John's Horror Banana-nanza Episode Twenty-Seven: A Serbian Filim
Part One: My Venture Into This Movie
(Skip ahead to the next section if you're only interested in the movie review.)
I've seen a lot of bad movies. A lot of scary movies. And a whole lot of movies that could be qualified as trash.
I've seen things that are reprehensible, artistic, and sometimes both.
And then I saw this movie.
I'll give you a little background before I get into the review. After watching a few movies out of the "Italian Zombie Movie" book written by Jay Slater, including "Cannibal Holocaust", I wondered just how far people would go. So I sat down one night and went through a few lists online of the most disgusting things people had ever seen on film.
One was "Salo", which I watched on YouTube. My opinion of that movie is that it's mostly boring, ridiculous, and gross talking scenes, with absolutely gross but completely ridiculous scenes stuffed in between, finishing with a ridiculous and stupid ending. Sure, the subject matter is gross and immoral, but it's executed so poorly, who really cares?
The other was "A Serbian Film." Apparently it was hard to get a copy of in the US, but my friend Bryan happened to have a copy he downloaded, which was subtitled throughout. My opinion of movies with subtitles is that they tend to draw you in further, as you have to really pay attention to what you're reading on screen.
This movie drew me in alright. Straight into 90+ minutes of Hell and shock that I don't think will ever be topped.
Part Two: The Movie (Spoilers Abound)
So there's this guy Milos, who leaves his old adult movies laying around the house. As in, adult movies starring him. And his kid's watching it. Milos and his wife decide that they're gonna explain the awkward subject of the male anatomy at a later time. Yeah, that's foreshadowing. And yeah, it's not a good thing.
Milos meets up with one of his old co-workers, or a pornstar, if you will. They talk about how he made porn into an art, and she wishes he didn't retire. She tells him about some "artsy" director named Vukmir Vukmir (Already, I'd say no. What kind of name is that?) and how he should try out for his next film.
Well, poor old Milos doesn't have a lot of money, so to help his family out, he says, "Sure. I'll have sex for for money. I guess..."
This is important, so I'll throw it in. Milos's brother is stopping by every now and then to check in on his wife and kid. And it's more than implied...his brother is after Milos's wife.
Right away, Vukmir shows he's nuts. He shows Milos a woman with no teeth performing inappropriately, as well as some implied less than desireable family affairs. The most disturbing thing (and by no means do I mean most disturbing thing in the movie...that's later...) is a video he shows Milos of a guy with a newborn baby.
Admittedly, I had to laugh a little at Vukmir's reaction to Milos saying "Hell no". He just keeps screaming "Newborn porn! Newborn porn!" As if that justifies anything.
Next thing Milos knows, he's waking up and retracing his steps. Apparently, someone gave him some bull hormones or something and led him around to do their snuff bidding. He has sex with a woman and cuts her head off...and continues until they drag him away. This kind of thing continues until they lead him to a room with two people bent over. He picks the smaller one, and some guy with a mask picks the larger person.
At this point of the movie, if you're not screaming at the scream for Milos not to do what he does, you're not following the story. Or you're completely sick in the head. It's too disturbing to describe, but believe me, it's visceral.
So Milos and his wife kill the whole film crew. Milos even goes so far as to ram his... ahem...male part through a guy's eye. Milos then takes his family home and locks them in a room and passes out.
That's when he wakes up. So remembering all of this, he lets his wife and son out. They try to not talk about anything, but decide they might as well kill each other. Hell...I don't find that to be a bad solution. So they lay in bed and he shoots a bullet into all three of them.
Then the remaining film crew shows up, and an actor is told to "Start with the boy." And all I could think was, where is Porky Pig to bust through and say "THAT'S ALL FOLKS!"
This movie is the most disturbing thing anyone could ever put on screen. It pushes past boundaries in the first twenty minutes or so, then keeps the pedal pushed firmly through the floorboard.
Is it artistic enough to be forgivable? I think one point it may be making is that we here in America are ridiculous to think Eli Roth's movies or that and of the "Saw" movies are ultraviolent. I'll never look at another torture porn as anything but comedy ever again.
Do I recommend it? Only for the bravest of the brave, and even then, only if you're extremely good at planting your tongue in your cheek.