spirit possession Category:Films about religion Category:Films critical of religion Category:Thirty Years' War films Category:Films about mercenaries Category:Films about film directors and producers Category:Films about films Category:Monochrom Category:Films directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner Category:English-language independent films Category:English-language horror films Category:Postmodern films Category:2022 Austrian films