Siege (1983) - Paul Donovan & Maura O’Connell

A taut, mean-spirited siege film that is like if Assault on Precinct 13 and Judgement Night had a Canadian baby that loved Home Alone. Works well as a low-budget genre film, amping up the tension as it progresses and showing no reservations about getting gnarly. The juxtaposition of the fascist, homophobe antagonists and their vile masculine ethos with the ragtag group of protagonists provides some interesting subtext about masculinity and socially-defined notions of being strong. Many of the protagonists who find themselves under attack are perceived as weak or disadvantaged by normative society, whether it be across gender (femininity), sexuality (homosexuality), or physical attributes (deafness), and yet they stand their ground against these aggressors who figuratively represent orthodox perspectives of strength and masculinity. Even the set-up and initial conceit - the events transpiring due to a police strike - play into this subtext. The police themselves are merely agents of the state who inevitably serve the interests of the majority to the detriment of the minority. Secondarily, I also appreciated some of this film's eccentricities, particularly this being one of the weirdest and most rad apartment/duplex ever committed to celluloid. I mean, a secret passageway behind the bathroom mirror! Righteous. A great exercise in low-budget genre filmmaking that is perhaps a little underappreciated for its low-key takedown of masculine orthodoxy