Review of A Serbian Film (2010) by Tim B — 03 Dec 2010

After reading about this one constantly online in the horror community and in horror magazines. I finally had the opportunity to give this one a shot. Now, although there were many scenes of graphic violence and two particular bits that made me uncomfortable, that wasn't what A Serbian Film was all about (like most critics have been claiming).

There was an intriguing storyline in here for me. There were fully fledged characters here and I particularly feel for the immediate family clan, they felt real, they cared about each other and they didn't let the protagonist's career effect them one bit (he's a porn star) unlike most portrayals of this ilk.

The incredible acting behind it all was on--the-ball too. Srdjan Todorovic needed a lot of confidence to do a role like this and the guy definitely carried that throughout the picture. Not only acting bold, his performance was also down-to-earth and natural.

Not bad for a movie with this type of content! Sergej Trifunovic was the perfect counterpart to Todorovic as his performance was instense and I felt the guy was insane. Jelena Gavrilovic backed up Todorovic very well and had a brevity about her and her character as well.

So as the flick was moving along it had given me a warped mystery, a messed up story, great characters to follow and amazing visuals from Srdjan Spasojevic. The man had the movie looking better than it actually was.

The crude lighting made it almost look as bad as porn but with a bit more effort in it. He also had interesting set designs and made it look really sick/instense come the 'porno' scenes. No, the violence wasn't the only contributor to that! Spasojevic also helped in making it seem as sick as it was! Great job.

Now, although the movie is notorious for the violence and porn-esque scenes, in all honesty, I wasn't as totally put-off as I had thought I would be. Yes, there were a couple of scenes that had me pondering looking away, but as for the rest, some of it was so over the top that I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be taking it seriously or not.

I actually snickered once or twice at certain moments. Was it out of shock or campiness? I'm still not sure and its been a few days... On the limp end, I wasn't 100% on what the bad guys were really up to.

I could get it if a few folks were attempting what they were doing, but here there were way too many of them directly involved to have me fully buying it. It reminded me of a few henchmen dying and then the same number showing up the next day via "Shredder's Foot Clan" from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The chain of events were also pretty predictable and come time to execute, it came with a few loop holes at that. Wasn't overly concerning but I did notice some mess ups here and there. Lastly, I didn't really notice much about the social commentary this one apparently carries in every frame like people claim.

You see, they're trying to display the horrors of Serbia in general. I couldn't really pick up on that at all. Is it because I'm not from there or just need to do a little more research? Ain't sure.

But regardless, this was a well written, well acted, NASTY movie with a cool soundtrack, great visuals and a very bold streak. In horror, you at least have to respect that. But it's a pretty good movie all around.

Those into the extreme will want to find it. People that can't handle PG-13 gore will want to pass...