User reviews

For the portion of Herman Brusselmans's oeuvre I've read, the movie gave me quite the same feelings as his books. Is that a good thing? It is if you like the man's early work. It shares the very cynical humorous comments the protagonist dispenses in reaction to the other character's actions, as well as his patronizing lecturing towards the young attractive females.

None of the characters are even remotely likable. They're antisocial, immoral sometimes even homicidal ugly bastards and bitches. A normal conversation between them is simply impossible, insults and curses galore. At times it can get a bit cartoonesque.

Is it funny? Yes. Well, funny crude. Everything is quite over the top: the nudity, the violence and especially the music, which saves the film for a great deal. The soundtrack is an amalgam of Belgian and international noise rock, with some softer tracks to ease the pace.

I found it 90 minutes well spent, even if it dragged on a bit too long in the end.

The discussion about this movie is wide. Some people hate the movie, some people adore it. Probably it will be a movie which will be much more popular in time. For me it was one roller-coaster of laughing and an experience i wont forget for a long time. At the same time i saw people leaving the cinema because of the rough, unpolished use of language. I have been living in Belgium for a few years, which is an advantage to understand the humor of the used dialect. The brilliant thing about the movie is that it is a one on one translation of the writer Herman Brusselmans. I saw the movie and asked myself the question, how would i have directed this book differently. I couldn't find an answer. This is Belgina cinema on his best. A fabulous devastating trip.

EX DRUMMER is about a group of three very sick, handicapped punks who are in a punk band, practicing to play a single concert at the battle of the bands. They recruit a famous renowned writer to be their drummer. However, once he becomes part of their group he decides to take advantage of his being higher up on the social spectrum than they are and begins to manipulate them and turn them against each other. Soon they begin to lash out at each other, but this drummer's actions soon have unexpected consequences.

EX DRUMMER is an ultimately fascinating and furious piece of work. As a film, EX DRUMMER is one hell of a sick rush. I will state right now that about 95% of people who will see it will find it to be either the most disturbing film ever made or the most offensive or both. Personally, it doesn't quite reach that honor in my mind, but regardless of all that I do think that it's one of the funniest films I've seen in years and certainly one of the all time greatest black comedies. When I mean black, I mean pitch black. Blacker than coal. Black as ultimate evil.

I rarely find the content that is depicted in this film to ever be funny, but this film pushes everything to such an extreme that it becomes ultimately surreal in it's humorous nature. EX DRUMMER is such an extreme, taboo breaking, and brave film that one has to feel at least appreciative of it's success in milking so much humor out of it's grotesque horror.

The three main characters are sick. One beats and rapes people nonstop and has a skewed perspective as his view apparently is upside-down. His handicap is that he has a speech impediment, but who's to say that that's a real handicap? One is a homosexual who's mother is domineering and whose father is chained to his bed. He can't bend his arm due to a masturbation mishap. One is a deaf junkie who is also a wife beater and a father of a baby girl. His wife and child are both also junkies.

These are the most sympathetic characters however. The real monster of the film is the drummer. The drummer is rich and lives in a wonderful condo with his wife who brings other women to bed for them to have multiple sex partners with. Aside from these people, we also have a man named "Big Dick" who's penis is extremely large and dangerous. We also have a huge cast supporting cast of freaks, degenerates, queers, and general all around scum.

Imagine a combination of IRREVERSIBLE, TRAINSPOTTING, MAN BITES DOG, and DiG! and you'll have an idea as to what this film is like. This film is one of the goriest, most brutal, shocking, sexually explicit, bizarre, and gritty films I can say I've ever seen. However, it's such a fantastic and brave piece of film-making that it deserves to be admired for it's sheer reckless nature in it's extreme desires. Everyone, including black people, women, homosexuals, AND homophobic people all better beware. They might be offended by the content in this film.

While this may be uncomforting for some, this is something which draws you to a cinema (or not, for some) It might be offensive, it might be raw, but the plain stupidity depicted in this movie is not far from reality, and that is what make this movie so haunting in the first place. If you like a story about little people not making it in the big world, this movie is for you. If you like movies where things all work out in the end, stay away, not for you.

Although I must admit I like the author from the novel on which this film is based upon, I was quite shocked to see a film like this, it's quite serious in some parts, quite ridiculous in others, but never falls apart, and that is very, very smart. Thank you Belgium for giving us a decent movie from Europe this year.

"Ex Drummer" starts out great. The setting and plot are so wacky it's a delight. The characters alternately amuse and shock you with their actions. The movie has been described as a "Trainspotting" for the new millennium and while the comparison isn't totally fitting, "Ex Drummer" shares the run down cast of freaks with the Ewan McGregor vehicle.

The first half is totally brilliant, original, refreshing and with a great soundtrack as the icing on the cake. In the second half, however, the movie loses some of its wit. It's there that you realize that "Ex Drummer" isn't really going anywhere, although it all started so promising. Characters just hit, abuse and swear at each other for no apparent reason and it all becomes a bit tiring.

