Hospital Day 16

This is the view from the window of my room at the Schillerhöhe lung clinic. I'm not allowed to use the balcony, which is a shame

As expected, today has been a quiet day. My next tests aren't scheduled until Monday. I slept about four hours last night; 10:30 pm to 1:30 am and 5:30 am to 6:30 am. It was a mistake for me to go to bed so soon, but I was worn out and couldn't stay awake any longer. I woke up with a light cough and a sore throat. My eyes are feeling a lot better, though not yet perfect.

The meal supply isen't as efficient as in Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus. I used to be given a bowl of semolina every morning, but today I was offered bread with cheese and jam. Sorry, I couldn't even touch it. At the moment the idea of putting bread in my mouth is too abhorrent for words. Cheese isn't much better. The best I could do was eat the jam with a spoon. Fortunately, the morning nurse could improvise. She brought me a bowl of soup. It was a cheap packet soup, and I couldn't even recognise the flavour, but it was good enough for me.

Dinner was better. They served a simple stew with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peas and rice. I don't think the broth was flavoured, and the vegetables were cooked so soft that I could slice the carrots with my spoon. It's strange how my tastes have changed since I've been in hospital. A month ago I wouldn't have eaten something like this, but now it tastes wonderful. It's not that I've lost my sense of taste. Things taste the same, but I just don't like them any more. For instance, I was given a cup of coffee this morning, and I gave up after the first sip.

Now I'll relax and wait for the next 48 hours to pass. I'll try to get some sleep, whether it's at night or in the daytime.

Hospital Day 15

This is the car I travelled in today. More below.

Last night I slept slightly better than usual. Two hours from 12:30 am to 2:30 am, and two hours from 4:30 am to 6:30 am. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I wasn't coughing at all when I woke up. As I said yesterday, I was due to be transferred to another hospital today, Robert Bosch's lung clinic in Gerlingen, so I didn't bother trying to get back to sleep. I had a shower, I got dressed and I packed all my stuff.

At 10:30 am I was picked up by a car from Reha Servicemobil. It's a taxi company that only drives patients from one hospital to another. I would have thought it wouldn't be a busy job, but my driver told me Reha has 20 cars in Stuttgart, and he's busy all day.

In Gerlingen I was given a bed in a three-bed room, but one of the beds isn't occupied. It's a pleasant room, bigger than the rooms in Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus. Even if there were three patients in here, we wouldn't be tripping over one another. I'm in Station P2 Room 227.

I'd hardly unpacked when the examinations began. First I had an ultrasound examination of my heart. I'm not sure why, but I was told afterwards that there aren't any problems. Then I went for a lung examination with an excitable young doctor. I had to blow into a tube, while she yelled at me, "Hold your breath! Now blow hard! And stop!" All the time she was waving her arms to emphasise her commands. It was a strange but enjoyable experience.

After this a doctor showed me the results of the two CT scans that I had in Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus. I could see my lungs breathing. At the bottom of my lungs white particles were in constant motion. I asked the doctor what they were, and he said he didn't know. He wants to give me another bronchoscopy on Monday. If I understand correctly, the word bronchoscopy is a cumulative name, which can refer to different sorts of lung examinations. On Monday a fluid will be squirted into my right lung. After a short wait it'll be sucked out again. After extraction from my lung, the fluid will be examined to see what's in it that shouldn't be there.

I asked if I could have a copy of the CT scans, and the doctor told me he'll give me a CD. I hope he won't forget. I'll remind him.

One bad thing is that my rash has spread today. Yesterday it was only on my upper body, but today it's spread to my back, my arms and my legs. I've been given a cream to rub on it. I hope the rash is nothing serious.

So that's my first day in the new hospital. I don't expect much will happen over the weekend. My next big examination is on Monday.

Hospital Day 14

This is the first helicopter I've seen land at Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus. The helicopter landing pad is opposite my window, as you can see in the photos I posted two days ago. It's just a bit higher than my wndow, so I can't look down on it. Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus isn't the sort of hospital that would have many patients delivered by helicopter, but this is a traffic helicopter (ADAC). There must be a story behind it.

Last night I slept badly, as always. Only two and a half hours from 4 am to 6:30 am. I only had light headache when I awoke. I was coughing, but not as much as usual. I'm happy to say that my eyes already feel less sore after only two days of treating my blepharitis.

At 9 am I was taken downstairs for my CT Scan. I'll be given the results tomorrow. I'm impatient. I don't like to wait so long.

When I cam back to my room my top priority was to write a short post about Klaus Schulze. His death has affected me more than I can say. After dinner I managed to sleep. I can usually sleep better in the daytime. I don't know how long I slept. Maybe an hour, maybe a bit longer. All I know is that when I woke up I was feeling delirious. That's something I haven't felt for over a week. That's something It happened a lot in the early days of my sickness, but I thought it was over now.

When I got out of bed, I found that I have a rash across my upper chest. It's probably nothing to do with my other problems, but it's worth taking seriously. I asked a nurse if I could see a doctor, but she said she would bring me some cream. That was two hours ago. There's still no cream. I'll wait until tomorrow when the doctor comes on his regular rounds.

