EDITOR'S NOTE: Tobias Piwek made the leap from being one of Fear Zone's biggest fans, posting comments as "Johnny Cool," to contributing numerous music reviews and looks at German horror films. I loved hosting his set visits to German film productions, and his contributions to our International Zone.


I first met the Rohnstock brothers at the set of the second-to-last Schnaas/Rose splatterfest UNRATED - THE MOVIE, where I spend one weekend to play a zombie and take a look behind the scenes of the (back then) latest effort of two of Germany's leading gore- and horror masters. Lars, the older of the two Rohnstocks, was one of the film's executive producers as well as the still photographer on set, and Marc, the younger one, served as 2nd assistant director and also put on the masks of several of the movie's cult fiends, such as Slice Face, Melting Man and Death Trooper. Right from the start I got along with both of 'em mighty fine and I got to know them not only as really kind and easy-going persons, but also as totally devoted and enthusiastic fans of the indy horror genre.

Hence, I did of course not say "No", when they asked me about a month later, if I would like to come down to their hometown of Bingen/Germany to play a little role as a flesh-eating blood zombie in their new movie NECRONOS - TOWER OF DOOM, which is a freaky, over-the-top mixture of the fantasy, horror and splatter genres that includes evil wizards, axe-wielding demons, black-hearted witches and death-bringing zombies on the one hand and a fair amount of naked titties, a good number of stunning locations and tons of extremely bloody torture and killing scenes on the other.

One might, of course, argue whether or not NECRONOS' story has much to offer for the more sophisticated ones among the horror fans, but who cares? Cause after all, an all too profound and decided character study is not what the filmmakers went for in the first place anyway... they made NECRONOS cause they wanted to create a fast-paced, gore-filled party movie, whose gross splatter scenes please even the most hard-boiled gorehounds and whose overall-entertainment value stays sky-high throughout the whole 100 minutes of running time. And from what I've seen so far, NECRONOS will surely live up to its promises.

Though it's been shot on a shoestring four- or five-figure budget, the film doesn't look cheap and loveless at all (like so many other ultra-lowbudget-splatter flicks unfortunately do these days), but rather does it prove to be a true labor of love and passion... a fact that is, among others, underlined by the impressive locations (dungeons, castles, etc), the well-executed and (in many cases also) highly inventive death scenes and last but not least also the impressive "German Splatter All Star" cast that the Rohnstocks have gathered for their film.

The list of people, who took part in the movie, includes Andreas Schnaas (VIOLENT SHIT), Timo Rose (FEARMAKERS), Marcel Walz (LA PETITE MORT), Manoush (BARRICADE), Thomas Kercmar (SLASHER), Magey Kalley (KARL THE BUTCHER VS AXE), Andreas Pape (TIMO ROSE'S BEAST), Martin Hentschel (BLACK DEATH), Rod Usher (Singer of THE OTHER) and Marc Trinkhaus (ZOMBIE DOOM), as well as dozens of up-and-coming horror actors and actresses such as Mario Zimmerschitt, Timo Fuchs, Alexander Andeska and Tanja Karius... and not to forget, yours truly had a tiny little bit-part as one of Necronos' undead minions, too. ;) So all in all I'm sure that every fan of German indy- and lowbudget horror will enjoy the film for the cool opportunity alone to spot all those familiar faces and witness their cruel, gut-wrenching deaths.

A first, blood-filled trailer has already been shown a few weeks ago at the "Weekend Of Horror" convention in Bottrop/Germany and from what I've heard, the release date is set for mid-2010. 'Til then, pop in on Lars and Marc's official homepage (you can also download the official, uncut trailer there) and stay tuned for the latest news on NECRONOS - TOWER OF DOOM!!