Smash Cut (2009)
6/10
Smash Cut
4 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
"I need inspiration." Poor Able Whitman(David Hess)is a filmmaker whose horror movies are rejected as worthless tripe(is this loosely based on Uwe Bol?)and he drowns his sorrow away in alcoholic pity at the local strip club(where he often finds his actresses!). A tragic event yielding a dead stripper's body may just be the inspiration Whitman needs to bring more authenticity to his work! The lingering shot of the dead body at his disposal creates an enthusiasm in his producers demanding product just as presented to them. Desperate for recognition after being long criticized, Whitman is so willing to present real, he'll draw his own blood for a "blood shower" set up written on script. Anyway, the dead stripper's sister and a detective join forces to find her whereabouts, following all the leads which will inevitably lead to Whitman. Meanwhile, Whitman descends into madness, killing those in his crew in order to further add realism to his bloody horror movie.

Someone has done it! Maybe this means little to nothing if you are not an admirer of Herschell Gordon Lewis, but for those who love the guy, "Smash Cut" could be worthwhile. I imagine that this movie will be of special interest to the David Hess fan club because he is the star headlining the movie along with gorgeous porn star Sasha Grey . Seeing Hess in clownface alone will be enough I think for his faithful to check this out. That or when he pulls the arm accidentally off a stripper who is killed in a car crash, Hess completely distraught. The scene where Hess collapses after the incident where he drew blood is a howler! Oh, and Hess even gets so worked up while gathering up his bits and pieces for his movie(from the car crash victim!)that he uses the severed arm's shirt sleeve to wipe his sweaty brow! Jesse's detective Beaumonde is a character of the HGL grand tradition..he's obviously modeled after Frank Kress from The Gore Gore Girls(he even carries a cane and is sure in love with himself). I have to say that this may be the first time, the avid horror fan that I am, I've actually seen a victim held captive in a film vault. Oh, and how Hess' director goes into hysterics regarding how Hamlet is in essence a horror film when this is challenged by April(Grey as a woman seeking a part in Whitman's new movie so she can follow him more closely)is quite a hoot. Or, the macabre scene involving April unknowingly holding her dead sister's decapitated head while quoting a line from Hamlet. Hess has a lot of kill scenes where he follows up his grisly antics with some goofy line("It's gut check time!" "I always knew you had a good eye" "I have final cut!")to cement each demented act of violence. Lots of black humor on display. Is there anything more cool than HGL opening the film?! To have the godfather of gore a part of your splatter movie must've been a great honor for both sides, the one for which the film is dedicated to and for the director to have his hero present and part of "Smash Cut." Michael Berryman, in a ridiculous wig, is Hess' not-so-bright producer, pairing together two memorable exploitation icons in scenes where they can send up their image. Ray Sager is a reverend who enlists boycotts of Whitman's movies and gets caught with his pants down by Beaumonde during the investigation. The violence is purposely low-tech, particularly an absurd scene where canons of blood gusher after Whitman chops off the hands of a screenplay writer with a cleaver. I'm a little kind to this movie because it was such a pleasure seeing Hess having such fun in quite a wacky role..and, nope, he doesn't rape anybody. While I think the image of Sasha Grey in a nurse uniform covered in blood is an attractive one, I found her lacking in personality. Still, she's mighty easy on the eyes, and I imagine there's a place in the horror genre for her if she ever decides to leave pornography behind.
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