---

Breaking news: a doctor just came to me while I was sitting writing this post. He told me that this morning's CT Scan didn't look good. I'm showing no signs of improvement. I'll be transferred to the hospital's specialist lung clinic in Gerlingen tomorrow.

The doctor also took a photo of my rash and told me he'll discuss it with his colleagues.

R.I.P. Klaus Schulze

Klaus Schulze is dead.

Those are terrible words that I never thought I'd have to speak.

He died two days ago after a long unspecified illness. The news was released to the press yesterday evening. When I read the news I was shattered. Speechless. I wanted to write something about his death immediately, but I wasn't up to it. All I did was post a few words on Facebook.

Klaus Schulze's name isn't well known, but his influence on the music industry is immense. He wasn't the first musician to use synthesizers, but he was the first to use them as instruments in their own right. He didn't imitate the sounds of other instruments, and he didn't make the squeaky wailing sounds that other synthesizer players did in the late 1960's and early 1970's. It's difficult to put the difference into words. You need to sit down and compare him with his contemporaries like Walter Carlos, Brian Eno and Keith Emerson.

He might not be well known with the general public, but he was always well known among musicians. Many groups of the 1980's and especially the 1990's cite him as their major influence. He was frequently called the Godfather of Techno, although I see little similarity in the musical style. Musicians from just about every style of electronic music speak respectfully of him. In his career that lasted almost 50 years he's gone through a multitude of styles, so there's something for everyone to pick on for inspiration.

My first contact with Klaus Schulze was in 1971, when I bought Ash Ra Tempel's first album. He didn't particularly stand out. He was just one of three musicians, alongside Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke. A few months later I saw "Irrlicht" in my local music shop, Virgin Records. My reaction was, "That's strange. Ash Ra Tempel's drummer has made a solo album". Any doubts I had were soon lost. "Irrlicht" became my favourite album, and up to today it's the album I've listened to more than any other. I've listened to it hundreds of times, literally.

There was a long gap before I got my hands on Klaus Schulze's second album, "Cyborg". It was released a year later, but I believe there was a delay before it was exported to England. Most of his first albums were only released in Germany, and the export market was patchy, compared to today. After "Cyborg" his albums arrived swiftly, some even in the wrong order.

Klaus Schulze was part of my life. My closest friends were all fans of his music. Whenever he released a new album we sat together and listened to it excitedly. One of the happiest days in my life was when I was finally able to see him perform live in Berlin on 5th October 1976.

There are other musicians that I like. If you read my blog regularly you'll know what other sorts of music I listen to. Nevertheless, I consider Klaus Schulze to be the best musician of the 20th Century. (He also released albums in the 21st Century, but I don't think they reach the same quality. I know others disagree with me, so I emphasise it's just my opinion).

In the news reports it's claimed that Klaus made 50 solo albums. That's not correct. When his albums were rereleased in the early 2000's, they were numbered, from 1 to 91. His subsequent albums haven't been numbered, so there are more. I believe the correct number is 105, but I'll have to check when I get home. I have all his albums, of course.

In 2019 I started listening to all his albums in order and writing a few words about each in my blog. For some reason I stopped in 2020. I don't know why. The biggest respect I can show Klaus is to continue where I left off as soon as I get home.

Klaus Schulze
4 August 1947 – 26 April 2022

Hospital Day 13

This is the small garden outside my window. If you look at the photos I posted yesterday you can see where it is. The building next to it seems to be an administration building, just two floors high. In the daytime I see people working at their computers, and at the weekend the offices are shut.

Last night I slept about three hours; from 2 am to 4 am and 5:30 am to 6:30 am. As was to be expected, I felt shattered when the nurses on the morning shift woke me for me medication and my daily tests. I tried to get back to sleep when they'd gone, but I had no chance. I was still coughing, though less than yesterday.

Shortly after 10 am I was visited by a doctor I hadn't seen before. He told me that yesterday's bronchoscopy had shown no bacteria in my lungs, so they now assume it was a viral infection. He also said that my infection has been improving for the last two days. I was also tested for HIV, which I only found out today, and I'm negative. That's one more trouble off my mind.

He told me I'm having another CT Scan tomorrow, and based on the result I can go home on Friday. I have mixed feelings. I'm desperate to get home, but only if it's certain that I'm well. I'm still coughing an unnatural amount. The worst that could happen is that I'm sent home on Friday and have to come back into hospital two months later. I have a lot of questions to ask the doctors before I'm discharged.

I'll have to be patient with my eyes, which are still sore. Yesterday I was diagnosed with blepharitis. The ophthalmologist at the Katharinen-Krankenhaus told me what I had to do, but she didn't say how long I needed to do it. This morning I was talking online to my good friend Rose Wright from England. She told me it will take four to five months for my eyes to heal. The best I can do is use eye drops to relieve the symptoms. That's a long time, but I can deal with it.

So was my Day 13 in hospital lucky or unlucky? I'm undecided. The next two days will be the important ones.

