Savage
Buffalo, New York Indie film maker Emir Skalonja {aka. Foxtrot Pictures **editor**} has been on the scene for a number of years now knocking out some great no budget films. I’ve watched a number of them including one of his earliest which was titled The Butcher. I’ve really enjoyed his stuff such as the satanic ode to black metal short Avas Satanas, some were okay like Confessions Of A Homicidal Prostitute and others I didn’t care for such as The Plague. Overall I commend the guy for putting his best foot forward and never faltering his vision keeping busy and keeping it real.
His latest film Savage takes on the post apocalyptic genre with some nice results. We get a very bare bones and simple tale plot wise which manages to use style over substance in some cases with the visuals and music really taking front and center while the editing and fleshed out plot take a back seat in most cases. Savage has managed to get a very cool blu ray release through SRS Cinema so definitely check that out.
Savage takes place in the very near future of 2019 as the world has virtually come to an end leaving only scavengers and cannibals in its wake. There are some decent people left but as we see in Savage they usually fall prey to the predatory cannibals which lurk at every corner, waiting to feed on anyone who look like a potential meal. We witness a group of survivors including a pregnant woman and her partner and friend who are wading through the wasteland doing the best they can.
They unfortunately fall victim to a group of cannibals except the man whose wife/girlfriend is pregnant. While he is out doing some scavenging his group are attacked and killed but he catches up them too late of course. The rest of the movie follows the guys trail of vengeance as he tracks the group of cannibals and kills them. It shows the guys struggle as he encounters some other characters, some good who help him and some bad along the way.
I love the way Savage is shot, the color style they used in this is top notch and reminds me of Skalonja’s short Ava Satanas. Its filmed in black and white with only a few colored items in particular shots, its really cool and I love seeing it used this way. Especially the bloodier scenes in the movie really pop to the front and center with that bright red amongst the black and white background. I also enjoy the way the death/black metal music is emphasized in particular scenes which is a great example of some fantastic editing skills.
I was hoping for more gore in this as it is quite restrained in most of the scenes, there is plenty of blood but no juicy deep down gore scenes to really sink your teeth into. The scene where the pregnant woman is killed is wasted, it had so much potential to have the cannibals rip the baby out of the wound and violate it, maybe I’m just too sick! Those great editing skills could have also come to use in some of the long walking scenes in the woods which get tiresome and seem to just be there to take up space. Overall Savage is a cool film for sure and for its budget which doesn’t even crack 2 grand I can say it looks wonderful, it looks like its shot professionally in pristine hd quality. Skalonja obviously has talent and keeps progressing with each film, the guy is making a bunch of great stuff and has a major passion for the genre. He has written a book, directed a ton of movies and is an all around cool guy. I recommend picking up a blu ray of Savage from www.srscinema.com and support an indie film maker who is worth your time and money.
