Television: Kalkofe: “Even the deepest septic tanks have a hole at the bottom”

For fans, it was months of anxiety: The trash film festival “#SchleFaZ – The worst films of all time” was threatened with closure at times. Tonight (10 p.m.) the trash TV is starting a new season. Instead of Tele 5, the RTL specialty channel Nitro is now its home. In an interview with the German Press Agency, Oliver Kalkofe talks about tears, a new beginning and serial killers in the aerobics studio.

Question: Dear Mr. Kalkofe, after an eight-month break from “#SchleFaZ” you are back on screen. Perhaps a few words about the new start?

Answer: When we announced the Christmas miracle that “#SchleFaZ” would continue on Nitro and stream on RTL+ after ending on Tele 5, it was one of the most beautiful and emotional moments I have ever experienced on stage. The fans’ total sadness and despair was followed by an explosion of incredible joy. People honestly cried and hugged each other. It was unbelievable!

We are particularly pleased that the entire “#SchleFaZ team” is back and that Nitro has not requested any changes. That’s why we can now proudly say: Everything will remain as crappy as it always was! In that sense, it is both a revival and a new start. We are currently noticing that the entire RTL family is putting all their energy into the project and is really enthusiastic about it. To experience that again, in old age, is a great feeling.

Even two Bond stars can’t save it

Question: What can fans look forward to?

Answer: First of all, a very important piece of information for the fans: Of course, the infamous “one shark film per year” clause remains, this time we can expect the “Sand Sharks”. In other words, sharks in the sand. After sharks in a hurricane, fins ploughing through the sandy beach are probably the most bizarre thing you can imagine. That’s why it was high time we finally took a look at the film.

Another equally great gem is “Aerobicide”, a mixture of aerobics, i.e. pop gymnastics and slasher film. The whole time there is nothing but gymnastics, shaking asses and murder.

Then we have a forgotten action classic, “The Lone Wolf” from the late 1970s. It shines with double James Bond power, because not only is the original 007 actor George Lazenby there, but also Harold Sakata aka Oddjob, who became a legend in “Goldfinger”. But you can see that even two James Bond stars can’t save a really crappy film.

Intern in monkey costume

Question: Any other highlights?

Answer: What else do we have? “Ape”, also from the 1970s, about a shaggy giant ape, so basically another King Kong rip-off. But one of the really best bad ones. The idea was to counteract the King Kong hype of the time – but with absolutely no budget and just as little skill.

The monkey himself is the main source of great #SchleFaZ moments: a poor intern in a monkey costume who had to crush a few cardboard houses and was obviously wearing sneakers. And there is a long, spectacular fight in the water against a dead shark from the fish market.

Question: The first film of the season tonight is actually one from the RTL archive.

Answer: We are particularly proud of the season premiere of “SOS Barracuda: Death Plays Roulette” from 1999 because we have a fantastic RTL production to offer for it. Of course, it is very difficult to find something suitable for “#SchleFaZ” among the excellent, high-quality RTL productions, but we managed it!

The film is from an action series from the late 1990s, starring Heinz Hoenig as the main villain, as well as Verona Feldbusch (before Pooth) and Maren Gilzer. The whole thing is a “Die Hard” by numbers variation, but on a gambling fishing boat off Travemünde. And the Bruce Willis part is played by Nick Wilder, who played Mr. Kaiser in the Hamburg-Mannheimer commercials.

This is pure “#SchleFaZ” gold! For me as a “Die Hard” fan, this overambitious school theater version is a terrific and absolutely worthy start to the new RTL home.

“The bad movie turns into a big party”

Question: What actually makes this series so successful?

Answer: “#SchleFaZ” was originally just a crazy idea for one summer. We never expected what we would trigger. In England and America it was already popular to watch bad films with friends and enjoy the unintentional comedy, but not so much here.

But it’s cathartic: you take something that’s actually crap and you turn it into something great. Our editing turns the bad movie into a big party.

If you were alone you would be annoyed by the lousy film, but with us you can laugh and have a lot of fun. You can also tell from our product that everyone involved is making it with real passion and love. The audience appreciates it when you are honest with them, because that is not always the case on television.

Complaints? “It’s more the directors or producers”

Question: In the eleven years, has anyone involved in a film, a director, a cameraman or an actor ever complained to you that their artistic work was being made fun of a little?

Answer: There have been complaints from those involved, as well as joy at being there. The ability to laugh at oneself and to bring a certain self-irony and distance to one’s own work is something I have experienced more in actors.

It is more the directors or producers who take their work too seriously and do not have an ironic distance. One example is the film “Troll 2”, which has now achieved cult status and is celebrated because it is so unintentionally bad. At a screening, the director was initially happy about the euphoria, but then he became increasingly frustrated and really angry because people were always laughing at the – in his opinion – wrong places. Such people are sometimes angry when we look at their works.

Even with the German-language productions, there were companies that initially didn’t want to give us their films because they thought they would be labeled “bad”. However, I see “#SchleFaZ” more as a subsequent refinement of films that were certainly well-intentioned but, to be honest, didn’t turn out as desired.

If you manage to laugh about it together after a little distance, it only does the films good and makes them greater in retrospect because you are showing self-irony and strength. In that respect, it is the best thing you can do, because we are the only ones who can turn shit into gold!

Replenishment? “I already have a list of 150 titles”

Question: Will you ever run out of bad movies?

Answer: I don’t think so. At the beginning we took what we could get, but we quickly realized that that wasn’t enough. Many films are bad because they are just meaningless and boring. But our motto is “Beautiful shit.”

That means we want films that are so bad that you can laugh at them, films that were unintentionally driven to the ground with heart and soul. Finding these really good, crappy films is a real job. I’ve been buying and streaming potential candidates like a madman for years.

I already have a list of around 150 titles that would be suitable for #SchleFaZ straight away. I pass these on to the broadcaster, who then looks for the licensors and sees what rights we can get. Even if we sometimes think that the selection is finite, I now know that even the deepest septic tanks still have a hole at the bottom. You can always keep digging if you dare.

ABOUT THE PERSON: At the careers advice center, Oliver Kalkofe (58) was told he should become a shipping clerk. After a detour, the native of Lower Saxony ended up becoming a TV critic. His parodies of TV trash – developed for Radio ffn, later shown on Premiere, among others – have earned him a huge fan base. Kalkofe is also successful as a screenwriter (he co-wrote the movie “Der Wixxer”) and voice actor. He lives in Berlin.