Travis (David Rountree) and Lane (David Banks) work at a filmmaker's
supply warehouse that's closing down in three weeks - and while Lane is
worried about losing his job as he's a petty criminal out on parole,
Travis thinks it's time to finally fulfill his dream and become a movie
director. Thing is, Travis has some big ideas, but not exactly the budget
to make the horror film to end all horror films. Lane on the other hand
might be a cinematic illiterate, but he's good at scaring people ... and
he takes special pleasure in beating up prostitutes. So he suggests to
Travis that they pick up some whores and scare the living shit out of them
to make an authentic horror movie - but their first few attempts to do
just that just don't work out ... until they hire a homeless guy (Sam
Scarber) to act as their bogeyman. But when they hand him a knife to scare
a prostitute (Dahlia Salem), he just goes and slashes her throat. Travis
and Lane are shocked, but as they have set the guy up, they are
accomplices to murder, so they dump the body. It doesn't take them long to
realize the footage they got was gold, and despite everything, they did
enjoy the rush, so they just keep on doing what went right with that scene
(actual murder), sometimes involving the homeless guy, who remains a
mystery to them otherwise, sometimes not, killing more prostitutes, a
colleague they don't like (Chris Moir), and even a popular horror actress
(name withheld to not spoil the surprise). And while they're still
shooting, Travis is already fixing a distribution deal. But something's
just terribly not right about the whole affair (quite apart from the fact
that it's not right killing people) ... Fan faves Suze Lanier-Bramlett
and Gabrielle Stone play themselves, William McNamara has a guest spot as
one of Travis's high profile customers. Cut!, while
deeply rooted in the slasher genre, is definitely not your usual genre
fare - it's a film that plays with genre expectations and twists and turns
especially when you least expect it to (just wait for the film's
resolution, despite making total sense it's a surprise ending if I ever
saw one), focuses on characters rather than spectacle (though when it lets
loose, it's quite graphic as well), is carried by performances rather than
just depending on a familiar story arc, and the direction is suitably
subtle to properly let the story unfold instead of burying it in over-used
horror mainstays. Pretty good, really!
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