The movie's ending is rather anti-climatic. The credits role and you're left puzzled, feeling that this could have made a much bigger impact on you, if the story had gone somewhere else. Maybe that's not the movie's fault but the fault of the novel, which it is based upon.

In the end "Ex Drummer" is a refreshing example of non-American film-making. It will leave you with your mouth open more than just a few times. Unfortunately, the beginning promises more than the rest of the movie can keep. Still, "Ex Drummer" is a must-see. One of the most unusual movies of the past ten years.

I have rated 755 films on IMDb; I've watched many more, I suspect. Finally, a film has caused me to write a review out of pure respect to the creators.

If you like:

surreal cinema, extreme violence, dark humour, transitions from guilty laughs to gut-wrenching, sickening imagery, thought-provoking intelligent drama which superficially looks and sounds unintelligent

then you may well feel the same about this film as I do.

Quentin Tarantino is one of my all-time idols. If he had made this film the world would have raved about it.

There needs to be films made that have this type of shock effect to your mental and emotional system, but it took me three years to work it out. I watched it at the Gothenburg Film Festival and my immediate reaction was: "Heck, this shouldn't have been shown in public, I am now permanently damaged in my mind and in my soul. Help me." Now, however, after a few years of pondering the images and issues presented to me and how it was done, I must say that it is a masterpiece, utterly destroying previous conceptions of what the world is like. With great "wit" and "style" (I will refine these points!) the story is told in a rapid tempo and with no loose ends and no censoring. The "style" thing: I propose that this is realism taken to a new level, with the really, really shitty reality of these low-life misfits shown at its worst, both from within and from without as is should be presented, uncensored like a bad nightmare, but presented a if it were true. And this is the shocking part: the movie makes you feel like it is true. This is sort of balanced with the "wit" part; burlesque, ironic and totally black humour; to make a soup so thick it can't be swallowed without being chewed really well, and when you chew it you just want to spit it out because the taste makes you want to throw up. 9/10, would have got full points if it had actually made me throw up.

Based on a story by infamous Belgian novelist Herman Brusselmans, Ex Drummer is a dismal, nihilistic trip into the world of three handicapped gentlemen who want to start a rock band.

The local battle of the bands is coming up and Koen, Jan & Ivan want to participate, the only problem is they don't have a drummer. They soon decide to ask local author Dries to join their band, thinking his celebrity status may give them a better chance at winning. Seeing as all the members have their own particular handicaps, they ask Dries what his is - it seems he can't play the drums.

The band is a motley crew indeed; vocalist / guitarist Koen is a horny, skinhead rapist with a horrible lisp, bassist Jan is gay with a paralysed right arm and an obsessive mother complex, and rhythm guitarist Ivan is a deaf junkie who treats his wife and child like sh!t. Dries accepts the invitation to join their band purely for his own amusement and in the hope that he'll get a story idea from it. They name their band The Feminists.

Ex Drummer overflows with glorious politically incorrect offensiveness: rape, pedophilia, rampant misogyny, racism, homophobia, infant death, incest… there's really something for everyone. Although with the misanthropic attitude and overall bleak atmosphere coexists a sense of the surreal and an undertone of pitch black comedy. For instance the scene where Big Dick, a member of a rival band with a horse-sized appendage, forces his wife to show her wrecked vagina to Dries, the two men literally walk around in her womb as Big Dick points out the tunnel he's carved out with his mammoth member. The film doesn't shy away from graphic violence either, particularly in the last quarter - there's some rather gruesome death scenes and an extremely bloody rape / castration.

Ex Drummer is quite technically accomplished and visually stunning at times too, bizarre sequences such as the one mentioned above don't really seem out of the ordinary when Koen the skinhead rapist lives upside down in his blood-splattered house, and some scenes are shot completely backwards. The camera-work and editing are utterly frenzied - especially during the final concert - with certain sequences being superimposed one on top of the another. The fantastic soundtrack deserves a mention here too, the film opens with the awesome Lighting Bolt track 2 Morro Morro Land and continues on with songs that complement the often harsh imagery on display. The bands in the film are actually quite decent also, they all have a similar lo-fi gutter-punk sound, and The Feminists do a wicked cover of DEVO's Mongoloid.

A highly impressive feature film debut from Koen Mortier and a must see for fans of transgressive cinema.

A very raw movie that explains the life in a certain category of the population. Some people will be shocked watching this movie but this is reality. That kind of people exists. Be prepared when you see this movie. It's about racists, homophobia, disabled persons, violence, poverty, mistreating children. But there is also humor,lot of sarcasms. The movie was filmed in Ostend, my birth town and the place really fits to that movie. The soundtrack is also great. If you have the chance to see that movie don't hesitate. It give you a realistic view how some people live in the 21 th century. It also give you the chance to learn about Herman Brusselmans, the writer of the book.

The movie revolves around a couple of band members, the most abnormal and unlikely people to be in a band. Okay so basically the band is formed with few handicapped people, which is sort of unique I guess and and they are also a bit of a lunatics. The movie has a grimy premise and the characters are grimy as well and offensive, but it's still exhilarating and the sort of innovative direction made it work. I also enjoyed the music in this movie and it worked really well with the atmosphere of this movie with it's scenarios. What starts off as forming of a band goes a bit more to the sock value area, but unfortunately the shock value isn't used all that effectively. All in all it wasn't all that effective and didn't do enough in some areas.

