Horror fans seem to have a love hate relationship with German director Andreas Schnaas (Violent Shit series) and his unique brand of horror filmmaking. Say what you will, but when it comes down to the wire, the man really knows how to deliver. Outright gorefests like Nikos may not be great films (in any sense of the word), but they can be a lot of fun, especially when you're entering guilty pleasure territory. If you're looking for meaningful social commentary, Oscar caliber performances and style beyond belief, then you're definitely barking up the wrong tree. However, if you're looking for boobs, splatter and more DVD extras than you can shake a stick at, then step right up my friend...have we got a flick for you.

A viscous Romanian warrior (Niko) is inadvertently brought back to life during a pish-posh art gallery opening in New York. Exactly who is at the party doesn't really matter, what does matter is that everyone at the party is sliced and diced to bits, except for a few hopefuls who manage to make it out alive, with Nikos right behind them. The carnage spills onto the streets of New York eventually taking us to a movie theater and a video store. The body count is quite large (and story nonsensical) as Nikos takes care of anybody that crosses his path. Towards the end there's even some sort of ceremony that takes place that involves Nikos, a sexy vampire dame, some ninjas and Hitler!

Let's get a few things out of the way, right from the start. Nikos is not a good film, not by any stretch of the imagination. The acting is mediocre, characters weak, shots are poorly composed and aside from all of the onscreen spillage, not a real pleasant film to look at. As a matter of fact, from a technical standpoint, I'd say that Nikos is pretty much a textbook example of how NOT to make a film (in the standard sense that is). Despite all of this, I still wound up enjoying Nikos, a great deal; now onto the good stuff!

What Nikos lacks from a technical standpoint, it makes up for in pure exploitation goodness. Nikos is your typical balls-to-the-wall gorefest and delivers on its promises in spades. More so than that, the effects are extremely convincing and probably the best work Schnaas has committed to film (or video for that matter) to date. Heads are yanked and chopped, body parts severed, guts yanked out, people split in half, breasts are torn off and heads are smashed wide open like the melons that they are. The film runs a bit long at 100-minutes, but there's enough of the good stuff here to really hold one's attention, especially once the carnage hits the streets of the city. Through it all, Nikos also manages to retain a great sense of humor about it.

It's also great to see so many familiar faces chipping in as well with Schnaas himself playing Nikos and also appearances by Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Darian Caine (Seduction Cinema regular), Lloyd Kaufman (Troma Pres.) and Debbie Rochon (all around sweet gal and hot chick). It's great to see everyone pitching in and having a great time as well. The effort and chutzpah (along with oodles of gore) make up for the films technical shortcomings, Nikos is just a really fun gore flick. Not to mention the fact that Darian Caine provides a really gratuitous shower scene that ends with the aforementioned "breast-yanking" and a glorious head smashing.

Shot on video, Nikos really looks less than spectacular on DVD. The film is presented in a matted widescreen ratio of about 1.78:1. The main problem is that it looks like the film was composed for 1.33:1 (full screen). Heads and bodies are chopped off frame when they evidently shouldn't have been. Unless Schnaas intended to have half a face in frame while people were talking. Colors and video presentation are otherwise what one would expect visually. Sad to say but digital artifacts do tend to creep in from time to time as well. Audio is presented in either English Dolby 2.0 or 5.1 tracks. Stick with the 2.0, the manufactured 5.1 track does nothing except spread all sounds (voices included) through all of your speakers (rear included) it's just a mess. The 2.0 track on the other hand is very satisfying.

Man is this thing packed with extras. In order of appearance we have; an extensive and uniquely presented stills gallery, the ability to listen to songs from the films soundtrack, trailers for Nikos, Demonium and Goblet of Gore, 2 music videos, an interview with Schnaas and the films composer, the uncut Darian shower scene (reeeoooowr!), footage from the films premiere, 2 making of featurettes, an early short film from Schnaas and a feature length audio commentary from Schnaas as well. Yowza!

Not for the faint of heart, or the cinematically elite, take in Nikos and enjoy it for what it's worth; a fun, over-the-top gore flick with tits and ass, bon appetite!

For all of yer sick and twisted DVD needs including Nikos, head on over to xploitedcinema.com.