A Serbian Film (2010)
Studio: Invincible Pictures
Theatrical Release: May 13, 2011
Blu Ray Release: October 25, 2011
Not Rated
Review by James Klein
"Honey, you look pale."
My wife said those words to me about 20 minutes ago after I finished watching A Serbian Film. Being a lover of the horror genre, I have seen it all. Or so I thought. Without giving away too much, A Serbian Film is easily the most shocking, disturbing, and depressing film I have ever seen. Not many of you will make it all the way through. If anyone allows a child to see this film, may Social Services take that child away. The heavily edited version of this film is NC-17. My review is for the uncut version which hits blu ray by Invincible Pictures this October.
A Serbian Film is best watched knowing very little about the film. If you want to avoid any spoilers, best stop reading now and just get your hands on a copy of the film come October, if you have the guts. Still with me? You sure you want to continue? Ok, dear brave reader...
Directed by first time director Srdjan Spasojevic, A Serbian Film is like a blend of Eli Roth, Takashi Miike, and David Lynch all rolled up into one. Filmed like it's a bad fever induced nightmare, it starts off with a man and a woman stumbling out of a bar and having anal sex in an alleyway. We then cut to a child watching the two have sex and soon see that the child is watching a porno and what he is seeing is his father Milos in one of his many pornos that the kid took off the shelf. While I laughed out loud at this trick, I couldn't help but feel strange and uncomfortable during this opening. As Milos turns the TV off and his son and wife go have toast, Milos pauses and turns the movie back on, reminiscing his past life and his lovely co-star. One day he meets up with his co-star from the porno and she offers him a job that is exclusive and very confidential. She tells him not to ask questions and that the job pays a lot of money. Now that he is retired and his funds are getting low, Milos decides to go down memory lane one last time.
Milos meets up with the millionaire director Vukmir regarding this job and right away Vukmir, knowing Milos's history of being one of Serbia's best porn stars, wants him in his movie. Milos is lead to a dark room where a woman crawls to him, giving him oral sex as a TV plays in front of him, showing Milos images of a female child licking a lollypop. Disturbed but yet turned on, Milos completes the act and is finished for the day. Things get a little strange when he goes back to see the child sitting in a chair watching him as another woman with a bruised face and bloody nose, crawls to him to do the same act. As the plot thickens and the movie goes off to some very deep and dark sexual fantasies, we find out that Vukmir is insane and his idea of art is making a snuff film filled with pedophilia and necrophilia, while drugging poor Milos to perform in what will be his last porno film.
A Serbian Film asks the viewer how far would you go to satisfy your own sexual urges? What is your biggest sexual fantasy, no matter how dark? Is Milos a victim or a victimizer? While the film becomes horrific, gory, and painfully graphic, one can't help but be captivated as Milos tries to solve the mystery of what happened that fateful night where he was under Vukmir's spell.
A Serbian Film may try a bit too hard to shock and disgust at times, but Spasojevic's direction is top notch. Shot in a beautiful 2:35 ratio, the movie may show images that we may not want to see or think about, it is nether the less beautiful in terms of style. The pounding techno soundtrack just adds to its nightmarish tone. The acting is also great and adds to the films realism. It must have been very hard for these actor's to perform in such a dark and disturbing film. Kudos to their bravery as they all pull it off.
Do I recommend the film? Hard to say. It is well made and I was pulled into the mystery but certain scenes really did disturb me and I can't get them out of my mind. Normally that is a sign of a good horror film. But these images are not something that I want to keep thinking about. I felt depressed after watching A Serbian Film. I also felt dirty and almost sick to my stomach. I cannot help but think how much more can movies push the envelope until we start to see real snuff films. I guess I DARE you to see this movie. If you make it through, congratulations and may God help you.
Theatrical Release: May 13, 2011
Blu Ray Release: October 25, 2011
Not Rated
Review by James Klein
"Honey, you look pale."
My wife said those words to me about 20 minutes ago after I finished watching A Serbian Film. Being a lover of the horror genre, I have seen it all. Or so I thought. Without giving away too much, A Serbian Film is easily the most shocking, disturbing, and depressing film I have ever seen. Not many of you will make it all the way through. If anyone allows a child to see this film, may Social Services take that child away. The heavily edited version of this film is NC-17. My review is for the uncut version which hits blu ray by Invincible Pictures this October.
A Serbian Film is best watched knowing very little about the film. If you want to avoid any spoilers, best stop reading now and just get your hands on a copy of the film come October, if you have the guts. Still with me? You sure you want to continue? Ok, dear brave reader...
Directed by first time director Srdjan Spasojevic, A Serbian Film is like a blend of Eli Roth, Takashi Miike, and David Lynch all rolled up into one. Filmed like it's a bad fever induced nightmare, it starts off with a man and a woman stumbling out of a bar and having anal sex in an alleyway. We then cut to a child watching the two have sex and soon see that the child is watching a porno and what he is seeing is his father Milos in one of his many pornos that the kid took off the shelf. While I laughed out loud at this trick, I couldn't help but feel strange and uncomfortable during this opening. As Milos turns the TV off and his son and wife go have toast, Milos pauses and turns the movie back on, reminiscing his past life and his lovely co-star. One day he meets up with his co-star from the porno and she offers him a job that is exclusive and very confidential. She tells him not to ask questions and that the job pays a lot of money. Now that he is retired and his funds are getting low, Milos decides to go down memory lane one last time.
Milos meets up with the millionaire director Vukmir regarding this job and right away Vukmir, knowing Milos's history of being one of Serbia's best porn stars, wants him in his movie. Milos is lead to a dark room where a woman crawls to him, giving him oral sex as a TV plays in front of him, showing Milos images of a female child licking a lollypop. Disturbed but yet turned on, Milos completes the act and is finished for the day. Things get a little strange when he goes back to see the child sitting in a chair watching him as another woman with a bruised face and bloody nose, crawls to him to do the same act. As the plot thickens and the movie goes off to some very deep and dark sexual fantasies, we find out that Vukmir is insane and his idea of art is making a snuff film filled with pedophilia and necrophilia, while drugging poor Milos to perform in what will be his last porno film.
A Serbian Film asks the viewer how far would you go to satisfy your own sexual urges? What is your biggest sexual fantasy, no matter how dark? Is Milos a victim or a victimizer? While the film becomes horrific, gory, and painfully graphic, one can't help but be captivated as Milos tries to solve the mystery of what happened that fateful night where he was under Vukmir's spell.
A Serbian Film may try a bit too hard to shock and disgust at times, but Spasojevic's direction is top notch. Shot in a beautiful 2:35 ratio, the movie may show images that we may not want to see or think about, it is nether the less beautiful in terms of style. The pounding techno soundtrack just adds to its nightmarish tone. The acting is also great and adds to the films realism. It must have been very hard for these actor's to perform in such a dark and disturbing film. Kudos to their bravery as they all pull it off.
Do I recommend the film? Hard to say. It is well made and I was pulled into the mystery but certain scenes really did disturb me and I can't get them out of my mind. Normally that is a sign of a good horror film. But these images are not something that I want to keep thinking about. I felt depressed after watching A Serbian Film. I also felt dirty and almost sick to my stomach. I cannot help but think how much more can movies push the envelope until we start to see real snuff films. I guess I DARE you to see this movie. If you make it through, congratulations and may God help you.
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