Ogroff - The Mad Mutilator

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Ogroff" or "Mad Mutilator")

directed by N.G. Mount (as Norbert Georges Mount)
France 1983

Easily surpassing DEVIL STORY as the cheapest and worst piece of French fantastique, OGROFF: THE MAD MUTILATOR is about a scarred lumberjack once decorated as a war hero for decimating an entire German troop but was soon suspected of being behind a number of disappearances of locals in the Orleans Forest. We see right away that this is indeed the case as he hacks up a little girl and her father before capturing the mother for a later snack. A young woman enters the forest in search of Ogroff, and it seems that her murderous urges match his when she dispatches her guide in a grisly fashion; but she manages to miss Ogroff several times as he dismembers various campers, motorists, and woodsmen to feed himself and something in a pit beneath his shack with its TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE-inspired decor. No sooner does Ogroff find domestic bliss than the zombified remains of his WWII victims rise from the grave to take vengeance upon him and chomp on some locals. Howard Vernon - whose career encompassed supporting roles in films like Jean-Pierre Melville's BOB THE GAMBLER and leads in films like Jess Franco's COUNTESS PERVERSE - lends the film a degree of respectability at the last moment as the subject of a recurring cutaway subplot. Shot on Super 8mm, frequently out-of-focus, raggedly edited, with odd dubbing and stolen effects dropped directly onto the magnetic soundtrack (wiping the live sound under it and creating dropouts and click thuds), library music along with one catchy original synth track, OGROFF is more home movie than underground filmmaking. Although director N.G. Mount intended a serious effort inspired by TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and the like, he was not amused when the film was interpreted as a parody when screened at a Super 8 film festival. Genre writer and Eurocult actor Alain Petit (ZOMBIE LAKE) appears as one of the victims. The effects were the work of N.G. Mount himself working from materials provided by France's make-up effects pioneer Benoit Lestang (LIVING DEAD GIRL) who is credited as an actor in the film.

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release: 4 December 2012 (France)

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Comparison:

Videonomicon (Original Master) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Videonomicon (2016 Colour Graded Remaster) - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for all the Screen Caps!

DVD Box Covers

Distribution

Videonomicon

Region 1 - NTSC

Runtime	1:27:30	1:27:30
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.52 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.52 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Videonomicon (Original Master)
Bitrate: Videonomicon (2016 Colour Graded Remaster)
Audio	French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono	French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Subtitles	English, French, and Spanish
Features	Release Information: Studio: Videonomicon Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: � Original Tape Transfer (4:3; 1:27:30) � 2016 Colour Graded Remaster (4:3; 1:27:30) � Still Gallery � Trailer (4:3; 1:29) � Previews � DVD-ROM: Poster Art, Ad Mat, two VHS covers, and three photo sheets. � Booklet featuring writings and reviews by Andy Bolus and Joseph Z. Ziemba � Reversible Cover DVD Release Date: Amaray Chapters 16

Comments

Shot on Super 8mm and mastered on Betacam SP PAL tape, OGROFF - Canadian boutique label Videonomicon's third release after SCIENCE CRAZED and RYAN'S BABE - has always looked soft, grainy, out of focus, and with nauseous color. The original tape master encode is occasionally more saturated but the 2016 regrade removes the color cast and generally looks more consistent from shot to shot. Neither could be described as definitive or even remotely attractive. The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio is as clean as it can be given the ragged sound editing (with dropouts and click thuds the inevitable side effects of splicing the actual film track rather than creating a new one). Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles are also provided. The French disc from Artus Films also has English, Spanish, and Italian subtitles for the feature, but its superior extras (an interview with the director, an interview with zombie actor Bruno Terrior, and an unused opening) are not subtitled. Besides a newly created trailer, the disc also a booklet with reprinted reviews by fellow DIY filmmaker Andy Bolus and Bleeding Skull's Joseph Z. Ziemba.

The disc can be ordered with a choice of three covers directly from Videonomicon.

- Eric Cotenas

DVD Menus

Screen Captures

(Videonomicon (Original Master) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Videonomicon (2016 Colour Graded Remaster) - Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)
Subtitle sample