There's no use in denying it, I was deeply disappointed after my viewing of "Laurin". With its newly reestablished cult-status, the exclusively praising reviews here on IMDb & in specialized magazines, and - most of all - the chilling premise of a child murderer roaming around in a small German port town in the early 1900s, I was 200% convinced "Laurin" was destined to become a personal favorite, and perhaps even a rare 10/10 rating.

But alas, either my expectations were set far too high (likely), or Robert Sigl's acclaimed debut isn't as darkly twisted, compelling, and genius as others say. The film nevertheless remains worthwhile and even recommend viewing for fans of gothic horror and macabre fairy tales, though. It features an uncanny and slow-brooding atmosphere, a few terrifying highlights, an intriguing coming-of-ace sub context, and an unforgettable climax. Admittedly this is a lot more than in most other movies I watch, so maybe I should just shut up.

When Laurin's father leaves again for many months of work at sea, the young teenage girl is left behind with her pregnant mother and sick grandmother. Agony strikes when her mother dies in suspicious circumstances, and a young gypsy child disappears in the village. Suddenly, all the adults (the pastor, the new schoolteacher, parents of classmates) start behaving strangely according to Laurin, and she has supernatural visions. Does her mother want to tell her something?

Sigl's film is at its best and utmost powerful when it's a true gothic nightmare! The sequences taking place during a thunderstorm at night in the graveyard, or when Laurin discovers the lair of the killer, can easily rival with the most haunting moments in Hammer movies. The beginning and the ending of "Laurin" are great, but unfortunately not much of importance happens during the whole middle part. Our young protagonist clashes back and forth between childhood and adulthood, there are vague hints of child abuse, and daily life in the classroom is also very challenging, but it all proceeds very slowly and without unsettling scenes. The decors, the music, and the use of colors are stunning. It's a pity (according to me) the film is only available in English and, to my knowledge, doesn't exist in German/Hungarian with subtitles. Probably this was to appeal to the international film-festival circuit, but it affects the credibility and the acting performances.

"Laurin" is a Hungarian / West German co-production from 1989, so shortly before the Fall of the German Wall. At 80 minutes, it is a relatively short movie and it is among the most known career works by director and co-writer Robert Sigl. I think with this brief runtime, the film has pretty good focus, it is not scared of crucial plot developments, even the death of central characters and the film also succeeds on a visual level. With that, I am of course referring to costumes, sets, cinematography. I think it is a combination of all these good aspects that make this one eventually worth watching, even if moments of true greatness are missing perhaps. The actors, the young ones as well as the grown-ups, are doing a good job too and add their fair share to this becoming a success. Overall, the film works best as a mystery thriller with some solid horror aspects at times as well. A lot is hidden in the shadows here and the filmmaker succeeded in letting the audience care for what to find there. It is also quite easy to care for the title character here played convincingly by the young Dóra Szinetár. A bit of a shame her career has not really worked out too well afterward, at least on an international level. And even if this is mostly a German-language film, I personally somehow felt it more to be Hungarian, perhaps also because of the majority of actors' nationalities. But no matter where they are from, it still stays a decent outcome and I recommend checking it out. Competent achievement. Go see it.

The whole movie takes place in Hungary with an entire Hungarian cast. The director is German Robert Sigl and this was his first long movie. In a short documentary on the DVD it's explained why he decided to film in Eastern Europe and not in Germany. Germany at the time still divided between East and West was for beginning directors too expensive to make a film. It was much cheaper in Eastern Europe (not that much later the Berlin Wall would eventually fall). Hungary had a location that fitted for the movie. Sigle opted to have the cast speak English to give it an international appeal. The movie never made it to the theatre and was shown as miniseries on TV. Quite a pity as it would have looked great on the big screen. The documentary shows how the cast gets pronunciation lessons and that surely helped. The kids in the movie, I think their voices might have been dubbed afterwards.

Laurin, a girl around the age of 10 with a incredible pretty face, has not so much speaking lines as you would expect from the character bearing the movie title. But despite that it's definitely her story as almost everything seems to happen through her eyes. And if she isn't there to observe she has those dream sequences which reveal her bit by bit the dark things happening in her village. It's those scenes that are the strong part of the movie together with Laurin wandering around in the village looking for clues to solve the mysterious disappearance of a boy her age and even more mysterious death of her own mother. She has a lonesome life living alone with her grandmother, her father being for months away at sea. Her best friend is the neighbour kid Stephen being overly protected by his mother (his father is dead) and usually the target of bullies at school. When the kids at school get a new teacher who resembles Laurin's father things really starting to get interesting.

I truly enjoyed the movie. Don't expect anything scary nor creepy or jump scares. The movie is more of a mystery than horror yet contains a few disturbing scenes for the eyes of a young child. Dóra Szinetár as Laurin together with the other cast members really pulled it of well. The ending I thought was really clever.I really got to applaud the writer for that and the director for having it put on screen so beautifully. The story takes place in the late 1800s, the scenery and costumes fit perfectly well there.