Savage Movie Review
Written by James "Spez" Ferguson
DVD released by High Flier Films
Written and Directed by Brendan Muldowney
2009, Region 2 (PAL), 84 Minutes, Not Rated
DVD Released on March 14th, 2011
Starring:
Darren Healy as Paul Graynor
Nora-Jane Noone as Michelle
Andrew Bennett as Detective O'Neill
Alan King as Detective Corcoran
Review:
I've never been to Dublin, so my opinions of the city are based entirely on what I've learned from movies. In that case, the area is filled with people who love potatoes who may or may not descend from a group of short people who give out wishes to people that find their pot 'o gold. After seeing Savage, I can safely scratch Dublin off of my list of places to visit because apparently you can get your balls cut off just by looking at some kids the wrong way while minding your business.
Paul Graynor (Darren Healy) is a news photographer. He takes paparazzi-style pictures but also takes deep meaningful photos of some hobos in the area that are wrestling in the street. He then wonders why the papers only buy the paparazzi stuff. On a trip home after visiting his sick father, Paul is mugged by two thug kids. Not content with just beating him up and taking his money, the punks decide to cut his face and slice off his nuts.
What follows is about 70 minutes of Paul dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I'm not saying that PTSD isn't a serious condition, but it makes for a boring movie because it's basically someone trying to cope with something horrible that has happened in their life. In this case, Paul has to learn how to live without testicles in a world where the average guy doesn't need ball implants. Paul mopes around for awhile and eventually buys a knife. He freaks out when buying some groceries and runs away. Then he basically doesn't do anything until the very end of the movie. I'm not going to give away the ending, but let's just say that the first 90% of the movie would hardly be considered horror.
Healy is actually quite good as the tortured Paul, but it's just not enough to carry the already weak movie. There are a couple of minor characters, but they're all easily forgettable. Savage is all about Healy, but his great performance can't save this film.
While Savage's story didn't do it for me, the look and feel of the movie is well done. The colors are washed out which creates a feeling of despair that wraps itself around the whole flick.
Savage is far from a feel-good movie, but that's obviously not the filmmaker's intention. It's a dark story about dealing with a horrendous event in a man's life. I wouldn't necessarily consider it much of a horror movie, though. On the other hand, the idea of having my balls cut off terrifies me. That and visiting Ireland.
Video, Audio and Special features:
Video, audio and special features will not be graded as this was a screener.
Grades:
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*Note: The screenshots on this page are publicity stills and not a reflection of the DVD image.*
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