Having promoted this title earlier in the week, I knew heading into my viewing that I was going to be in for a one of a kind experience. This, however, turned out to be a wild ride that completely blew away my expectations.
Written and directed by Till Kleinert, Der Samurai stars Michel Diercks, Pit Bukowski, Uwe Preuss, Kaja Blachnik, Christopher Kane, Janin Halisch, Ulrike Hanke-Haensch and Ulrike Bliefert.
“A wolf strives through the woods around an isolated German village. Jakob the young local police officer is onto him, but scents something more in the darkness. What he finds is a man, it seems, wild eyed, of wiry build, in a dress. He carries a katana, a Samurai sword. When the Samurai invites Jakob to follow him on his crusade towards the village, it becomes Jakob’s mission to pursue the lunatic to end this wanton destruction. At the end of the night Jakob has experienced too much, is too far from whom he once was. Something hidden has been unleashed to meet the first rays of daylight.” – IMDB
Der Samurai was filmed in Brandenburg, Germany, which means the German language is used in the movie and folks who speak other languages must rely on subtitles to follow along with the dialogue. I know that this can be troublesome and obnoxious for a good portion of the viewers, but I would like to say that Der Samurai isn’t heavy on spoken word as it is heavy on metaphors, movement, soundtrack and thematics. This title will see distribution on June 9 through Artsploitation Films, and I can’t think of a better company to release something of this nature. I would say that Der Samurai definitely falls into the category of horror, but it differentiates from the genre due to its massively successful cinematography, clever script and for being a product that was formed outside of the box. It’s basically thee film for fans who enjoy violence and gore mixed in with a deeper, more thought provoking story-line.
I know that the idea of a cross-dressing samurai wielding killer may be a little out of the norm for some viewers, but all of the homosexual and gender identity elements are done in a subtle way so that the focus is more on the brutal story, not on the weird relationship formed between “the wolf” and his “could be mate.” If you think I’m lying, I guarantee that there are a ton of scenes that’ll make you wonder what fuck you just watched. The samurai slashes here are brutal, bloody and with expert choreography. Characters that you enjoy are tested or maimed. And the last few minutes. Well, I’m going to keep that a secret until you see it but it’s very… um… different. Again, Der Samurai isn’t your typical horror film. It’s insanely creative and innovative, dark and thought provoking. It doesn’t try to be anything specific, yet it is so enthralling. Mainly, it’s a fantastic example of why we need to pay more attention to titles that are filmed outside of America. Der Samurai is great, and I’d hate to see it slip under the radar because of a location gap.
Final Score: 7.5 out of 10
