Shockheaded Peter, Rare 1955 German Film as Reworked by Rev. Al

Published in 1845, “Der Struwwelpeter”…tells stories of bad children suffering the consequences of their bad behaviors.

As a holiday gift to his fans, Rev. Al Ridenour of the Art of Bleeding has reworked footage from the 1955 German family film, Der Struwwelpeter (aka “Shockheaded Peter”). He’s inserted his own English subtitles as “somewhat creative translations” of the original. He warns: “Literalists beware!” There are six subversively reinterpreted videos and they are all available to view at The Art of Bleeding’s YouTube channel.

The book on which it is based is a sort of 19th-century antecedent to The Art of Bleeding’s program of health-and-safety pedagogy — with a similarly grisly twists. The original 1845 publication was one of the first works of children’s literature, created as a Christmas gift by its author for his own children, so it seemed an appropriate holiday offering.

Rusty Blazenhoff
Rusty Blazenhoff