A Noite do Desespero

This is a Canadian movie originally called "Siege", very much in the tradition of John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13." The story is about a police strike in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which paves the way for violence to break loose in the city . When a gay bar is attacked by a group of thugs, one gets away and escapes to an intstitute for disabled young people. This house then comes under the siege of the gang and they must use all their imagination to survive this night. The movie is obviously low budget, but as so often happens, that's just good for the creativity and tone of the film. In Europe, the movie was retitled "Night Warriors", and made it look like this was another Mad Max/Escape From New York clone. But it's just a clever little thriller.

It's hard not to see the parallels between this film and the likes of RIO BRAVO or the the above mentioned John Carpenter film. This film isn't perfect by any means but functions well as a down and dirty urban crime / action thriller with a few cute surprises sprinkled in that any fan of 60's-80's "grindhouse" would appreciate. It's pretty clear that the makers of VFW pulled a little bit of inspiration from this, especially in terms of musical score.

One thing ASSAULT didn't even attempt to do was make its villains sympathetic in any way, but this film gives them about 30-35% of the dialog and attention, making each one of their deaths a little more meaningful. I loved the varying degrees to which the villains stayed committed to the crime and greater adherence to realism in general. People in this film act about like how you or I would react to a situation here and there isn't a lot of James Bond style heroics at play.

That said, it isn't quite a classic by any stretch. My main beef with the film is that it's just too convenient in many places. For one, of all the places the person fleeing from an angry mob in all of Canada, it just happens to be the place next door to a doomsday prepper with the means of building rockets and grenades at his disposal. Also, the fun idea of the shared medicine cabinet feels a bit ludicrous when compared to the fairly grounded reality of the rest of the movie. The main protagonists do not get introduced until late in the film, giving them very little room to build character development or strong audience sympathy. The viewer may never fully connect to the characters, but the short length and constant sense of immediacy keep things from ever getting dull.

Overall I considered myself surprised by how well this extremely low budget film comes together despite its relative obscurity. It's a shame that Donovan's next film DEF-CON IV would be such a letdown (after an excellent first half) and that afterward he'd generally stick to making more profitable (but even more forgettable) kids' films.

A pretty taut Canadian thriller that shares some similarities with Assault on Precinct 13. It's well shot and the acting isn't too bad either. A nice discovery on Shudder.

And this is why the world needs RoboCop.

I'm pretty shocked I gave this one a chance by the poster, but then I was wildly curious after reading the first half of the synopsis. And when I watched it, it was much more than I even though possible.

In this film modeled after 1976's Assault on Precinct 13 and a precursor to 2015's Green Room, the police are on strike so crime spikes in this downtown area. Our story revolves around a bunch of indisputably vile characters who call themselves the "New Order," or NO for short, and they do not wish for their forthcoming "perfect" world to include homosexuals. So, they raid a gay bar, do surprisingly cruel actions and one patron manages to escape and into the arms of a group of unselfish, open minded people. And now, everyone is in danger from the NO.

Sounds like I'm spoiling the whole movie. Nope. This is just the barely first act as the grand majority of the film is the outside force trying to get inside for their witness.

This movie was intense and while a ton of scenes were well over-the-top, including the reactions and acting, it's a film of the times. Or at least parts of the scenes were. I'm actually shocked and very pleased on how progressive this movie was in 1983 when gay bashing, or worse, was definitely more widespread than today. And this movie stood out 100% against that. This movie was graphic and incredibly shocking/sad at times and it really stood its ground on doing the right thing and that everyone's equal.

I'm glad I gave this movie a chance. It was completely suspenseful and you really never know who's safe from the NO.

***

Final Thoughts: Now, of the three: Assault on Precinct 13, Siege and Green Room, my favorite is...well, that's hard. The first two were deliciously a product of their times. I would, however, select Green Room. While it wasn't 100% original, it sure felt that way when I saw it, before I saw the other two. Still, the most polished and best acted movie is definitely Green Room.

This would make a radical trilogy marathon some Saturday evening.

Inspired by the real-life police strike in early-1980s Halifax, the obscure Canadian thriller "Self Defense", a.k.a. "Siege" is a hell of a good time for exploitation devotees. During this period of police inaction, criminal scum are able to do as they please. And so a gang of trouble-making bigots with a "cause" storm into a gay bar and terrorize the customers. Ultimately, almost all the victims end up dead, except for Daniel (Terry-David Despres), who flees for his life. He makes it inside an old apartment building. Initially, the residents are unsure of how to proceed, but soon they decide to shelter Daniel and fight back against the psycho antagonists, who are led by a stone-faced creep named Cabe (Doug Lennox, "Lars and the Real Girl"). And they prove to be decent fighters.

If this hadn't been a "lost" film for such a long time, this would surely have been considered a classic B flick over the decades. Directors Paul Donovan and Maura O'Connell, who went on to do another cult flick, "DEFCON-4", give the story great pace. In fact, the movie is so exciting, quickly paced, and manipulative (these filmmakers know how to push your buttons), that viewers can gloss over any flaws in the narrative and just enjoy the ride. Needless to say, it can get pretty violent, and there's some of the standard "stupid characters doing stupid things" tropes that people expect to find in many movies. But this viewer will say that it hooked him early on, and often delivered the goods.

The cast includes a few actors whom you may recognize from other things: Tom Nardini ("Cat Ballou") as Horatio, Jack Blum ("Happy Birthday to Me") as Patrick (a blind kid with acute hearing), and Keith Knight ("Class of 1984"). Jeff Pustil, who was also in "DEFCON-4", is an amusing highlight as the most aggressive of the bad guys. Daryl Haney is also a standout as the calm and cool Chester; you may better know him as a writer of such things as "Crime Zone", "Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood", and "Xtro III: Watch the Skies".

Excellent atmosphere and a haunting electronic score are assets. Worth noting is the tidbit of info that this apparently contains the only known existing news footage of that aforementioned police strike. There is also a priceless, final second twist before the end credits start appearing.

Eight out of 10.