Genre exercise by the king of necro porn horror was initially banned far and wide because of its portrayal of disgusting situations, but then had a second life among film freaks and cultural philosophers as an artistic and profound treatise.
This dark study in morbid perversity was on its release banned in several countries because of its disgusting and bloody character, but afterwards acquired status for its artistic and philosophical layers. The film is firmly in the German traditions of romance - with death and fatal desire for an impossible love as main themes - and of the Expressionist Gothic cinema from between the wars. It is also supposedly about a history that the German people haven't come to terms with.
A street sweeper by the name of Schmadtke, who acts after the gruesome accidents occur in public space, surprises his wife with a fresh corpse, on which they live out their necrophiliac fantasies together. When Schmadtke loses his job, his wife leaves him and takes their beloved corpse. As revenge, Schmadtke kills the cat and takes a bath in his blood and entrails. Even more follows; even a sequel in 1991.