No Reason (2010)

Directed by: Olaf Ittenbach | 74 minutes | action, horror | Actors: Irene Holzfurtner, Matthias Engel, Alexander Gamnitzer, Andreas Pape, Annika Strauss, Ralph Willmann, Markus Hettich, Timothy Balme, Thomas Reitmair, Vlasto Peyitch, Hildegard Kocian, Dominik Bühler, Josephin-Marie Kriehmigen, Felix Decker, Karen Breece

Rarely has the title of a film been so apt as in the case of ‘No Reason’. Unfortunately for splatter director Olaf Ittenbach, this is especially true in a negative sense. Although the film achieves its goal, you have no reason to watch it at all.

In ‘No Reason’, the German pervert tries to confront us with a main character who indeed ends up in a bloodbath for no reason at all. Innocent Jennifer wakes up out of nowhere in a ‘Saw’-like setting, where she sees images through a video screen of some acquaintances being brutally murdered by a strange guy in a – yes – octopus mask. In a matter of minutes the life of the good housewife is completely turned upside down.

However, anyone who expects to be dealing with yet another ‘Saw’ clone will be disappointed, because as soon as Jennifer gets over the first shock, the story moves to a completely different setting. The video room from the beginning turns out to be just a warm-up for the further torture process and the rest of the film is set in a dim dream world, in which Jennifer is confronted with the mistakes of her life. And for those who have a special interest in tentacles: yes, the octopus man keeps returning. He functions as a kind of voice from God, guiding Jennifer through this world.

Of course there is an interesting psychological fact here, because what does it do to a person when you suddenly become involved in violence through no fault of your own and against all expectations? And how do you react if your life turns out not to be what you thought all these years? This could have had a deeply touching effect and Ittenbach certainly ventures into the psyche of his protagonist, but unfortunately he is mainly interested in his special effects. After all, the director has been making a name for himself with bloodthirsty splatter films for over fifteen years and ‘No Reason’ is no exception, psychological underpinning or not. So it’s no surprise that when he does wonder how Jennifer got involved, he swerves to take the easy road and let the entire movie take place in a dream. That provides a wonderful excuse to let the most strange and violent scenes pass by, but it does not provide very satisfying answers.

They certainly are inventive, those special effects and anyone who has a weakness for liters of fake blood and creative ways to use it will probably find something to his liking in ‘No Reason’. Those looking for a bit more content will, however, become impatient with the film. There is indeed a twist in the story and things are not as black and white as may be suggested above, but it is not all that surprising. In fact, when the redeeming word finally comes and we discover exactly why Jennifer got involved in this, it is especially disappointing, because it is an hour and a half waiting for an answer that seems hastily cobbled together to bring unity to the splatter scenes. . Nice for the ‘gorehounds’, but useless for the rest.