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Smash Cut

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For the film-making technique, see Smash cut.

Smash Cut
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLee Demarbre
Written byIan Driscoll
Produced byRobert Menzies
Starring
Cinematography
  • Jean-Denis Ménard
  • Karl Roeder
Edited byLee Demarbre
Music byMichael Dubue
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Imagination Worldwide LLC
  • Shriek Show
Release dates
Running time
79 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
BudgetCA$400,000[1]

Smash Cut is a 2009 Canadian slasher film directed and edited by Lee Demarbre, and produced by Robert Menzies. Starring David Hess, Sasha Grey, Michael Berryman, Ray Sager and Herschell Gordon Lewis, the plot follows a struggling filmmaker who finds that practical effects are much easier to come by.

Plot

Television reporter April Carson turns to the services of private investigator Isaac Beaumonde to find her missing sister, a stripper known as Gigi Spot.[1][2] Carson assumes a role in a horror movie in the process, eventually learning that the director, Able Whitman, is not only the culprit, but that he has rendered her sister's body into props.[3][4][5]

Whitman requires more "props" for his film, meaning more body parts, which in turn requires a killing spree. Meanwhile, Beaumonde pursues an increasingly deadly and grisly case.[6]

Cast

  • David Hess as Able Whitman
  • Sasha Grey as April Carson
  • Michael Berryman as Philip Farmsworth Jr.
  • Ray Sager as Reverend Ezekial Boone
  • Herschell Gordon Lewis as Fred Sandy
  • Jesse Buck as Isaac Beaumonde
  • Jennilee Murray as Georgina Carson / Gigi Spot
  • Michael Dubue as Alan Dackman
  • Barry Blake as Armand Parys
  • Peter Michael Dillon as Oswald "Ozzie" Kohlberg
  • Rusty Nails as Kohlberg / Oswald

Production

Director Lee Demarbre cast cult horror actors David Hess (The Last House on the Left), Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) and Ray Sager (The Wizard of Gore).[7][8] Herschell Gordon Lewis, considered the inventor of the splatter film genre, appears in the film's opening, advising the audience to "watch if you must".[1][4][9] The film was the first non-pornographic role for adult film performer Sasha Grey.[1][3]

Investors were concerned that Smash Cut would be hindered by the proposed Income Tax Amendments Act, 2006 law (Bill C-10) that could restrict tax benefits for films whose content the federal government deemed objectionable.[6] These concerns were particularly prompted by the casting of Grey, but Demarbre retorted, "I don't want to make a porn movie. I want to make a movie with Sasha Grey. I want to take her right out of the porn genre."[3]

Principal photography took place from 9 May to 4 June 2008 in Ottawa, Ontario, at area locations including the Mayfair Theatre and Rockland.[3][10][11][9]

Release

Original poster for Smash Cut

Smash Cut premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal on 18 July 2009.[12] It was followed up on 29 August at the London FrightFest Film Festival in the United Kingdom.[13] The film was released direct-to-DVD.

Critical reception

Critic Todd Brown wrote in Screen Anarchy that the film was "a campy dose of low budget splatter" and "[i]f you aren't inclined towards early splatter pics, you're going to be bored. There's really no way to take it seriously outside the context of its tradition."[14] Writing for Home Theater Info, critic Douglas MacLean wrote that the film "occupies the nadir of the film industry," consisting of "ultra cheap effects and one take shots that provide no time for artistry or nuance."[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Warren, T. S. (19 November 2009). "Splatter Matters". Ottawa XPress. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2009.
  2. ^ Murray, Jennilee (24 May 2008). "These Days". Retrieved 28 July 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d Vlessing, Etan (26 May 2008). "The Big Screen: Slasher film risks running afoul of C-10". Playback. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  4. ^ a b Vlessing, Etan (13 May 2008). "Adult-film star Grey segues to slasher fare". Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  5. ^ Zed Filmworks: Smash Cut description Archived 20 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ a b Imagination Worldwide: Smash Cut synopsis
  7. ^ Gingold, Michael (20 May 2008). "David Hess, H.G. Lewis make a SMASH CUT". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  8. ^ Olsen, Michelle Anne (29 May 2008). "A bloody good time on Ottawa film set / Director Lee Demarbre gives us a look at what goes on behind the scenes". The Charlatan. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  9. ^ a b "Ottawa's Zed Filmworks assembles A-list cast of B-film actors for new film Smash Cut". GAT. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  10. ^ "Extras wanted for the 5th Feature Film from Odessa Filmworks". Odessa Filmworks. 11 May 2008. Archived from the original on 3 January 2002.
  11. ^ Harewood, Adrian (16 May 2008). "Extras Wanted". All in a Day. CBC Radio One. Archived from the original (ram) on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
  12. ^ "Smash Cut". Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  13. ^ "Smash Cut (Saturday 29th)". London FrightFest Film Festival. Archived from the original on 10 July 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  14. ^ Brown, Todd. "Whistler 09: SMASH CUT Review". Screen Anarchy. ScreenAnarchy LLC. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  15. ^ MacLean, Douglas. "Smash Cut". Home Theater Info. Home Theater Info. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
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