SIEGE (1983) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review)

SIEGE (1983)

Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 84 Minutes/93 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Paul Donovan and Maura O’Connell
Cast: Doug Lennox, Tom Nardini, Jack Blum, Keith Knight, Jeff Pustil, Terry-David Despres, Brenda Bazinet, Darel Haeny

Siege (1983) (aka Self Defense) is a little seen Canuxploitation shocker directed by Paul Donovan
and Maura O’Connell (Defcon-4). It's a surprisingly gritty bit of business that was inspired by the real-life 42-day Halifax police strike of '81, opening with actual news footage of the mayhem that was happening on the streets during that strike.

The movie proper opens with a group of five very hateful, right-wing vigilantes who call themselves the "New Order", lead by Goose (Jeff Pustil, Killer Party), who storm a private gay nightclub called The Crypt. Armed with 2x4's and baseball bats and wearing New Order (N.O.) armbands the gang waste little time, immediately intimidating the barkeep and clientele, calling them "faggots" and making their displeasure of their homosexual lifestyle known through threats and violence. You get the idea that the intention is to scare them a bit, chase them out of the neighborhood, but when they accidentally kill the barkeeper after he falls onto a broken wine bottle they tie up the patrons and call in their nefarious leader, a shadowy guy named Cabe (Doug Lennox, X-Men). Cable arrives and in short order begins to execute the patrons, holding a pillow cushion to the back of their heads as he unemotionally fires one round into each of their skulls. When he has to take a moment to reload one of the patrons named Daniel (Terry-David Despres) manages to free himself and escape the bar, leading the gang on a frantic chase through the empty streets and across rooftops, before finding his way to a lone apartment building in an otherwise desolate neighborhood. There tenants Horatio (Tom Nardini, Cat Ballou) and girlfriend Barbara (Brenda Bazinet, TV's The Strain), let him in and hide him from his hateful pursuers. Also inside the apartment are the couple's neighbor Chester (Darel Haeny, the writer of Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood), and a pair of blind teenagers, Patrick (Jack Blum, Happy Birthday to Me) and Keith Knight (My Bloody Valentine), who are in their care for the weekend.

The group of hate-mongers soon arrive and knock at the couple's door, demanding that they send out Daniel, who they initially describe as an escaped lunatic who just killed a bunch of people at a nearby bar. Smelling bullshit the couple refuse, and soon find themselves under siege as the well-armed vigilante group set-up a military style perimeter around the building complete with an infrared scoped sniper sitting atop a nearby building.

As the night wears on, and with the cops on strike, the good samaritans find themselves fighting for their lives and under relentless attack, but they're not helpless either. They're capably assisted by their survivalist neighbor Chester who designs a homemade nail-bomb rocket launcher, a hairspray flamethrower and other elaborate booby-traps like a nifty electrocution door-knob and a trick medicine cabinet. As the night of terror unfolds both sides take heavy casualties, and while the violence is not overly bloody or gory by contemporary standards it is quite impactful and well-executed.

This briskly paced siege-thriller is not-so-secretly riffing on John Carpenter's Assault On Precinct 13, an obvious inspiration in both tone and execution. The tension is amped-up to ten from the start and never lets up, and the hateful group of bigoted vigilantes are as despicable an enemy as they come, with a shocker reveal at the end that packs quite a wallop. The acting in this one can be uneven and a bit spotty but the main cast holds it together just fine, I can forgive Pustil for being so shrill. He's supposed to me an unlikable guy, coming off to me like the meaner, but just as annoying, cousin of TCM's Franklin. The fast pace and the plentiful action keep you from dwelling too much about how ridiculous the whole thing can be at times, it's never laugh out loud funny, but there's definitely a streak of black humor throughout. It might not be winking at you but the movies for sure knows it's over-the-top, and that's what I love about it, there's never a dull moment.

Audio/Video: Siege (1983) arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Films with a new 2K scan of the original negative framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. It's a gorgeous scan and the source is in beautiful shape with nary a blemish. Black are deep and inky and the colors and skin tones look natural with some nice highlights by wat of various greens, orange and blues throughout. The later half of the movie is quite dark and the deep blacks offer some pleasing shadow detail as well. The moody lighting and deep shadows creates quite a wonderful and dramatic visual for this tense thriller.

Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles. The dialogue sounds organic and free of hiss and distortion, and the pulsing score score from Peter Jermyn and Drew King has a strong showing in the mix.

Extras are slim but not inconsequential. We start off with an audio commentary with Co-Director Paul Donovan and Filmmaker Jason Eisner (Hobo with a Shotgun). Eisner is a huge fan of the film and his enthusiasm keeps the commentary running smooth, prompting Donovan with a steady stream of questions that dig into the backstory of the film and how it was filmed, the Canadian tax shelter era of exploitation, how Japanese distributors funded the extended version to get it to 100-minutes, an obvious boom mic seen in the film, and it's reputation and influence.

We also get two versions of the film, both the 84-minute theatrical version and the longer-running 93-minute extended Cannes cut of the film, both in 1080p HD with uncompressed mono audio. The extended cut starts off a bit slower with some character introductions, but I preferred the shorter theatrical version, which jumps right into the action, and the acting in the extended opening scenes is not the best. We also get a 1-minute trailer for the film.

The single-disc release arrives in a black keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring two terrific vintage illustrated designs, and we get a slipcover with two different artwork as well, both illustrated and equally cool-looking, so all in all we have four artwork options!

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by Co-Director Paul Donovan and Filmmaker Jason Eisner (Hobo with a Shotgun)
- Two Versions of the Movie: Theatrical Cut (84 min) and the Extended Cannes Cut (93 mins)
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min)
- Reversible Sleeve of Artwork
- Limited Edition Slipcover

Siege (1983) is one of my favorite film discoveries of the year, a tense early 80's Canadian exploitation film that delivered the tense thrills and violence from start to finish, it's a seedy and surprisingly mean-spirited bit movie. If you're a fan of stuff along the lines of Assault on Precinct 13, The Warriors and V.F.W. this bit of Canuxploitation is a must-own, you're definitely gonna dig it, highly recommended!

Screenshots from the Severin Blu-ray: