The Samurai

2014

1h 20m

Fantasy

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

List

100%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

53%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Jakob, a young policeman from a remote village, has his world unhinged when a stranger in a dress emerges from the forest and begins killing villagers with a sword.

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robert p

This is the most majestic attack on my senses that my eyes have ever witnessed. The last half of this movie will confound, enlighten, and annihilate everything you know and perceive as actuality. Pure, raw, unparalleled genius wrapped in homoerotic, insane, primeval, debauchery. I may never recover. This movie is so good that I am giving it a *4* star review!!!!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Jakob is a policeman in a village deep in the woods. Nothing ever happens, but then a wolf shows up, but it's really a transvestite samurai and if you can accept that plot twist, you're pretty much ready for whatever happens next. The townspeople see Jakob as weak because he's so polite, mild and young, an outsider in their home and the bikers that regularly take advantage of the village think even less of him. So Jacob sits at home and makes his miniature village and then sometimes, he takes bloody meat into the woods to give the wolf a meal and he feels a bond growing. But is the wolf real? Is the samurai the wolf? Is Jakob supposed to watch, help or stop the wolf? Are they all parts of Jakob's brain or are they all real? And most importantly, is this a slasher or a giallo? Till Kleinert hasn't made a movie since this. I don't know if he ever has to again, because this is nearly perfect the first time out. But I sure hope he does.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A briskly-riveting schlock horror that brims with visual panache and offbeat surrealism. It's refreshing to see a gutsy genre piece whose narrative trajectory goes full-on metaphysical. For sure, you won't be counting time but the bodies, or, ahem, heads.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It is impossible to deny Till Kleinert's reworking of the werewolf folk tale holds a great deal of power. Even though it sometimes seems to clunk when it should probably stalk, this German experimental film leaves a strong impression. A gentle, kind and lonely cop discovers his the wolf who has been causing minor problems in his village is something far more sinister. The innocent girl in a red cape has been replaced by a lonely young cop. The wolf takes another form as well. It is not exactly a "werewolf" but it seems to be even more menacing and deadly. It seems to be a strange sort of chase, hunt and dance. To Kleinert's credit, he keeps the entire film in a state that offers no easy understanding. In fact, as the credits begin to roll you're left wondering exactly what it is you just saw. Too silly to be taken seriously -- yet far to smart to forget. Somehow this odd film leaves a very potent shadow.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie is the worst one I've ever seen. Five stars?! Are you crazy? Just a boring gay-metaphor... katana vs erection... c'mon...

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Hacía tiempo que no veía una película tan rara ; es una locura de guión pero es admirable como logra combinar diferentes temas como violencia , fantasía y homosexualidad .

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

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Till Kleinert

Director

Michel Diercks

Jakob

Pit Bukowski

Der Samurai

Uwe Preuss

Horvath

Kaja Blachnik

Karo

Ulrike Hanke-Haensch

Großmutter

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Tasha Robinson

The Dissolve

It's so evocative on an instinctive level that its panting excitement overwhelms the sense of questions unanswered, and often unasked.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jun 8, 2015

Full Review

Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

A surreal exploration into the mind of a man questioning his gender identity, Der Samurai has style to spare.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 8, 2021

Full Review

Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

Till Kleinert's feature directorial debut is surreal, gorgeous and complicated. Go in prepared to let it wash over you, then expect to have long, nuanced conversations afterwards.

Sep 1, 2021

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

It would be nearly impossible to not admire the world that Kleinert creates that exists somewhere between dream and fantasy.

Rated: 3.0/4.0

Sep 6, 2020

Full Review

Joey Keogh

Wicked Horror

Der Samurai asks more questions than it answers, and is stronger for it.

Rated: 8/10

Sep 26, 2019

Full Review

Amanda Waltz

The Film Stage

Der Samurai is an unusual little gem of a film that excites with its own offbeat blend of horror, suspense, and visual elegance.

Rated: A-

Jun 6, 2016

Full Review

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Synopsis

Jakob, a young policeman from a remote village, has his world unhinged when a stranger in a dress emerges from the forest and begins killing villagers with a sword.

Director: Till Kleinert
Screenwriter: Till Kleinert
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: German
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 2, 2016
Runtime: 1h 20m

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