Hospital Day 12

This is an aerial view of Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus, taken from Google Maps. If you look carefully, you can see a bus stop at the bottom. The main entrance is just to the left of it. My ward is in the building to the right of the bus stop, next to the roundabout. I'm in the first floor, on the right hand side of the building. At a guess I'd say that I'm under the third white dot (air vent) from the front.

This 2D picture isn't quite as attractive, but it gives a better overview. Both photos are with South at the top.

This photo shows the whole of the hospital from the air. Note that it's surrounded by vineyards. Stuttgart is a beautiful city.

Now to the day's events. It's been my busiest day in hospital so far. I slept about four hours last night; two hours from 10 pm to midnight, and two hours from 4:30 am to 6:30 am. That's more than average for me. I was due to have a bronchoscopy at 10 pm, so I wasn't given any breakfast. At 9 am I was taken downstairs for an unannounced ultrasound examination of my stomach. At 9:45 am my bed was rolled into the corridor to wait for the bronchoscopy. I was told I was second in the queue, but I had to wait in the corridor for two hours. This was an awful time for me, almost as bad as the sleepless nights in my room.

But on the positive side, the head doctor, Dr. Katja Rothfuß, saw me in the corridor and came to talk to me. She was troubled by my red eyes, so she took a closer look at me. It's the first time my eyes have been examined since I was admitted to the hospital. She didn't ask me about pollen allergies; she could tell it was something else. She said I needed to see an ophthalmologist (eye doctor) as soon as possible.

Eventually I was rolled into the room for the bronchoscopy. After all I'd been told about the examination I was scared, but I needn't have been. The anaesthetics were dripped into my vein, and I slept through the procedure. The only problem is that soon after I woke up I started coughing and couldn't stop. The nurses kept telling me to stop, as if they thoughgt I was doing it deliberately. My assumption is that my throat had been irritated during the bronchoscopy. I was coughing non-stop for 45 minutes.

I fell asleep some time in the afternoon, but it was only a brief sleep, 15 minutes at most. A nurse woke me and told me I was being sent to Katharinen-Hospital (one of Stuttgart's largest general hospitals) to have my eyes examined. Thank you, Dr. Rotfuß. I was picked up by a hospital taxi service. It's like a normal taxi company, except it only carries patients from one hospital to another.

Before I went I was told that an appointment had been made for me, but the whole thing was a mess. Nobody at the Katharinen-Hospital knew I was coming, so I had to wait in line with the walk-in patients. This was frustrating, but at least I was going to be treated. After a long wait I was finally seen by a young doctor who examined my eyes. She told me that the problem is that my eyelids are dried out, probably as a result of my original infection. They need to be bathed every day.

I was driven back to Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus, totally exhausted. It was almost 7 pm, and I'd hardly had any rest since 9 am. My throat was aching. I collapsed into bed and slept for two hours. Now I have time and energy to write this blog post.

Hospital Day 11

One of the few pleasant things about being in hospital is the daily visits from pretty young nurses. Their cheerful spirit makes the time go faster for suffering patients like me. But good looks aren't all that's important. A smile goes a long way. I noticed last week that there are nurses who smile and nurses who don't. Just look at Danguole, pictured above. Even with her Corona mask, it's obvious that she's smiling.

Last night was another bad night for sleep. I can't say exactly how long I slept. I fell asleep a few times and woke up again ten minutes later. I think I managed about 30 minutes sleep in the late morning. (For me "late" means before 6:30 am). My guess is that I slept about 60-90 minutes overall. So I'm not rested. Not at all.

My coughing was a bit worse this morning. I'm still sweating, which started yesterday. It's not continuous sweat, it comes and goes in phases.

Then the doctor came to visit me at 10 o'clock. It was the same doctor who normally visits me, but he brought with him the hospital's head doctor, Dr. Katja Rotfuß. I thought she'd have some good news for me, but it was a slap in the face. She said that my condition is getting worse, and she doesn't know why. The stronger antibiotics that I started taking on Thursday aren't working.

It seemed to me she was grasping at straws, looking for clues. She asked me if I've been to Africa or Asia. Have I been in contact with exotic animals? Have I been in contact with anyone who's been to Africa or Asia? She's just guessing. She said the hospital will carry out tests on me this week. The first sign is that I've been asked to give a urine sample for the first time this week.

Shortly after that I was given a Corona test. I was already tested when I was admitted last week, but as I said, the doctors are grasping at straws.

An hour later I was told that tomorrow I'll be given a bronchoscopy. I shan't try to describe what it is. Google it if you're interested. All I'll say is that on my consent form there are two pages of possible dangers. The dangers most applicable to me had been circled by the doctor. It's as if they're trying to talk me out of the examination. Don't worry. I signed.

This was today's lunch: mushroom ragout. The food here is very good, compared to other hospitals I've been in. Unfortunately, my appetite still isn't in order. After one slice of dumpling I wanted to give up. After some effort, I ate the ragout itself and just left the dumplings on my plate.

Before I forget, today I had a visit from someone called a Green Lady. I'd never heard of the Green Ladies before, but they're a nationwide charitable organisation created by the church. (She didn't say which one, but it doesn't matter). They visit people in hospital to talk to them, especially the patients who don't get any visitors. It's a good idea, and it was certainly a help for me in my miserable state today. She said that there are two divisions of the Green Ladies in Stuttgart; one visits on Mondays, the other on Wednesdays. This is the first time I've noticed anyone, but I'll be paying attention in future.

Now I'm off to bed. I'll let you know how the bronchoscopy goes.

Hospital Day 10

This is the corridor outside my room. Cold, efficient, German.

Today's the first day that I've felt any definite progress. I slept for a whopping four hours last night, from midnight to four am. That's a record for me so far. Hospitals are awful places if you can't sleep at night. I lie in bed, checking my watch every five minutes to see if it's six o'clock (the beginning of the day shift). I listen to every sound of the nurses walking in the corridor, hoping that someone will come to me.

Another improvement is that my eyes didn't feel sore when I sat up for breakfast. They still look bloodshot, and they started feeling sore a few hours later, but it's an improvement.

On the negative side, I was coughing violently when I woke up at four am. I coughed under my blanket, trying not to wake the others in my room. I didn't. Everyone in my room sleeps well except me. I had a splitting headache, probably caused by the coughing, which didn't stop until I was given my medication at 6:30 am.

This morning I repeatedly broke out in sweat, even though it's the coolest day since I've been here. I told the nurses – I didn't see a doctor today – and they ttold me to wait and see if it gets any worse.

One thing that I find curious is that my blood pressure is slightly raised. I've suffered from low blood pressure for years, so this is something welcome to me, whatever the doctors say.

Today's the first day that I've eaten my whole dinner since I've been in hospital. Roast veal, spätzle and carrots. At first I only intended to eat the carrots. Then I decided to eat the rest. It wasn't that I was forcing myself to eat, as I've done some days. I really wanted it. That's real progress.

Hospital Day 9

This is the official logo of the Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus. You might have spotted it on the outside wall of the hospital in my Day 7 post. What were they thinking? It's awful! A good logo should do two things. It should be stylish, and it should also be immediately apparent what it stands for. The RBK logo fails in the second respect. The letter R is recognisable, but you have to look at the second letter a few times before you can figure out it's a B. The third letter doesn't look like a K, however much you twist and turn it in your head. You can figure out what it is, as the result of a logical puzzle, bit it still looks far from a K. Next time they design a new logo they should ask me for advice.

When the morning shift nurses burst into the room at 6:30 am, their first question is always "Are you feeling better?" That's not an easy question for me to answer. I have to rattle through my symptoms and tell them which ones have improved and which ones haven't. That's what I'll do for my readers now.

Last night I slept better than usual. I slept a solid two hours from 4 am to 6 am, which left me feeling relatively fresh in the morning. There was no fever, which is my biggest improvement. On the other hand, I was coughing badly after waking up. That's probably what woke me. And I had a bad headache. It's a throbbing pain at the sides of my temples, but there were sporadic pains that felt like I was being jabbed with a pin. I'm also starting to get ear ache in my right ear. That's new.

There's still no news about my possible discharge, but there's one question I've been scared to ask my doctor: When I go home, will I be well, or will there be a lengthy recuperation period? If I hadn't retired, I could rephrase the question as "Can I go straight back to work?" I want to go back to my normal life when I'm back home. I don't want to be lying in bed resting for most of the day.

Another thing I'm worried about is my eyesight. My eyes feel slightly less sore, but I notice when I sit at the computer that my vision is blurred. That never used to be the case. For the last 10 years I've worn glasses for reading, but I only ever needed them for small writing. My computer screen has always been legible. I'd be depressed if this stupid illness has a lasting effect on my vision.

That's all for today. Let's hope I have some good news for you tomorrow.

Hospital Day 8

I intended to write something about the Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus today, but I don't think I can do it justice. I'm putting it off until I'm back home, so I'll just write a few words now. It's impossible to write about the hospital without writing about the man Robert Bosch himself. It's a hospital that was built by Robert Bosch and given to the city of Stuttgart as a gift. The running costs are paid by patients via their health insurance companies, but it receives money for research and development every year out of the profits of the Robert Bosch corporation. This has led to it becoming one of the most technologically advanced hospitals in Germany.

The Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus isn't a general hospital. It specialises in "acute illnesses". That's a vague expression, and I can't even say what it means, although it's easy to say what isn't included. It's not the hospital you're taken to when you fall over drunk on a Friday night. On the other hand, it does have a few sister hospitals, also funded by the Robert Bosch company, with specialist areas, such as gynaecology.

Now let's get back to myself. These are the X-Rays taken.on 14th April which made my doctor tell me to go into hospital immediately:

I can't see what's so bad in the X-Rays. That's a secret for people with a medical degree.

I'm sharing a room with two other patients. The others come and go, but I'm the only one who remains. I try to be friendly with them all, but not all of them want to talk. Most of them are old men in poor physical health, much worse than me. That makes it all the more surprising that they can go home while I have to stay.

Two days ago I found myself alone in the room for the firt time, so I managed to wobble out of bed and take a few photos.

My bed is next to the window. It's not the Ritz, but the beds are more comfortable than they look.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I'm receiving an anti-thrombosis injection in my thighs every day. I asked if I needed it, and I was told that it's just a prophylactic measure. It's weird. The injections are just a small prick that I hardly notice, but they leave big bruises. Looking at my legs, you'd think I've been kicked around a football field.

