A group of film students attempt to finish a horror movie that stopped
production years earlier when the director was killed. Unaware that
every attempt to complete the pic coincided with the murders of those
involved, the students return to the original location in an isolated
part of the country. When filming begins, so do the killings
Cut is a 2000 Australian comedy horror film, which was directed by Kimble Rendall and stars Kylie Minogue, Molly Ringwald and Tiriel Mora. And guess what kids, it's really not a bad film. It's quite enjoyable.
The film opens in 1988 when director Hilary Jacobs (Australian uber-icon
Kylie Minogue) is working on a slasher movie called "Hot Blooded"
starring plucky American icon Vanessa Turnbull (Ringwald) as a teen who
is being chased by a psycho with a mask and some wicked cutlery. After
the climactic scene is shot, Jacobs shouts "Cut!" and then harangues the
actor playing
the killer. That
night, the actor stabs the director and almost offs Turnbull. The film
is never completed, and when a male director who takes over the project
ends up dead too, "Hot Blooded" achieves a hallowed status in student
film legend. Fast forward to the present -- Jacobs' assistant director
Lossman (Geoff Revell) teaches at a film school and tells his favorite
students -- Raffy Carruthers (Jessica Napier) and Hester Ryan (Sarah
Kants) -- of his experiences on the doomed set. Raffy, who is itching to
be the next Jane Campion, sets out to finish the notorious flick. She
enlists Hester as a producer, assembles a crew of fellow students and
manages to get Vanessa Turnbull, who hasn't worked much lately, to
revisit her role as the film's main character. Of course, as soon as
shooting commences, the killing begins anew.
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| They just have to finish the film... before it finishes them |
A bit of a "guilty pleasure"-type film, "Cut" is an entertaining little
slasher movie. By no means is it anything in
terms of a classic, but I found this to be a pretty fun movie. No, it's not entirely original, and in many instances it's just
as typical as any slasher movie out there, but the premise of the
movie-within-movie thing was interesting and makes for some very fun
viewing. And believe it or not, it opened in France and Hong Kong at number two at the box office.
The mask for the
killer is pretty creepy and adds some tension to his scenes with his
demeanor. He
looks indistinguishable from the film's killer, when characters mistake
him for that person and place him into the film with the actors, it
gets a little frightening at times. The gore is also nice and it's
quite bloody at times. There's several vicious slashes, a shear in the
eye, a water pipe impaled in the stomach and a decapitation that offers
up one of the best gags in the genre, where the head looks over at it's
body after being separated.
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| It's hard to scream without a tongue |
There are plenty of red herrings and fake suspenseful moments, and there is
very little time to try to work out who the killer is because the film moves
at such a fast pace. It also has an appropriate low budget look, including
some clumsy editing which is probably deliberate. Good soundtrack, too. If
there is a difficulty with this film it is deciding whether it is a send-up
of or a homage to the slasher genre. Probably a bit of
both.
The
acting is good with Molly Ringwald leading the way. Jessica Napier does
a good job as the films co-leading lady. Kylie Minogue plays a bitch very well in her small role.
Overall, "Cut" is an entertaining and creative little slasher picture
that doesn't aim to be a film classic. It's schlocky and campy, and
it's nowhere near perfect. But it's a self-aware horror movie that
manages to balance an imaginative idea while making fun of itself all
along the way, like a throwback to '80s splatter movies. It's got
enough positives and is definitely worth a watch for horror fans.
Anyone else will likely be displeased with it, but if you know slasher
movies well, this is a pretty entertaining flick.
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| Audience Warning - Important Cinema Safety Notice - Caution: Movies Can Kill |
Lecturer:
"We are so lucky today. We're lucky because we're here to see the most
exciting screening of a very rare film. You may have read about it in
the newspapers, because there was this so-called "curse" on the film.
And that was that every time anybody tried to complete the film, someone
died. In any case, this print is the only print in existence and we are
really lucky to be able to see it today. All right, nothin' more to
say. Here we go, let's roll it"
