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A Serbian Film (2010)

My rating - 7/10

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A retired, aging porn star gets an offer to star in a movie that will pay enough to set him and his family up for life. Once involved though he finds out the filmmaker deals in snuff films and now there may be no way out without putting himself and his family at risk.

That's pretty much it for the plot. Despite it's reputation I really like this film. For a low budget film it's very well made, the acting is good, the cinematography is excellent and some shots look beautiful. The score is great too and the gore is well done, even if a couple of scenes are not exactly as shocking as some think they are, at least not for me anyway!.

One of it's most well known and notorious scenes is known as the "newborn porn" scene. I do think this, despite being genuinely horrific to think about, isn't anywhere near as bad as people think mainly due to the fact we get to many shots of the obviously fake baby. The censored UK version is a rare case where the cut scene had far more impact as we see the doctor holding the baby, he unzips his trousers and as he walks off screen you hear the baby scream. Not seeing the baby anywhere near as much really does make this scene far more disturbing.

Another scene involving our main man essentually shoving his erect penis into the eye socket of a guy and skull fucking him to death is just so funny!. The whole thing looks so fake and dumb that it always makes me laugh. Apart from these two things though the rest of the violence and gore is well done.

For me the most shocking part of the film was the ending. The film does a good job of making you actually care for the main character so what happens to him, his wife and child and the way they choose to deal with it all is pretty sad!. But then we get the final shot and it leaves such a nasty taste in the mouth.

If you're looking to explore the more disturbing side of horror cinema then A Serbian Film isn't one I'd suggest you start with. Probably best to work up to this type of thing as it is brutal and some of the subject matter can be too much for those not used to this type of thing.

Personally I don't think it's as bad as some say as it can be a little over the top in places which dilutes the impact of some scenes, and there are definitely far worse movies in terms of graphic gore, violence and gross content out there!.

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