Germany is living in a state of terror.  A serial killer known as The Calendar Killer has been brutally murdering people across the country.  The killer leaves the date of the murder on the wall, written in his victim’s blood.  His victims are given the choice between killing their husband or being killed themselves.  Hey, Calendar Kill — not everyone’s a murderer, okay!?  Seriously, what a jerk.

(As a sidenote, who knew that Saw was popular enough to inspire a copycat in Germany?  Cinema truly is the international art form.)

A few days ago, Klara (Luise Heyer) woke to a terrifying message on a wall, telling her that either she or husband would die on December 6th.  Now, it’s December 6th and Klara is walking home at night.  She calls a helpline for women who are outside and alone at night.  Jules (Sabin Tambrea) answers.  Even though Jules is soft-spoken and careful to choose his words with sensitivity, Klara is hesitant to tell her about either the Calendar Killer or her husband.  When Jules finally coaxes the details out of her, she reveals that she is married to Martin (Friedrich Mucke).  Martin is an prominent politician but he’s an abusive husband, one who forced Klara to take part in a humiliating orgy that was apparently inspired by watching Eyes Wide Shut one too many times.

(Saw and Eyes Wide Shut, we now know what’s inspiring the Germans.)

Klara is not only fleeing the Calendar Killer but her husband as well.  When she attempts to commit suicide, Jules begs her to live and to keep fighting.  Jules talks about his own tragic past, about how his wife committed suicide and he lost a child in a fire that broke out the same night.  Even though Jules is not supposed to leave his apartment and is having quite a few personal issues of his own, he sets out to find Klara.

The Calendar Killer gets off to a good start but it goes off the rails as it progresses.  There’s a few too many coincidences and the big twist is one that you will see coming from miles away.  The problem with the twist isn’t that it’s predictable as much as it’s one that makes less and less sense the more that you think about it.  It makes you realize just how implausible the whole Calendar Killer thing is.  There are a few genuinely creepy scenes and Luise Heyer is a sympathetic heroine but, in the end, the film is never as thought-provoking or emotionally moving as it presents itself as being.  The film attempts to end on a note of empowerment but it doesn’t quite feel earned.  If the film had fully embraced its grindhouse potential, it would have been an entertaining B-movie with a worthy message.  Instead, it strikes an uneasy balance between being a bloody horror film and being a message film and, as a result, it really doesn’t feel like it truly commits to either.

It’s a shame.  The film definitely had potential but, in the end, it just doesn’t come together.