Now for the daily update, which will be the main part of my future posts. After two sleepless nights, I managed to fall asleep a few times last night. Three times, about an hour each. That might not sound like much, but it did me well. I'm coughing more than I was yesterday. My temperature has been normal since yesterday, but I felt feverish in the early hours of today. I kept on seeing gates in a field with my name on them. Maybe it's just a result of my sleep deprivation.

Today I think I felt hunger for the first time since I've been in hospital. I can't be sure, because I've forgotten what it's like. I ate my semolina for breakfast, like every day. I couldn't eat my dinner at all. When my evening meal came, semolina again, I felt like I needed it. I ate it faster than usual. Let's see how my eating develops tomorrow.

I've been given painkillers, but my headache won't go away. I have to get used to it.

That's all for today. Till tomorrow, and a big thank you to my personal friends who've been worrying about me.

Hospital Day 7

Day 7 already? Where has that come from? Today's my seventh day in Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus in Stuttgart. Let's catch up on what's been happening to me for the last week.

In my post last Tuesday I first mentioned that I was feeling sick. But that isn't where the story starts. I have to go back to Saturday 9th April, 12 days ago. I was feeling unwell after returning home from the film festival. On Sunday morning I seriously considered staying at home, but you know me. I like my films. I survived the three films on Sunday, but I was feeling even worse afterwards, so I called my doctor. She told me to take a Corona test, and the result was negative.

I went to the doctor again. She tapped all around my upper body for ages, before finally saying I had a lung infection. I don't know how she can tell that just from touching me, but that's why she's a doctor and I'm not. She told me to let myself be X-Rayed, which was possible at short notice at a medical centre in Stuttgart. I came home in the evening, sat down to relax, and there was a knock on my door. It was my doctor. She'd already received my X-Rays, and my infection was worse than she thought. She told me to admit myself into hospital as soon as possible. She told me to go to the Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus in Stuttgart. It wouldn't have been my first choice, because there are two closer hospitals, but she said they have lung specialists.

It was late, so I stayed one night at home. Possibly a mistake, but I wanted to settle a few things first. The next day I took a taxi to the hospital in the early afternoon. I spent hours sitting in waiting rooms and seeing various doctors and nurses. They all asked me the same questions about how I felt and why I'd gone to hospital. It was frustrating. I thought they were going to send me back home. Finally I had a CT scan. After an hour's wait a doctor came to me and said, "Mr. Hood, you have a lung infection". Hooray! They'd finally caught up with my family doctor and her fingers! I was put in a bed and rolled to a ward. For anyone who's interested, it's Station 1B, Room 9.

My symptoms:

I had painfully sore eyes. It annoyed me (and still does) that this wasn't taken seriously by the doctors.  They kept asking me if I have an allergy to pollen. I insisted that I don't.

I coughed a lot. Not just normal coughing. I had long bouts of non-stop coughing.

While laying in bed I had feverish waking dreams. Sometimes when a sister asked me something I didn't know who I was talking to.

I feel so weak, utterly feeble.

I lost my appetite and my hunger. There's a subtle difference between the two. The first two days I ate nothing. The sisters (one in particular) complained at me and told me to make an effort to eat. Snce then I've been doing my best to eat at least half my meals. I've learnt to swallow without being hungry, but there are certain things I can't manage. Bread disgusts me. I can't eat rice. I can only manage meat in small doses. It's not that I've lost my taste. Things taste the same, but I don't like them any more. I've got used to eating a bowl of semolina twice a day. That's become my favourite meal, but if they forgot to bring my breakfast I wouldn't care.

I assumed I was getting better. My fever dropped, and I was coughing less. Then yesterday a doctor came to me and said, "Mr. Hood, your infection is getting worse. We need to give you stronger antibiotics. We'll wait a week to see if you improve".

What! Yet another week? After that I was lying crying in my bed. But I decided to pull myself together. Yesterday I got out of bed and put on my clothes for the first time. I wasn't strong enough to stay out of bed for long, but it was a start.

And today I decided to  return to my blog. That's therapeutic in itself, even though my sore eyes are making it difficult to type.

There's more I wanted to write today, but I'll put it off until tomorrow. At least you know I'm still alive. Suffering, but alive.

To the Devil a Daughter (5 Stars)

This will probably be a short review. I've had a bad flu since Sunday. The worst day was yesterday, but I still have a 38.5 fever. Yesterday was horrible. Every time I closed my eyes I was delirious. I saw patterns moving across my vision.

And before anyone asks if it's Corona, the answer is No. I tested myself a week ago before my son Benjamin came to visit, and I tested myself again today. It's a good old-fashioned flu. And I hate it.

This was the last Hammer Horror film, made in 1976. It was universally criticised, including by Dennis Wheatley, on whose book the film was based. I find that unfair. It stars Christopher Lee at his most sinister, and Nastassja Kinski as the appealingly innocent young virgin.

