Defenceless: A Blood Symphony

A film with hardly any dialogue, beautifully filmed tale of revenge on greedy land owners with supernatural elements. A unique vision that hits your senses, it will stay with you long after ,and a repeat view will let you see the evil of the minds of unscrupulous greedy bastards and what happens when you push someone too far, Hard find but well worth the search for it.

Nope. The arty pretentiousness of this movie does not make it an original horror film. Neither does its brutality (much of it poorly simulated) make it a edgy art film. But the combination of the two certainly makes it something - pure drudgery. This murder/revenge drama strains to be unique offering nothing more on its soundtrack than a musical score and some rather awkwardly dubbed screams. A prolonged and arduous torture sequence might stir some guilty giddy pleasure in those fond of exploitation, but by the time it occurs, it is likely such viewers will have long given up on watching. And those who might have appreciated its deliberate pace and elongated romance scenes are likely to be turned off by the sudden burst of graphic violence. Defenders of the film might argue that Defenceless does not play by the standards that have been set by horror films of the past and therefore is to be appreciated for being different. But originality is not a sufficient substitute for a well crafted drama.

For those of you who enjoy venturing deep into the nastier things the horror realm has to offer, I think you may enjoy this. A film with some ultra-violence, VJ stabbin, penae mutilation, rapeyraperape, cannibalism....it's got the "good" stuff. A film that revolves around themes of revenge and "staying true to oneself in rough times"....(what's a word for that?....perseverance?). The kicker is, there isn't a word spoken in the film, besides I think a couple "Nooooo!"s. No dialogue in the film. And to come across as powerful as it did, is pretty commendable.

Personally, even though it's got everything I enjoy in horror I'm not going cuckoo over it. The acting, camera-work and length all bothered me. Basically because it is slightly amateurish. But overall and most importantly it's unique, and it'll be some time till I have difficulty remembering it. Definitely worth a view for the right viewer

I really wanted to like "Defenceless" but it's a movie that somehow isn't a sum of its parts. While the plot is relatively straightforward, the film's strength should come from its stylistic approach. This is a movie without dialogue - the powerful imagery conveys the tale, accompanied by a largely classical soundtrack.

For gorehounds, there is some over-the-top violence. As with Savage's earlier "Marauders", some of this is taboo breaking but thankfully the more controversial deaths are off-screen.

The beautiful Susanne Hausschmid is excellent as the lead, "The Woman". Without going into too much detail, this is a character who has to undergo a fair amount of torment, both physical and mental, during the course of the film. Hausschmid conveys what's going on in her mind brilliantly.

Yet, despite its strengths, I was left feeling a tad empty after watching "Defenceless". I've not been able to warm to Savage's style.

7 out of 10. Missing a certain something but an interesting exercise in cinema.

There's no real easy way to describe DEFENCELESS. Surely it's one of the most hypnotising, most brutal and savage films to see release in a long time. And that is terrific news. This is the way films of this genre should be made. Somewhere between true high-art and suspense, Savage manages to keep the viewer on the edge of their seats, using some breathtaking imagery and the amazing feat (these days) of no dialogue. Produced and filmed in a country which has no real support or backing for this kind of film, Savage has to be congratulated for such a fine job. Here's hoping he moves from strength to strength, and can bring further fine tales like this to the screen soon.