6.6/10

Bizarro story surrounding an ex-drummer/writer who has purposely joined a band of slightly handicapped men. His reason is just really for the experience, and to escape his little world. With the personalities and behaviors of these other band-mates, it doesn't take long for our Ex-Drummer to realize it probably wasn't the greatest idea.

Ex-Drummer is one hell of a unique flick. With insane conversations, loads of sexual themes (especially homosexuality), some serious violence, and quite possibly the biggest penis ever in a movie, Ex-Drummer succeeds on all types of levels. Even more so, it does great in the acting department as well. Everything production wise, it does with really any faults.

My only two real gripes with the film was it's length. It just felt a tad too long. And the music at the end. I'm a fan of certain death metal, but not of thrash or insane music like that. But I can tell you it definitely fit the band as a whole. Insanity.

I wouldn't mind hearing a commentary for this film, since there were quite a few thought-provoking sequences. Especially the upside down aspects.

The whole movie has a cool air about it and I really dug it right from the opening sequence which had (this time) a kickass metal beat playing with it. Definitely check it out if you're into harder, almost exploitative movies. Good stuff here.

Flemish cinema. OK why not.

Pretty much the only reason why i got my hands on it in the first place, it turned out however to be quite a surprise. Deep down below the underground of Europe's cities has always provided some nasty atmospheres, from the French Irreversible to the Danish Pusher, there is always something dark and nasty… and real. This is definitely the case as well with Ex-drummer: half dark comedy, half shock value, full art.

The movie has little plot, on paper at least: bunch of idiotic semi-handicapped idiots want to form a rock band, and so they ask the local celebrity (a well published writer) to be their drummer. The characters personality however is what makes it all stick together, it's a tale of simplicity and manipulation. Each protagonist is easily distinguishable from each other, and ultimately all stand alone to represent a specific issue of society.

I understood (?) the movie as some sort of metaphor for current issues of this world: diseases, violence, ethics, sex, alienation etc… and that feeling was greatly enhance by the ending scene (hint: morals). Thumbs up for that, i'm sure there is more than meets the eyes in it.

As far as cinematography goes, there was a lot of brilliant work in there ! The intro and final scenes definitely stuck in my mind, they worked perfectly well to suck you in, and to leave you thoughtful for a while later.

Nasty piece of life representation, it manages to leave you both eerie and in disgust: how fascinating the life down the hole can be ? Also, interesting soundtrack (not necessarily good, but definitely interesting). Plenty of rock obviously, some international while some very local.

Either way, how many Flemish movies have you seen ? *Originally written for http://abstractcuriosity.tumblr.com/*

Three handicapped people want to perform at a rock show. They are missing a drummer though. This drummer must be handicapped too. They find one, and he's got a handicap alright: he can't drum. When the four combine and start practicing their song the relations between the players start to get stressed.

Ex Drummer starts as a pretty normal film where people get together to make music but quickly turns into a psychedelic shock fest. This could have worked out very well, but I think in this case it fails pretty hard as none of the things delivered as shockers actually work - a shock moment doesn't do its job if it is brought without a valid emotion and that is just what happens in this film: most scenes and sketches are just brought out, word for word, as if reading a newspaper.

The film isn't altogether bad though. Some bits are put together pretty nicely and give the idea the filmmaker really wanted to make a Flemish version of Trainspotting. That comparison doesn't hold though - while that film doesn't slip up every other scene, this one does pretty often.

So, all in all, nice try, no cigar.

5 out of 10 psyched out people

The controversial Belgian writer has been adapted into an even more controversial film. Extremely sick drama, full of black humor, explicit sexual violence, and scenes that a good horror film would not be ashamed of. But the story that this film brings is not fantasy, but the cruel reality of the lowest strata of society that we, who have better luck in life, choose not to see. "Ex Drummer" chooses to rub them on our noses, uncompromisingly and ruthlessly. The script cuts the political correctness at the root, fills us with vulgarity, and does not refrain from insulting everyone, the camera pounds us with scenes from which the stomach turns awry, and all this directed with the effect that can be compared to those of heavier drugs and accompanied by raw garage punk. The film brings a lot of freaky, eccentric, and in their own way handicapped characters, performed by mostly lesser-known actors (to most of us all completely unknown), which, along with good acting, makes them more believable and realistic. Although we consciously do not want to identify with them, I believe that deep down each of us could find ourselves in at least some of them, and, on a subconscious level, that adds to the strength of the overall impression. To bring you closer to the overall atmosphere and experience of this film, I will make a musical parallel. If we compare "Trainspotting" to a mainstream band that fills stadiums, "Ex Drummer" is a low-budget garage band, with an unpolished sound, playing the same genre much more brutal.

8/10

Anyone expecting any finesse in this flick will be immensely disappointed. But hey, the trashy off putting atmosphere is exactly where it's at. Not of punk, not about punk, not into punk, this is PUNK.