Garden of Love (2003) by Olaf Ittenbach

Director: Olaf Ittenbach

Year: 2003

Country: Germany

Alternate Titles: The Haunting of Rebecca Verlaine; Born Undead

Genre: Ghosts

Plot:

After the gruesome murder of her parents, a woman grows up with no memory of the events and tries to move on with her life, when a series of visions points her to the ghosts of her murdered parents, bringing her back to the house to let them seek retribution against those who killed them.

Review:

This was a highly likable and rather enjoyable genre effort. Among the better elements found here are the generally solid setup that provides this with quite a lot of intriguing points that bring about the complex storyline. Starting off with the murder of her parents and the subsequent trauma inflicted upon her as a young girl, she manages to hold off her memory of the event until she gets to be a young adult, when she starts to get exposed to a series of ghostly visions from her parents that start to turn everything around, providing this with a fun starting point. The resulting exploration of the night and why she’s unable to remember anything, and the investigation that takes place here into her past and those around her, sets up the film with a fun scenario that keeps this one moving along at a steady clip.

This allows for a great second half as she manages to uncover further evidence about the night in question and how it all ties into the rest of the plot. The idea of trying to figure out what happened that night and trying to piece together the different clues from the family she grew up with and the boyfriend that tried to help her piece the clues together, she’s adamant about trying to fix the more the visions continue. As it finally makes it clear that something happened to her and that she’s been lied to, which needs to be corrected, the reveals that come about trying to overcome the obstacles involved in explaining the connection she has with the ghosts of her parents appearing to her trying to get their killers brought to justice ties everything together into a solid enough feature.

That all gives the film a great setting for a solid series of ghostly encounters and graphic setpieces. The opening massacre of the family and other members of the household gives this a great setup to get this going, offering up a brutal and shocking series of attacks that lead to some great deaths. The scenes of them interacting with her and trying to come to terms with the ghostly, deformed zombie-like beings in her face popping up out of nowhere offers an equally fun jump scares, while the different massacres that take place in her house where the ghosts appear out of nowhere and start ripping the different trespassers in the house features a slew of impressive deaths that leaves a fun slew of carnage in its wake. Putting the finale in place, which wraps everything up with a lot to like in great deaths following up a fun series of reveals in place, there’s quite a lot to like here.

There are a few slight drawbacks in place here. The main issue here is that the whole second half, involving her going around trying to make sense of what the ghosts are leading her to, involving the identity of those who killed them, drags the pacing down without much in the way of ghostly interactions. By making it so that the ghosts are trapped on the property and are unable to wield their powers, affecting the guilty party, it keeps them off-screen without much purpose as she tries to figure out what’s going on and who the guilty party is without any of their presence being necessary. Since it also manages to highlight one of the most obvious reveals possible, where the most likely source is the one responsible and not even introducing any red herrings or false leads, it doesn’t have much impact either. With its obvious low-budget origins as well, these all manage to hold this back.

Overview: ****/5

An impressive and generally enjoyable German ghost movie, there’s a lot to like here and only a few minor drawbacks, which leave this one rather fun for what it is. Those with an interest in this style of genre fare, who don’t mind the drawbacks on display, or who are fans of the creative crew, will have the most to like, while most others out there should heed caution.