ElijahCSkuggs For those of you who enjoy venturing deep into the nastier things the horror realm has to offer, I think you may enjoy this. A film with some ultra-violence, VJ stabbin, penae mutilation, rapeyraperape, cannibalism....it's got the "good" stuff. A film that revolves around themes of revenge and "staying true to oneself in rough times"....(what's a word for that?....perseverance?). The kicker is, there isn't a word spoken in the film, besides I think a couple "Nooooo!"s. No dialogue in the film. And to come across as powerful as it did, is pretty commendable.Personally, even though it's got everything I enjoy in horror I'm not going cuckoo over it. The acting, camera-work and length all bothered me. Basically because it is slightly amateurish. But overall and most importantly it's unique, and it'll be some time till I have difficulty remembering it. Definitely worth a view for the right viewer

DVD_Connoisseur I really wanted to like "Defenceless" but it's a movie that somehow isn't a sum of its parts. While the plot is relatively straightforward, the film's strength should come from its stylistic approach. This is a movie without dialogue - the powerful imagery conveys the tale, accompanied by a largely classical soundtrack.For gorehounds, there is some over-the-top violence. As with Savage's earlier "Marauders", some of this is taboo breaking but thankfully the more controversial deaths are off-screen.The beautiful Susanne Hausschmid is excellent as the lead, "The Woman". Without going into too much detail, this is a character who has to undergo a fair amount of torment, both physical and mental, during the course of the film. Hausschmid conveys what's going on in her mind brilliantly.Yet, despite its strengths, I was left feeling a tad empty after watching "Defenceless". I've not been able to warm to Savage's style.7 out of 10. Missing a certain something but an interesting exercise in cinema.

EVOL666 DEFENCELESS is a very "different" kind of film. Blurring the lines between "arthouse" and exploitation cinema, the film is essentially an amalgamation of several genres which are combined generally to good effect. Being that the film is shot without dialogue, it's a good thing that director Mark Savage has a lot to "show" us, and can maintain interest through the feature-length run-time...A woman is embroiled in a shady development deal that she wants no part of, but whose partners will go to any lengths to finalize. When the woman refuses to sign off on the necessary paperwork, the other businessmen resort to extremely underhanded tactics to get what they want. First killing the woman's husband, then raping and killing her lesbian lover (that she takes after her husband's death), and finally raping the woman herself and killing her son. Nine months later the woman is "reborn" as a vengeful cannibalistic mermaid killing-machine with a one-track-mind to punish those that have wronged her...Being a huge exploitation/sleaze fan - there's a lot to like about DEFENCELESS. There are two rough rape scenes (both including a good bit of vag-stabbing), two graphic penile removals, a hinted-at side plot of a kiddie-porn snuff ring, self-mutilation, cannibalism...the list goes on and on. It's apparent both from the film and some other information that I've read on Savage that the director is a big exploitation, XXX "roughie", and Japanese pinku eiga fan - and these touches are all apparent in his film. I enjoy these sort of "nods" to other genres and found them fitting. From a film-making standpoint - though shot-on-video/digital (not sure which), it's clear that Savage cares about how his film looks and took a lot of care in both the actual filming and editing of DEFENCELESS - it doesn't look like your typical no-budget shot-on-hand-held crap-fest that many of these newer "underground" horror films are. With that said, there are several things that I found (for lack of a better term...) "unappealing" about DEFENCELESS. After the woman's "rebirth", her demeanor was almost (unintentionally, I assume) comically robotic. I couldn't help but draw parallels to the reanimated wife in FRANKENHOOKER which seemed out of place for such a "serious" film. The classical music score, though "elegant" in some instances, eventually became repetitive to the point of distraction, especially in the first half of the film. Most of the gore FX seemed limited by what I assume would be budgetary constraints, and were more campy than disturbing, and I may be nit-picking here, but most of the blood in the film appeared extremely syrupy and fake which didn't help the realism-factor. Honestly, it's hard to put my finger on exactly WHY certain aspects of the film left me a bit cold - it's just an overall impression. I feel that DEFENCELESS is definitely a must-see for exploit fans looking for something different, and I applaud Savage for his unflinching and uncompromising vision, and for bringing some originality to the oft retreaded rape/revenge genre. It is obvious that he is a horror/exploit fan making films for those same fans, and that's to be commended. I'll be checking out more of his work shortly and hope that the rest is as decent as this film. A few minor issues with DEFENCELESS that in my book keep it from being a "great" film - but definitely solid, original, and something to seek out...7.5/10

Stezza7 There's no real easy way to describe DEFENCELESS. Surely it's one of the most hypnotising, most brutal and savage films to see release in a long time. And that is terrific news. This is the way films of this genre should be made. Somewhere between true high-art and suspense, Savage manages to keep the viewer on the edge of their seats, using some breathtaking imagery and the amazing feat (these days) of no dialogue. Produced and filmed in a country which has no real support or backing for this kind of film, Savage has to be congratulated for such a fine job. Here's hoping he moves from strength to strength, and can bring further fine tales like this to the screen soon.