An epic post-apocalyptic mix of sci-fi / horror / monster action, avant-garde cinema, political nightmare and silent cinema techniques

Imagine Mad Max run amok in the Mütter Museum: a nightmarish subterranean world of superstition, magic and deformity, ruled by fear and oppression - and 'peopled' with a spine-chilling assortment of mutants and masked monstrosities including faceless stormtroopers, parasites, nude figures, taxidermied monkeys, alchemists and other occult horrors. Welcome to the unearthly visions of Austrian artist and director Norbert Pfaffenbichler's '2551 Trilogy,' a staggering combination of avant garde cinema, post-apocalyptic sci-fi / horror / monster action, dystopian political nightmare, silent cinema techniques (all 3 features are told without dialogue, with different color tinting), endless subterranean labyrinths (shot in abandoned WW2 bunkers in Vienna), myriad grotesque masks, industrial and death metal music, the Bros. Quay and Jan Švankmajer and Joel-Peter Witkin and David Lynch all mixed together. Definitely NOT for the faint of heart or easily offended, this is experimental filmmaking for fans of SILENT HILL, HELLBOY 2, ERASERHEAD, MAD GOD and BEGOTTEN, The Cure and Bauhaus and Metallica, lucha libre, and (unbelievably) Charlie Chaplin. Includes: 2551.01 - THE KID (2021, 65 min.) + 2551.02 - THE ORGY OF THE DAMNED (2023, 83 min.) + 2551.03 - THE END (2025, 82 min.)

Bonus Materials

• Four new video interviews with Norbert Pfaffenbichler and lead actor Stefan Erber, cinematographer Martin Putz, stop-motion VFX artist Paul Lechmann & others.
• Seven experimental short films by Norbert Pfaffenbichler from 1998 - 2019
• Three new visual essays by Danish filmmaker Reinert Kiil, journalist and physical media expert Ryan Verrill and film professor Dr. Will Dodson of Someone’s Favorite Prod., and experimental filmmaker and film scholar Stephen Broomer.
• New audio commentaries by writer & film scholar Shelagh Rowan-Legg, film archivist Eva Létourneau, artist, curator & writer Anne Golden, and podcaster Mike White (The Projection Booth).
• Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion.
• New art by Beth Morris.

 

Cast & Crew

Actors:

•       Stefan Erber
•       David Ionescu
•       Veronika Herber
•       Juri Föger
•       Ben Schiola
•       Stephane Marin
•       Manuela Deac

Director: Norbert Pfaffenbichler

Additional Details

Label: Deaf Crocodile

Genre: Sci Fi/Fantasy

Language: silent

Run Time: 230 mins

Region: 1

Release Date: 12/16/25

UPC: 850066568507