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 Davitelj protiv davitelja Movie Review

Davitelj protiv davitelja (Strangler vs. Strangler) is a 1984 Serbian crime horror comedy film directed by Slobodan Sijan and starring Tasko Nacic, Nikola Simic and Sonja Savic. It’s a weird, memorable movie.

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“You don’t like carnations?

Now you’ve gotten what’s coming to you.

No one who doesn’t like carnations deserves to live“

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A mentally disturbed flower seller starts killing young girls on the streets of Belgrade. While the frustrated police inspector is trying to stop him, an aspiring musician finds his life and work deeply intertwined with that of a killer. Needless to say, this is a very strange movie both in terms of plot and in terms of tone itself. The film is basically a mix of crime, comedy and even horror genre elements, but it’s decidedly a mixed bag in their execution.

It succeeds wildly as a comedy. The humor is so fantastic that it made me chuckle countless times. It’s the type of black humor that really works well with this type of material. The mother-son scenes are both disturbing and funny in their own way, the rock musician subplot is absolute craziness that is hard to describe and is best to be seen to be believed as it’s fantastical in content, and the funniest bits are those cross-dressing scenes, which are hilarious in their unexpectedness.

It’s much less distinguished in the other two genres. As a horror movie, it partly succeeds despite not being intense or creepy in any shape or farm. But its atmosphere is solid and the ‘Psycho’ parody scenes are all very well done and so much fun. As a crime movie, it succeeds in the least having in mind that you can’t take any of this seriously. The tone is inconsistent throughout, but the sheer originality of the movie should be admired.

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Tasko Nacic was a perfect fit for Pera Mitic the strangler. He is very believable with his crazy eyes and clumsiness. His performance is terrific throughout, but also of note are Sonja Savic who is very good in an admittedly underwritten role, and Nikola Simic who is fantastic as this overly incompetent, almost cartoony police inspector. Srdjan Saper isn’t as great in the role of Spiridon, but admittedly he fits the role as a real musical in life. The casting in the film was quite inspired.

Davitelj protiv davitelja is a technically accomplished movie. I was actually taken aback by how purely artistic it is, especially in the areas of horror parodies and some stylistic choices that were all phenomenal in idea and in execution. I am talking about its very interesting archaic title cards that make for excellent scene transitions, the time jumps are also very well established and the movie’s editing overall is simply remarkable. It’s so tightly edited that this level of polish made the film both very modern and unique. It’s unlike anything done in Serbia, that’s for sure.

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The movie is so well paced that it is highly entertaining throughout. Some of the second half scenes were too ridiculous, but then again I consider this movie first and foremost a comedy, which is why it becomes increasingly silly as it goes along. It is quirky in characters and dialogue while the cinematography is also quite strong with some great shots that really build up suspense and/or laughs.

Davitelj protiv davitelja (Strangler vs. Strangler) is such an authentic mix of crime, comedy and horror genres that isn’t always seamless and is too silly in certain scenes, but it wildly succeeds as this quirky, increasingly strange comedy that is filled with many goofy characters and memorable dialogue. It’s also an undeniably artistic, original film in its stylistic choices with scene transitions and the overall editing being undoubtedly incredible. The casting was also top-notch with everyone delivering in spades.

My Rating – 4