Siege

Summary

Fight crime! Shoot back!

Severin Films recently released the home invasion thriller Siege. The film was made in 1983 in Halifax, Nova Scotia on a small budget of roughly $300,000 dollars. When deciding what to blind buy, a lot of the time I trust Severin to release titles that I will find interesting. I checked out the film the other night. I was really impressed with the film. Siege is an extremely effective suspense film with a strong political subtext that still feels relevant nearly forty years later. The Severin Blu-ray includes the preferred Theatrical Cut, the Extended Cut created to please Japanese distributors, and an excellent new audio commentary with director Paul Donovan.

As the film begins, news footage explains that the police in Halifax will soon go on strike unless their salary demands can be met. This means that until the strike is resolved, the citizens of Halifax will be basically on their own to ward off crime. Late in the night, a car pulls up outside a gay club called The Crypt. Five men step out of the car and retrieve bats and weapons. They walk into the club. Inside, a bartender and five guests are listening to music and drinking peacefully. It is a member’s only club. The leader of the five men, Goose (Jeff Pustil,) announces to the club that he has come to deliver a message that it is not okay to be a homosexual in his town. He is part of the NO – new order – a fascist group of citizens that wants to take a stand against what they consider a bad influence on the townspeople. The bar’s patrons are clearly distraught, and when one guest tries to leave the bar, he is beaten by the fascists. The bartender grabs a gun from behind the bar, but it is knocked out of his hand by a bat. In the ensuing altercation, the bartender is knocked over onto his back and accidentally killed. Goose and his men, somewhat panicked, call their ruthless leader Cabe (Doug Lennox.) Cabe arrives at the bar and asks his cohorts to leave. He draws a German pistol with a silencer, and systematically kills four people execution style with a pillow behind their head. One of the patrons, Daniel (Terry-David Despres,) uses a small pocket knife to break free of his ziptie. Daniel manages to escape from the fascists. They pursue him through the streets. Daniel arrives at a random apartment of a group of more liberal thinking roommates. He is let in by Horatio (Tom Nardini) and his girlfriend Barbara (Brenda Bazinet.) They live together in an apartment next to Chester (Daryl Haney) who is a sometime anarchist with weapons training who watches over two blind friends – Steve (Keith Knight) and Patrick (Jack Blum.) The five friends find themselves staring down the fascists at the door with their single bolt-action rifle. They are unwilling to hand over Daniel to the mov, even when Goose claims that Daniel is an escaped psychopath. Goose lets Horacio and his friends know that they will be coming back for Daniel. Goose calls Cabe. Cabe arrives with weaponry for the siege of the apartment building and they begin their assault without any chance of police interruption.

Siege is a convincing and suspenseful home invasion thriller. The film was shot inexpensively. It was shot mostly inside the apartment building where the filmmakers lived. The guns used in the film were all real weapons that had been borrowed from citizens of Halifax. The footage of the police strike that starts the film was taken from the actual police strike in Halifax in 1981. Due to the numerous budgetary constraints of the film which included very limited depth of field for the camera lenses, lack of film to shoot additional takes, and lack of time for filming the picture, the movie feels far more realistic than other films of its ilk. It has a grittiness and tightness to the film that could not have come across as easily without those unique constraints. A heavier budget would have led to more lighting and a cleaner aesthetic, which actually would have worked against the film.

As co-director Paul Donovan admitted on the commentary, Siege is heavily influenced by the classic John Carpenter film Assault on Precinct 13. In my opinion, Siege is more suspenseful than that film and feels more real. Even almost forty years later, there are still people that inexplicably hate others. Fascism is a very real threat. The suspense that builds in the film comes from the feeling of a persistent menace that is heavily armed. This story feels like it could play out anywhere that our normal everyday protections in our society could fail. The script is tightly written and very inventive at times, especially in the sequences where the tenants build traps and weaponry on the fly to protect themselves. The villains are villains, and the heroes are more complex. Their unique traits of shared impoverishment and open mindedness makes them interesting heroes and fun to watch onscreen. The characters in the film make big impressions considering how small their backstories are.

For a low budget picture, the acting is surprisingly effective. Tom Nardini is likable as the protagonist of the film. I don’t understand how he didn’t gain more leading man roles afterward. He sells the role effortlessly. Daryl Haney is perfectly mysterious as the anarchic Chester. Brenda Bazinet is well cast as Barbara. The villains sell the film thanks to great villainous turns by Jeff Pustil as the loudmouthed Goose and the coldhearted and silent performance from Doug Lennox as Cabe. Cabe is one of the more frightening villains I have seen in a film in a while. The villains are frightening because there are real people that believe what they believe. 

I like the way that Siege looks. Hungarian trained cinematographer Les Krizsan was able to use the lenses’ limited focus capabilities to his advantage, creating a really unique visual aesthetic. Working with directors Paul Donovan and Maura O’Connell, the film feels grittier and heavier due to those limitations and the soft focus that occurs outside the limited scope of focus. It’s visually distinct. I also like the minimalist but effective synth-laden score by Peter Jermyn and Drew King. While the score is a little derivative of other scores at that time, it still fits the film well.

This is low budget filmmaking at its most effective. Young filmmakers interested in writing suspenseful films on a shoestring budget should absolutely study Siege. Highly recommended.

Video

Severin Films has provided a nice looking transfer in 1080p of Siege in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with an MPEG-4 AVC encode. As I mentioned above, the cinematography features limited focus from the camera which only allows fine focus close up, while behind that is fairly soft. In my opinion, it works to the film’s benefit. Siege is a gritty film shot at night with limited resources. I like the way the film looks and I can’t imagine it looking much better than it does in this presentation.

Audio

Severin Films has provided a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track that capably reproduces the original sound design of Siege. While this track is not extremely immersive, the dialogue is easy too understand and clarity is very good overall. The soundtrack shines through on the track and amplifies the action onscreen. 

Supplements:

• Extended Cut – in order to sell the film to Japan, the filmmakers filmed an additional prologue sequence. The directors’ preferred version is actually the theatrical release, but it is nice to have both versions included.
• Audio Commentary – Paul Donovan discusses the film in depth with fan and fellow Canadian film director Jason Eisener. Eisener is a tremendous fan of the film and he draws a lot of great information out of Donovan who discusses everything from the real guns used in the film to the creation of the film’s score. This is a very good commentary track. It was so good, I listened to the track from start to finish.
• Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Siege is one of the most effective thrillers I have watched in awhile. The low budget constraints imposed on the filmmakers became some of the film’s greatest strengths. It is a gritty and convincing film that succeeds in entertaining while also leaving the audience with something to think about. The film has aged well and the Severin release looks and sounds great. This is one of my favorite Severin releases so far. Low budget filmmakers who are looking for a solid template for how to make a suspense film with a very limited budget should absolutely study Siege. Highly recommended.