Christopher Lee plays Father Michael Rayner, a Catholic priest who was excommunicated for heresy. After leaving the church he founded a new church, the Children of the Lord, which looked outwardly identical to the Catholic Church. The main difference is that the Lord they follow isn't God, it's the Demon Astaroth. Father Michael has a complex plan to bring Astaroth to Earth in the form of a woman. First a baby girl has to be born on Halloween and baptised with blood. On her 18th birthday she has to be baptised again with the blood of the new-born Astaroth, after which she will become Astaroth.

The 18-year-old girl is Catherine Beddows, played by Nastassja Kinski. Her father tries to protect her by putting her in the care of the American expert on the occult, John Verney, but Father Michael has great psychic powers and can call Catherine from afar.

This is Astaroth, who was born two days before Catherine's birthday. I have to question the complexity of the plot. If Astaroth has already been born in physical form, why slay him just to baptise a woman? It seems like a very long way around to do it.

Or maybe Astaroth just wants his essence to be transferred into the body of a beautiful woman? Maybe he thinks he can attract more followers if he looks like Catherine. I can understand that. I wouldn't want to worship a horrible monster.

I stand against the critics. I find this film excellent. Everything is good about it, from the acting to the overwhelming music. It's a first class occult thriller. Hammer should have continued making films after 1976. Hammer didn't actually close down, but it went into hiatus for 30 years. The new films don't live up to the quality of the old films.

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Hatching (5 Stars)

This is the 16th film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival Nights.

The Fantasy Film Festival has saved the best till last. Almost last. There's a 17th film, but I skip the last fil each day because I'd miss my last bus. I left immediately after "Hatching" and went for a small snack at the Brezel und Bier in Feuerbach. It's at the station, so it's ideally placed for quick visits.

In the introduction to the film, the director Hannah Bergholm said that it's a film about the lack of love in a seemingly ideal family. That's obvious from the start.

Tinja is a young girl, 11-ish, who lives in a beautiful home with her parents and her young brother. She's training as a gymnast, not because she has any love for gymnastics, but because her mother wants her to. Her mother was a successful gymnast as a child, and she expects Tinja to follow in her footsteps. It's obvious to the viewer that Tinja doesn't have what it takes, but her mother pressures her relentlessly.

Tinja finds a small egg in the forest and takes it home. She keeps it warm, and it grows rapidly. When it hatches it has the form of a large bird, but over the following weeks it changes. It looks more and more like Tinja, and the two develop a symbiotic relationship, feeling one another's pain.

I can't say more without giving away spoilers. All I'll say is that the story alternates between terrifying horror and a touching coming-of-age drama. In my opinion it's clearly the festival's best film.

Incredible but true (3 Stars)

This is the 15th film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival Nights.

Most of my friends at the festival said they considered this the best film of the festival. I don't get it. It's a pleasant comedy with some laugh-out-loud moments, but I don't think it's exceptional.

The film tells two stories which are unrelated, apart from the same characters appearing in both.

Alain is an executive in an insurance company. He and his wife Marie buy a beautiful new house, which has an unusual secret. There's a duct in the cellar. If you go down it, you come out on the house's top floor. Not only that, you jump 12 hours into the future and you become three days younger. That's a frustrating magic portal. Every time you go down it you lose half a day. Alain has no interest in it, but Marie goes round and round in circles, because she's determined to become 20 years younger and be a model. Alain hardly sees her for years, because she's always in the middle if a time jump. (If you're good at mathematics, you can work out how long he doesn't see her).

The other story is about Alain's boss Gerard. He's had an electronic penis installed that can be controlled with a phone app. This second story provides the film's comedy, so much so that it's easy to forget that it has nothing to do with the main story. Or maybe there's a connection. It shows a man and a women who both want to become a real man or a real woman. Gerard wants to have a penis that will get erect any time on the push of a button. Marie wants to be a beautiful young woman again. Both are searching for something that the natural aging process has taken away from them.

Maybe that's what the director is trying to show us. Maybe not. Either way, the parallel stories jar. I wish the film had only told one story.

You are not my mother (3 Stars)

This is the 14th film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival Nights.

The film takes place in a small Irish town, shortly before Halloween, which the locals call Sauin. The year isn't stated, but due to the lack of mobile phones I'd say it takes place in the 1980's.

The teenage girl Char lives with her mother and her grandmother. She's an outsider. She doesn't have any friends and she's bullied by the other girls.

One day Char's mother doesn't come home after driving her to school. Her car is found in a field with the door open. They call the police, but there are no clues. Then Char's mother returns home late at night, without an explanation where she went. Over the following days, as Halloween approaches, Char's mother is uncharacteristically happy. Char is glad, but her grandmother begins to say it isn't her real mother.

The film is slow and full of suspense. There's always a fine line with slow films. With some films it works well to intensify the atmosphere, but in the case of "You are not my mother" it's too slow.

Some like it rare (4½ Stars)

This is the 11th film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival Nights.

After all the serious films in the festival so far, it's refreshing to have a comedy. Everyone in the cinema was laughing out loud, including me.

The middle-aged couple Marcel and Sophie have been running a butcher's shop for 20 years. It's relatively successful, but not as successful as the chain of butcher's shops that belong to their best friends, Marc and Stephanie, who boast about their grand holidays every year. It's a difference in attitude. Marcel sells the best possible meat, lovingly prepared. Marc sells meat of lesser quality, which he can sell cheaply enough to attract more customers.

One evening Marcel's shop is vandalised by vegan activists. They recognise one of the men, so they run him over when they see him cycling. The best way to dispose of the body is to cut it up for meat. Sophie is an expert, because she sits in bed every night watching a series about serial killers.

The new meat, which they call Iranian pork, is so popular that there are queues in front of their shop. They decide that vegans taste the best, so they hunt down vegans. It's not easy at first, but killing is like any other activity: practise makes perfect.

This is the best film I've seen at the festival so far. Maybe it deserves five stars. I'll let you know when I watch it again.

She Will (3 Stars)

This is the tenth film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival Nights.

This film is about an elderly actress, Victoria Ghent, who's taking a holiday in a remote part of Scotland to recover from a mastectomy. She's accompanied by her nurse, a young woman called Desi. At first she's unhappy that so many other people are staying at the retreat. They're new agers (I can't think of a better way to describe them) who carry energy in their hands and give it to others. It's meant to look silly. Everyone in the cinema was laughing at them.

The area, which I was unable to recognise despite my knowledge of Scotland, is a place where many witches were burnt in the 1700's. Victoria dreams about them, and she even sleepwalks to meet them in the woods. She finds herself able to cast spells.

I found this film too slow. The action is stretched out so thin that I grew impatient. It's not a bad film, and many of my readers might enjoy it, but it's not a film I like.

Zalava (4 Stars)

This is the ninth film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival Nights.

This is a change for me. I've seen a few Iranian films in the past, but they were all films made by ex-pat Iranians with dialogue in the Iranian language, Farsi. This is the first film I've ever seen by an Iranian director living in Iran. However, it's set in a Kurdish area, so the dialogue is in a mix of Farsi and Kurdish. I can't tell them apart.

The film takes place in 1978, shortly before the Iranian revolution. Sergeant Masoud Ahmadi is an official assigned to the remote town of Zalava. There's an uproar in the town when they claim there's a demon on the loose. The local belief is that a demon can be exorcised by shooting someone in the leg. Masoud doesn't believe in the superstitions, so he confiscates everyone's rifles to stop them shooting one another.

There's an exorcist called Amardan who enters a house and traps the demon. He brings it out in a bottle. Masoud doesn't believe him, so he arrests Amardan as a charlatan. Amardan warns him that the demon hasn't been fully tamed and may still become strong enough to break out of the bottle.

This is an intense, overbearing film. The viewer is left in suspense whether the demon is genuine or not until the end of the film.

Dark Glasses (4½ Stars)

This is the sixth film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival Nights.

A serial killer in Rome is killing prostitutes. Diana is attacked and manages to drive away in her car. The killer pursues her and rams her car from behind, This causes her to have an accident, hitting another car sideways. Diana loses her eyesight. The driver of the other car and his wife are killed, but their six-year-old son Chin survives.

Diana subsequently wears the dark glasses named in the title. It's interesting to see the training period in which she learns to deal with her disability. Then she tracks down Chin and visits him at an orphanage. She blames herself for the death of his parents. Shortly after this, Chin runs away from the orphanage and finds Diana's apartment. He moves in with her, because she's the only person she trusts. He helps Diana get around without eyesight.

Then the killer comes back. He wants to finish what he started. Diana has to run for her life, helped only by Chin,

This is a terrifying film. A blind person is helpless when being stalked by a serial killer. It's the best film made by Dario Argento for a long time. The music, brash and loud with an 80's feeling to it, fits the film excellently.

Inexorable (4 Stars)

This is the fifth film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival Nights.

I didn't look up the meaning of inexorable until after the film was over. It means unstoppable.

Marcel Bellmer is a well known author. Most of his fame comes from his first novel, a love story called "Inexorable". His subsequent novels have been less successful. His wife Jeanne has recently inherited an enormous country mansion from her father. The size is just ridiculous. There are many, many rooms on three floors, and extensive woodland that belongs to the property. It's much too big for Marcel, Jeanne and their young daughter Lucie. The upkeep costs alone must be immense.

A young woman called Gloria arrives in the nearby village and walks past the property. She finds Lucie's dog and brings him back to the mansion. Gloria becomes close friends with Sophie, then with the rest of the family. She becomes the maid, but we soon see that she has secrets. She's obsessed with Marcel, and has read all his books. She tries to split the family up by seducing Marcel.

This is a masterful psychological thriller. It reminds me of "Fatal Attraction", even though it has a different premise.

Barbarians (4 Stars)

This is the fourth film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival Nights.

Lucas Hunt has renovated a country farm in southern England, despite opposition from local groups who worship a nearby monolith called Gateway. While keeping the outward form of the farm, it's now luxury accommodation. He's sold it to a young couple called Adam and Eva. The contract hasn't yet been signed. Eva is a renowned sculptor, and Lucas is waiting until she's completed a large sculpture in the middle of the farm.

