Der Samurai
Directed by Till Kleinert
A cop is drawn into the web of a mysterious, sword-wielding killer over the course of one very strange night. Jakob is mocked by locals over his timid approach to policing, which includes leaving meat for the wolf in the woods instead of hunting it. When he encounters a devious samurai who wears a dress, he gets drawn into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the not-quite-human killer. Till Kleinert's Lynchian horror fantasy takes viewers into a bizarre nightmare where traditional masculinity and queerness fight for dominance, leaving scores of severed heads in their wake. (In German with English subtitles.)
A cop is drawn into the web of a mysterious sword-wielding killer.
Cast: Michel Diercks, Pit Bukowski, Uwe Preuss
Member Reviews
glad i skipped thru it lmao do not watch
boring as hell..
literally just the same harmful stereotype of "cross dressers are insane murderers" that has been used to misrepresent LGBTQ+ people for decades, which causes real world harm to disenfranchised people. it did not take me long to guess the direction of the plot, which is NOT a compliment on "good plot structure" it was just easy to recognize the same transphobic rhetoric being repeated time and time again in movies. I suggest skipping it if you're a part of the LGBTQ community. overall, really fucking disappointing that this was put under "LGBTQ horror." says to me that whoever made that list is not a part of the community and can't recognize transphobia when they see it. do better please
SO GOOD!!!
I have many unfortunate things to say about this film. I want to say that the acting by the antagonist is superb. Honestly only even finished this because of him. The film itself seemed to have all the elements of a quiet classic; maybe not of a quality that you would ever catch at a drive-in but something you would recommend to your friends on a slow night... But there is no plot here. Honestly the entirety of the film literally rests on "sword wielding male in a dress". If you remove that single element and by that I mean "in a dress" this work is empty. There is nothing here and to that end I feel as if this doesn't even belong on Shudder since it's just an LGBT filler piece. I mean this sincerely and without hate- if the removal of male "in a dress" would hollow the film. it boggles the mind the additional removal of something as minor as our small town cops "homoerotic confusion" would leave us with naught else but long minutes of our protagonist staring into the camera and (extremely) sporadic senseless violence. I came here expecting a sexuality + werewolf film (as is the trope of vamp and were films). What I wanted was a clash between small town social expectations and our more innate and deep desires with just a liberal sprinkling of blood and innards. What I got was an experience that said, "A man in a dress, isn't that novel? Doesn't that just tickle your pickle?" and am left wondering where the meat and potatoes of the meal got off to. A 2 out of 5 is generosity extended only for the quality of the acting. This isn't worth your time.