Flashback - Mörderische Ferien

Ten years after witnessing the brutal murder of her parents by a sickle wielding maniac in a dress, Jeanette (Valerie Niehaus) is discharged from a mental institution to take up work as a French tutor for a trio of spoilt teenagers. However, her new life becomes a nightmare once again when a mysterious killer starts to bump off those around her using a sickle as a weapon…

A forgettable title and bland DVD cover did very little to get me worked up about this film, which I only ended up watching because I wanted to gain back some much needed shelf space. But what I imagined would be just another extremely tedious, crappily directed, shot-on-video American slasher turned out to be something slightly more interesting: a predictable but surprisingly polished German slasher, based on a screenplay by Hammer legend Jimmy Sangster and atrociously dubbed into English, which delivers both bloody violence and tongue-in-cheek silliness.

Slick direction, impressive cinematography (with great use of wonderful scenery), decent performances (despite the dubbing), juicy death scenes (including the demise of several cuddly pets) and fun visual references to other horror movies all add to the entertainment factor, but sadly the farcical humour—which comes to the fore in the final act—does detract from the overall effectiveness of the film.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for having the cojones to liquify a cat and bisect a pooch.

Overall: B+ / 7 of 10 Jeanette is a young woman living in mental health facility since she was a girl. She is haunted by the nightmares of when her parents were brutally murdered by a serial killer with a fetish for killing his victims with a sickle while wearing women's clothing. When the doctor's release she is hired a French tutor for the children of a well-to-do business man. But her new found life out in the real world is short lived when the killer comes back for her. The direction is above average for a film of this nature with good visual flare that owes to several masters of the genre (Dario Argento). The script is a rehash of a lot films. Scream, Psycho and I Know What You Did Last Summer come to mind some of the deaths are lifts from other films but the humor injected into the story is grin inducing. The acting is par for a horror movie that never takes itself too seriously. The photography is excellent. There are many scenes that have cool lighting and camerawork with lots of cranes and big establishing shots. The editing is straight forward and doesn't get in the way. The music is fun and just as over the top as the rest of the film.The film has a decent amount of blood and will keep the gore hounds entertained with slashing, mutilated bodies and snowblown body parts (a really fun scene on its' own). Overall we have a standard horror script that borrows heavily from the genre but mixes in some fun comedy and an irreverence that's all its' own. An interesting and fun twist ending meet you at the end. The is a light hearted German film that is equal parts blood and comedy. Great fun!

Ik like Horror movies very much. And I rented this movie because I liked the story. The movie is spoken in German, but that doesn´t mind me. I like story with big houses and this is one of them. The movie isn´t very scary but it is much fun to watch. 8 of 10

This film was an average slasher film that heavily copies other films already done in the genre. It isn't bad, but it's not great and there's really nothing new. The high point would have to be Elke Sommer playing the character of Frau Lust (that's pronounced Loost).

The visuals in the movie are outstanding, if it deserves some praise then it is for the above average cinematography. The audio, on the DVD at least, is presented in it's original German format or a dubbed English format. I watched a few minutes in the German audio and it just didn't do much for me, and i enjoy native language films with subtitles. I can understand German very well, but i switched over to the English dub and enjoyed it much more. It's almost comical at times in the English format and i would recommend viewing it that way...it's just a touch over the top and adds to the whole experience.

Another thing is...BLOOD, BLOOD, BLOOD. The annoying teenage idiots in the movie make you want to hate them and cheer for the killer hunting them down near the end.

The ending? In one word, dumb. Why is it that every movie these days has to have some lame "Sixth Sense" shocker ending that makes little sense. It seems to be the trend these days and it's getting old.

Conclusion: I give it a 5 out of 10. This is worth a single viewing for fans of the genre. I really don't have the urge to watch it again anytime soon, but i wasn't bored. People who are not fans of the genre will probably hate it...

I won't waste time repeating what many others here have already said; I just wanted to add my support for the film because I really enjoyed it. I think it's current 5.1 rating is criminally low.

If you like German Horror films, then you might like this one; it is no 'ANATOMIE' by any stretch of the imagination. I REALLY loved that film and thought it was quite sharp and brilliant! This one doesn't even come close to that level, but if you are in the mood for a simple but entertaining slasher film, then you'll probably enjoy this one, and the English dub isn't too bad.

Just one slight caution though... If you really love animals... well..., uh... let's just say that some beloved pets do meet their demise in rather grisly ways. But, the way it is done plays well into the dark humour of the film and doesn't go out of it's way to be overly cruel about it. However, if you are sensitive about animals (or you enjoy making nice protein shakes after your workout... heh heh...) then you might want to keep that in mind.

Not a masterpiece by any means, but entertaining and with some good twists that catch you by surprise...