Filthy Review - A Serbian Film

A Serbian Film (2010)

Review by Jude Felton

After what seems like years, although it was only released theatrically in 2010, the most notorious film of recent years rears its ugly head on DVD. You have no doubt all read about it and its infamous content, or at the very least heard about it, which is something to be said for a film that heralds from Serbia, believe it or not. So, how does the DVD release, from Invincible Pictures, hold-up? The big question was whether it would be an uncut release or not. Well, it is unrated but no it is not uncut. Usually having a movie cut for release would, on principle, be a bad thing. When it comes to A Serbian Film it is a different equation altogether, especially when you see what wasn’t cut. More on that later though, after all I should give you a little insight on what the movie is about as the title doesn’t give much away.

The focus of the film is Milos, a retired porn star, who in his time was THE swinging dick about town. His movies were the stuff of legend. Now though he is more than happy to spend time with his wife and son, and keep his distance from that world. Alas, good intentions don’t pay the bills, so when an ex-colleague informs him that his skills are wanted by an eccentric porn entrepreneur it would appear to be too good of an offer to turn down.

A Serbian is a dark film, pitch black in fact. This isn’t a film where moments of levity are thrown in to ease any discomfort you might, and should, feel. It is a full-on descent into the darkest of places, within the psyche and on the outside, and is designed to illicit a response from the viewer. And it will get a response of that you can be sure. A Serbian Film deals with subject matter that you won’t want to deal with, the imagery on the screen is pure filth, and as a viewer you are required to navigate your way through it.

I have watched the movie twice now and I still think that it is a good movie. The acting is excellent, it really needs to be to carry this film, and technically it all looks very good. The images are crisp and the excellent score washes over the entire movie. Yes, I do believe that this is a good movie, but I am not going to suggest sitting down with your family to watch it, unless you live with the Manson family. Watching this film requires a commitment from the viewer, one that isn’t usually needed with a horror film and this is most definitely a horror film. There are scenes of murder, graphic scenes of murder I might add, and these are brutal enough. It is when the movie ventures into the realms of sex and violence, in which it does frequently, that it really tests the viewer. A strong stomach is required my friend.

As with any notorious movie there are always those that will say that it’s nothing, it is just done for shock value. With A Serbian Film though it will shock, it will offend and it almost definitely will upset some viewers, make no mistake about that. As I previously mentioned this release does have cuts made to it which take a little edge off the movie. What is left is still incredibly powerful stuff though, and if you haven’t seen the uncut version you will probably agree that this is more than enough.

To wrap things up though I will say that A Serbian Film does what many horror films fail to do; it challenges the viewer and puts that viewer in an uncomfortable place for an hour and three quarters. You won’t feel good after watching this, and you may end up hating me for recommending it to you. Recommend I will though to those that demand to be challenged in their viewing. If you are unsure, I suggest you stay away. Either that or read a review that is happy to spoil the movie for you.

A Serbian Film paints a bleak portrait of the country of its title and wants nothing more than to assault your senses. If the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse got together with Ron Jeremy to make a movie they would probably come up with something not to dissimilar to this film. Approach with caution.

A Serbian Film is released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 25th through Invincible Pictures