| Self Defense | |
| Director: | Paul Donovan Maura O'Connell |
| Producer: | Paul Donovan |
| Starring: | Tom Nardini Brenda Bazinet |
| Music: | Peter Jermyn Drew King |
| Cinematography: | Les Krizsan |
| Editing: | Ian McBride |
| Studio: | Salter Street Films International |
| Distributor: | New Line Cinema |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | English |
Self Defense (also known as Siege) is a 1983 Canadian action-thriller-film directed by Paul Donovan and Maura O'Connell, and starring Tom Nardini, Brenda Bazinet, Darel Haeny, and Terry-David Després.[1]
A fascist group who call themselves New Order want to set some "new rules" in town while the police in Halifax, Nova Scotia are on strike. They try to scare the patrons of a gay bar, but by accident the owner of the establishment is killed, and the leader of the fascist group then decides to execute all witnesses. One man escapes and takes refuge in an isolated block of flats. The young tenants in the house refuse to hand over the survivor, and the bullies then decide to kill all the residents in the house. This turns out to be not so easy when the young people in the house barricade their apartments and set up traps and arm themselves in order to fight back.
TV Guide said "the film is reminiscent of Assault on Precinct 13, though it is not quite as effective."[2] Canuxploitation called it “an unheralded landmark of Canadian B-film.”[3]