Film Review: Director’s Cut (2010)

SYNOPSIS: N/A

REVIEW:

Cheesenugget Entertainment and Weazel Nut films present an independent production titled “Directors cut”. The film is shot on standard video cams and explores a concept of filming a horror film as a plot premise. It’s probably applicable to say that the project itself is rooted on a love for slasher films and was kept extremely low budget in the interest of creating a self produced film project. Clocking in at about 40 minutes, this short film is a prime candidate for film festivals. Directed by Todd Martin, he is joined by friends and family in what looked like a fun way to spend the summer and create a product for the experience of doing it and to take a stab at filmmaking in general.

As a horror site, we take on all types of productions for review…. whether they be blockbusters, studio funded, independent level or “pick up a camera a shoot” movies. So its only fair to comment on them within the level of production they are at. “Director’s Cut” features mostly static shots, cutaways and some pretty basic editing. In short, its safe to say its a no frills style film that seems rooted on a central idea.

The film has Randy and his the team heading out to a friends house to shoot their movie in the interest of creating a slasher flick. The house happens to be haunted, “somewhat” and also comes equipped with a knife whirling maniac who also happens to be waiting for them when they arrive. Randy takes on special effects, Oggy is the acting movie slasher while Julie directs the film.

Tyler is the on hand camera man who appears to be amateur at best, but dedicated to doing as his skills will allow.  When the “ass hole” friend Sam starts to come unwound and critical of the camera work, he quits the production only to get murdered before he can leave. Unknown to the crew, the production roles on as a real killer lurks about the house. They soon find out that everything is not as it seems and reality can be stranger than fiction.

In Directors cut, Todd brings his interest in horror to that table which is evident in the content. There’s nothing fancy here or pretentious, its just the gang working there way thru a first feature. My recommendations would be the inclusion of more mobile shots, even with cheaply done “tape the camera to a wheel chair and film” techniques would give the production look some interesting motion footage to work with. Maybe some blood spray gags when the killer is stabbing or beating his victims to death and possibly extending out some of the kills for dramatic impact. Sasher films are by nature quick and to the point, but in this age the audiences are used to seeing more at “some point” in the film. In fact the added exploitation gore could easily be cut back into the production for a more visceral presentation. But just my 2 cents.

The plot has a nice twist, that shows some inventiveness from the writers and proves that horror fans are not content “just” watching films, when they can make some of theirown. I’d like to see how the team progresses on future productions with maybe some financial backing, some microphones for audio and a decent HD camera to capture more detail. The perspective shots are a nice touch that shows the director has been paying attention to common slasher techniques. In all, The team has fun with the concept, which is evident and how the wheels start turning with on more productions on the horizon.