Adam and Eva invite Lucas and his girlfriend Chloe to dinner after the completion of Eva's sculpture, before its unveiling. At dinner tensions break out between the four people. First they argue. Then they fight. While they're fighting, masked intruders break into the house. They tie up the dinner party and demolish the room. It's a fight for life and death. This isn't a typical home invasion film. There are secrets which only revealed at the end of the film.

X (4 Stars)

This is the first film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival Nights.

Usually there's the main festival in September, plus two mini-festivals in January and April with two days each. Over the last two years the schedules have been hit by the Corona pandemic. This year the January festival was cancelled, so the April festival was lengthened to last four days.

"X" is a first class horror film to open this year's four-day festival. It's set in Texas in 1979. A team of six young people rent a small house on a farm to shoot their first film: a porno! VCRs are new on the market, so they think they can cash in on this new medium. By selling a porno to watch at home, instead of backstreet cinemas, it's a film that's not just for perverts. I don't see the logic in that, but the young film makers say a lot of things that are the product of enthusiasm rather than logical thinking.

The old farmer, probably in his eighties, has no idea what's happening. He's unaware that the film makers are sneaking into the cow shed to film sex scenes. It's all relevant, because their film is called "The Farmer's Daughter". There's a lot of tension in the film, because the young people have different opinions about whether they want to make smut or art. Two of the women are jealous about which one of them is the film's biggest star.

But tragedy strikes. The farmer's wife, who was a beautiful dancer before the First World War, sees what's happening. She wants to get sexually involved with the film cast. When they turn her down, she kills them, one by one. At first we think she's the only killer, but her husband joins in the killing spree.

This is a very good film. If all the other films in the festival are at least this good, it will be a fantastic four days.

Fantastic Four [2015] (1½ Stars)

I shouldn't torture myself like this. I've watched the 2015 Fantastic Four film twice, and I gave it a bad rating both times. It deserved another chance. Didn't it?

No! It's awful! I can hardly think of any words to describe how bad it is. The only reason I haven't given it a rock bottom one star rating is because the early scenes of Reed Richards as a kid are entertaining. The following scenes where he's a college student are average. But as soon as the four heroes get their powers, the film falls apart. It's so dreadful that I feel like smashing the Blu-ray with a hammer. This is the worst Marvel film ever made. It's even worse than Ang Lee's "Hulk". If there's any justice in the world it'll soon be out of print and be forgotten forever. If I watch it again I deserve a kicking.

Success Rate:  - 0.6

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Off-Topic: Wrestlemania 38

I've taken time off watching films this weekend. It's the biggest wrestling event of the year, Wrestlemania, taking place in Dallas, Texas. Recently I've been reviewing the WWF broadcasts in 1997, and I intend to continue to 2002. I also watch the new events, but I don't write about them. Today's post is just an apology for my tardiness blogging. I mean, Wrestlemania is a two day event, four hours each, so I've been spending long hours away from my films.

All I'll do in this post is publish a few screenshots of Charlotte Flair from the Saturday event. She's fantastic, isn't she? She walked into the arena as champion, and she walked out as champion.

When she entered the arena, fireworks exploded inside and outside. She's the Queen.

Green Butchers (4 Stars)

This is a black comedy made in Denmark in 2003. Svend and Bjarne are two butchers who want to open their own shop. Svend takes out a mortgage on his house. Bjarne doesn't have a house, but his brother has been lying in a coma for seven years. He asks for the life support to be cut off, so that he can collect his inheritance. The hospital agrees, but shortly before the machine is turned off his brother wakes up and returns home. This annoys Bjaerne, so he requests in vain for the hospital to put him back in a coma.

This sets the film's tone. The new butcher's isn't very successful, until an accident happens. An electrician is trapped in the freezer and freezes to death overnight. Rather than report the accident to the police, Svend cuts him up and sells his body as meat. The customer reaction is so overwhelming that there's a queue in front of the shop. How can Svend maintain the success? Easy! He traps customers in the freezer every night, so that he has a constant supply of his special chicken, as he calls it.

This is a highly enjoyable film. One of the funniest things about it is Mads Mikkelsen's ridiculous hair style.

If I had hair like that I'd seriously consider shaving my head.

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Tampopo (3 Stars)

Tampopo is the name of a young widow who owns a restaurant that serves noodle soup. Two truck drivers, Goru and Gun, find her restaurant when they save her son from being beat up by bullies. She serves them noodle soup, but they aren't very impressed with the taste. Goru offers to teach her how to make better noodle soup, partly from his own knowledge, partly by visiting other restaurants.

The film isn't easy to understand, at least not on first viewing. There are a lot of characters who appear in the film in scenes that don't seem to be relevant. In fact, the film's very first scene isn't relevant, apart from introducing noodle soup. After the film it was explained to me that the interspersed scenes really aren't relevant to the plot. They're just vignettes to show the cultural significance of Japanese food. For instance, in one scene a women is teaching Japanese women how to eat spaghetti. She tells them that it has to be eaten silently. After seeing and hearing a man slurping Japanese noodles at a nearby table, they decide that the Japanese way is better.

It's an interesting film, but it seems too erratic. I want to give it another chance.

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