frederick-schulz This is the worst movie ever. 1/10 stars. Worth seeing for everyone who loves bad movies.

The_Phantom_Projectionist Detractors of German pop oddity Daniel Küblböck who wanted this movie to fail could not have been indulged more than having Ulli Lommel write and direct the feature. Küblböck's polarizing persona melded with Lommel's highly questionable style of filmmaking to make for a movie that I'm surprised ever saw the inside of any theater and is practically custom-made for criticism. If someone greatly dislikes the movie, there's really no arguing with 'em...but as a lover of low-budget filmmaking, I found enough things that I liked to inspire a decent rating.The film's biggest liability is not actually its cast or direction, but its screenplay. Lommel's screenplays frequently read like something written by a man on LSD, and this one is no exception. The movie would probably be a lot more coherent if only the story could stay focused on the actual plot. Instead, it entertains no less than five different narratives: (1) the planned assassination of Daniel by a knife-carrying weirdo (Rudolf Brem) and his cohorts, (2) a rivalry between said weirdo and Daniel's ghostly protector (Lommel), (3) Daniel's quest to perform in Hollywood, (4) Daniel's status as a magician-in-training, and (5) the conflict between a teen fan (Marina Lommel) and her grandfather (Peter Schamoni) over Daniel's music. Any movie running under 90 minutes would have trouble exploring all of these subplots, but DANIEL DER ZAUBERER strains itself even further by also focusing on footage from Daniel's live performances, impromptu music videos, and go-nowhere scenes like when the would-be assassins stalk Küblböck outside of his home.The level of awkwardness is high. Some of it has to do with the acting - performed by mostly first-time performers - but more of it has to do with the blocking, editing, and the script. Dialogue shots are frequently shoved together in a manner that in no way replicates normal conversation, and scenes are occasionally interspersed with completely unrelated footage. Director Lommel must hate establishing shots, because the viewer is often just dropped right in the middle of a scene without buildup. New characters appear from out of nowhere and strike up intimate conversations with established characters. All of it's very odd.While the film depicts Daniel's vehement critics as old fogies and pathetic weirdoes who scribble death threats, his fans don't look all that great either - not the young devotee who's willing to alienate her grandfather's customers for his music and certainly not the odd girl who cavalierly tells him about how he appeared to her father in angel form (even Daniel seems weirded out by that). The movie is not very effective in drumming up support for the guy, but given its lack of production values and inherently flawed nature, I wonder how much better a more restrained version would have even been.There are some redeeming features. While this film kicked off what many consider the absolute worst portion of Ulli Lommel's career, DANIEL DER ZAUBERER has a level of energy that most of his future films lack. Few scenes drag, and unlike subsequent Lommel fare like DUNGEON GIRL, this one actually feels like it's building towards a planned conclusion and not something the crew came up with on the fly. The actors' performances can be contrived, but they're all pretty sincere and played with more confidence than you'd find in a typical no-budget movie. Fans of the main star will probably be disappointed that Daniel is no way cut out to be a dramatic actor, but they'll appreciate the presence of several exclusive songs that have yet to be released in other formats. There's even the occasional feel-good scene, like when Daniel and his on screen grandmother (Katja Rupe) discuss his deceased grandfather.This one's hard to recommend to most people, but if you tend to like films that the rest of the world seems to dislike, this one may be or you!

t_atzmueller Let me tell you a little story: having once worked in a video store, my boss had ordered 15 copies of „Daniel der Zauberer" – two for rentals, 13 to be put into sale. He assured me that this was a wise choice since, at the time, the name Daniel Küblböck was in mouth and ears of many pre-teens and teenagers. Küblböck made second place in Germany's "Superstar"-version ("DSDS") and was groomed to become Germany's version of Michael Jackson; music and persona being as artificial as the tip of Jackos nose. Surely a few handsome bucks would come from the rentals.Need I still mention it? Neither rental copy ever left the store. Not once. After having reduced the price to 50 cents, my boss tried to give the DVDs away for free, causing two copies to leave the store. One customer who took a copy assured me that this was meant as Christmas present for 'that guy dating his ex-girlfriend'; the other copy was taken by a drunk who wandered the adult section and who didn't own a DVD-player.Whatever happened to the remaining 13 copies, you ask? Unless my boss has used them as make-shift beverage coasters, they remain the only films in that shop to carry the label "Free".Is "Daniel der Zauberer" the fabled 'worst movie ever'? Well, sure "Daniel der Zauberer" makes "Plan 9 From Outer Space" look like a Cecil B DeMille picture – but it's by far not the worst film ever. Oh, by no means. Just check out any other Ulli Lommels production, for example "The Zodiac Killer", "Black Daliah", "BTK Killer" or "Green River Killer". They're all god-awful; all bad enough to turn your best friend into your worst enemy.You might wonder why I bother to write a review about such manure: well, it's fun to make fun of movies that are worst than anything you've every recorded with your cell phone.And now you asked me how many points I give and to pass judgement over this film – to paraphrase the "Black Adder": good sirs and madams, I wouldn't pass water over "Daniel der Zauberer".

ChristophAndre In few words: This movie simply sucks. To be frank it's probably the worst movie I've ever seen.There are huge problems with the concept of the story. Some might argue about the (non existing) abilities of Daniel Kübelbock as an actor. However you could imagine a story with Daniel Kübelbock playing himself in a self ironic way and some kind of trash factor supporting the rest of the story. Now Daniel Kübelblock is actually playing himself and the whole story is trash (if you would look at it from that point of view, actually more points could be given), however the film -I actually searched on several pages on the Internet to confirm this, cause I didn't believe it after I first watched the movie- wants to give its viewers a serious message and is determined to be considered as art. I would call this movie "Entartete Kunst" if the Nazis hadn't already used this term for their evil purposes. Still doing it in spite of this is quite tempting.Most of the other actors are better than Kübelbock, still they are far below average to say it in a friendly way. Quite amusing are the sociolects (in particular indicating uneducated and unemployed people) and jargons (representing a high consume of the German mass media culture) several actors are using. There are several slips of the tongue as well in some quite simple sentences. It really adds a lot to the already great trash feeling this movie provides.