After reading some reviews and recommendations here and there, I got curious. The title, poster and plot on their own wouldn't have really drawn me to watch it.First off: it's not really bad and there are some individual scenes that are pretty intense (and even an occasional sort of funny one - with the sheep), as is the acting by Darren Healy. But the script feels like a mess and mostly like a generic series of 'must-happen' events in what has come to be known as the revenge flick, including an all-out bloody ending. For some films that works, for example 'I spit on your grave' (1978!), where form, creativity and energy really come together. 'Savage' looks bleak, and wants to paint a bleak picture of how a civilized man can totally lose himself in 'fear, control, anger and REVENGE'... Well, those 'chapters' didn't help any at all either, did they? But bleak as it tries to look, it is visually pretty uninteresting, and hard as the punchline wants to be, it doesn't punch. Not for me, anyway.That's it. A small 6? A big 5? For Healy's good effort, some proper moments and those poor sheep I will show mercy.

Watched this the other day after first hearing about it after watching the trailer for it. I found the film to be brilliantly shot by the DOP, written and directed by Brendan Muldowney. With a great lead performance by Darren Healy Hands down one of the best films I have seen in a long time and better than most of the independence films coming out of England which would have done a similar plot with a lot more unoriginal approach. A proper slow burner which takes time to build up the character of Paul Graynor who goes thought a number of different emotional states before a brutally dark, violence and realistic.

This is a story of a man who lost his identity of maleness. This is introduced as a Top 10 disturbing films by a youtube user. So I tried it. For me, this isn't a disturbing movie more like a sad story. The movie consists of 4 parts; Fear, Control, Anger, and Revenge. We can see him changing gradually as the story goes on.Paul (Darren Healy) was attacked by two brats on the street. He couldn't fight back or even scream because he was completely intimidated. He was under a brat's thumb. This incident affected him really bad. Basically He was mentally neutered. He struggles to regain himself as used to be by getting a dagger and a taser, joining a self-defense class, and taking steroids. Nothing really gives him confidence and slowly he gets screwed up. There are people who try to help him; his work mate, girlfriend etc. The trainer of the self- defense class tells him that he is not OK and he also sees a psychiatrist, but he isn't willing to listen to them because his mind is so messed up. Things don't go well for him. His self-esteem is crushed flat.I have to admit that he tries really hard to deal with his problem by himself. It rather pushes him into the edge. He expects more than he can actually achieve. People can only do so much with this kind of state of mind. While ordinary people might have thought of the idea but never actually plan to carry it out, it could be a big progress for a person who suffers from depression if he can live one day without thinking of killing himself. He had to realize that people have their own pace for doing things and, moreover, everyone has a problem. The character Paul is well developed and shows good acting, in fact, he made me feel like supporting him so bad.I can't help thinking that he tries too hard to be someone else but him. He isn't a tough guy or a muscular type, however he seems to consider that's the kind of man he should be. But again it's just not his thing! So of course, he reaches the point of lunacy eventually.Only one part of this movie which was really disturbing for me is when the main character, Paul killed a sheep for the process of retrieving his masculine. Attacking someone or something unresisting is hard to watch. Maybe it was necessary for Paul, but I hated it. This scene actually has a connection to the end which is the biggest reason that I end up rating this movie only 6 although it's a well done film.-------- SPOILER ----------The ending…Paul got the information from police which was that the kids who attacked him has been arrested and are going to be transported. He goes to take a revenge at the site but he missed the chance. After that, while he was walking with anger and frustration, he bumped into two brats (they are totally strangers for Paul) who are trying to brake in a car on the street. Paul changed his targets and beat them up. Finally Paul killed one of them like he did to the sheep…I don't know if he retrieved his peace. It is just sad that he couldn't inflict vengeance on the two kids who attacked him and screwed him up so bad. At least, I wanted Paul to pay back on them although it's still a sad ending. Paul can't go back to normal anymore. However, probably those kids will be out of prison or institute shortly and enjoy freedom because they are under age. What a sarcasm. What a sad story.

Paul Graynor (Darren Healy) is a press photographer who tends to catch the seedier parts of life, be it drunken fighting or trying to get glimpses in court of convicted rapists. His father is an invalid, confined to a nursing home, and while visiting, he strikes up a relationship with his dad's nurse Michelle. (Nora Jane No one) Returning home from a date, he is accosted and viciously assaulted by two thugs who not only beat him senseless, but castrate him, leaving him a physical and emotional wreck. At first afraid to leave his house, and then afraid on the street, he eventually seeks empowerment via self defense classes and sessions in the gym, where he bolsters himself with steroids he scores off some friendly Russians. Then anger kicks in, bolstered by nightly reports of violence on the news. Then alienation and rage follows, until finally, Paul's only course of action is brutal bloody revenge...Let's face it, we Irish suck at genre films. The best we can make a stab at is either meh/OK-ayyness such as Isolation, Dead Bodies, Spiderhole or Boy Eats Girl, to the simply crap, such as Crushproof or Dead Meat. Savage though tends to lean towards the more "okay" side of things. It's by no means great, with a rather halting performance from Darren Healy, and due to budgetary constraints, Director Brendan Muldowney unwisely goes the jump cut editing route which is a pet peeve of mine.On a plus side though, it looks quite decent production values wise, is well shot and manages to make my home city of Dublin look nicely grim and foreboding, although in fairness, it isn't much of a stretch to achieve this. The casting in regards to the scumbags is spot on, with them looking and sounding exactly like your average skanger/chav (white trash scum, to any American readers) one can see on my fair city streets at any given time of the day or night.Told in four segments entitled "Fear", "Control", "Anger" and "Revenge", it's more of a slow burning psychological drama as opposed to an exploitative revenge flick, which takes time to get to its payoff, so as a result won't be to everyone's tastes.However, its revenge climax is sufficiently brutal, if somewhat brief, culminating in a realistic enough looking beheading complete with stomach churning sound FX. A preceding revenge scene involving a screwdriver actually made me cringe a bit, so props to Muldowney for that one.So, in conclusion, for Ireland's first revenge film it's... okaaay. Not great, but not bad either. Worth a rental anyway. 6/10 overall.