My History With the Film:
When I worked at Blockbuster in the early 2000’s I was exposed to all sorts of direct to video horror films. We’d usually receive just one copy of these movies and sometimes they’d rent well and sometimes they wouldn’t. One film that I distinctly remember us getting was Cut. It was a slasher film that I had never heard of and the only name I recognized on the box was Molly Ringwald. This was 2000-2001, and Molly Ringwald was well outside her Brat Pack years and the whole 80’s revival was still several years off. So, usually the films that featured Molly Ringwald were not exactly the highest of quality. So, I never checked it out and had honestly forgotten about it for many years.
About a year ago, I ran across a post where someone was discussing the Australian version of Scream. I was fascinated because I had never heard of such a movie and that’s when I realized they were referring to Cut, that little low budget horror film I remember seeing on the New Release wall.
I decided I needed to see Cut since it was a slasher film and it came out in the prime years that I like to review horror films from. Unfortunately for me, Cut wasn’t streaming anywhere and the DVDs were a little pricey. So, I just put Cut on that long list of movies I need to track down and figured one day I’d run across it.
Well, while vacationing in Seattle, I was browsing movies to download for my flight and I saw Cut was available on Amazon Prime. I excitedly downloaded it and sat down to enjoy the Australian version of Scream. And let me just say… its insulting to Scream to say this is the Australian version of it.
What The Film Is About (Non-Spoiler):
A group of film students attempt to finish a horror film that’s production was stopped after one of the actors killed the director.
What I Liked About It:
– Molly Ringwald didn’t phone in her performance. She was obviously the biggest star in this feature and in a way her character was a mirror of her actual real life position (a successful Hollywood star coming to Australia for a low budget horror movie).
-I actually really liked the plot. The idea that a slasher film was being made in the 1980’s and was never finished due to a murder on the set is right up my alley. Even more so when the students decide to finish filming the movie by recruiting one of the original cast members (Molly Ringwald’s character).
What I Didn’t Like About It:
-The killer’s reveal ::SPOILERS::This film didn’t need a supernatural twist and it really hurt the film. It spent so much time and energy establishing itself in the real world, the way other meta horror films did, but then just gave it all the way when the killer was revealed to be made of film energy. ::END SPOILERS::
-The special effects were pretty horrendous, especially in the climax.
-Outside of Ringwald, the cast is pretty terrible and very amateurish.
-The runtime was 82 minutes and even that felt a little long.
Additional Notes:
-The killer was referred to as Scarman.
–The IMDB Trivia page is full of quotes from various crew members. I couldn’t source these quotes, but they seem like they came from some type of marketing material for the movie. From reading these quotes it seems like the crew really thought they were redefining the horror genre and they went big with their expectations, but unfortunately the result wasn’t nearly as compelling as they thought it would be.
Rating:
The movie tries hard at being in the realm of Scream, by being self-aware and having a whole “movie within a movie” type of plot, but it just doesn’t work. However, I admire them for trying and despite being a low budget Scream style knock off, the movie just wasn’t my cup of tea. If you go in with low expectations and just want to watch a somewhat competent slasher you might not be disappointed.
I rate Cut a two out of a five and say skip it.