Razzennest is a brew of artfully shot documentary images set as religious and political critique combined with a found-footage horror film performed on a commentary track.

Let me unpack that.

The Razzennest onscreen is by fictional director Manus Oosthuizen (MIchael Smulik), who is recording a commentary track along with an interviewer, producer, and others. The images combine landscapes and religious iconography as criticism of the devastation of The Thirty Years’ War, which destabilized parts of Europe for years and led to all manner of atrocities, including witch burnings. In part, the film, as Oosthuizen sees it, is commenting on these horrors and the lack of any retribution from the religious institutions that prolonged and gained from the cruelty and bloodshed.

In the same way that Oosthuizen sees the war haunting the landscapes in his film, the images begin to not only haunt but also possess those taking part in the recording. They become possessed by people representing perspectives from the sides of The Thirty Years’ War and begin acting out those barbarities in scenes that play like part zombie, part cannibal film. The images impossibly begin to interplay with the sound. The movie is either controlling the interactions of those seeing it, or acting like a bizarre synthesis between the historical events alluded to and the present-day recording session.

Given this setup, the religious iconography of the documentary film, and the initial awkward dialogue of the interview, more than a few people won’t make it through this movie. I assume this alienation is one of its goals. For those interested in film, it provides some perverse thrills buried within the egoistic buffoonery of director Oosthuizen. He’s in a double role, as king and jester, able to deservedly skewer contemporary film culture on one hand, and on the other, be a pompous twit. Along with the Herzogian bravado of certain metaphysical and existential statements on cinema, Oosthuizen also gets to be the source of much of the humor. The more juvenile, the better: “Eggers can suck my Aster!” or “You can’t put the shit back in the muskrat.”

If anything, the movie slams together disparate genres and tones. There’s a quality of conceptual art mixed with pranksterism that I appreciated more than enjoyed. Religious statuary plays against culture wars which play against goofy humor and brutality. All that and Joe Dante–for real. It feels awkward at first, and the jokes are flat as the interview starts, but as Razzennest progresses, it may grow on you if you’re open to it.