Smash Cut

Not sure how I'm going to take this review up to 10 lines, which is the minimum I'm allowed to write, but saw this on a shelf again recently and felt obliged to warn others not to bother with it. I had assumed that, by now, it had been swallowed into a dark abyss and nobody would be at any risk of parting with money for it.

Mercifully, I only rented it and don't think that I even finished it. It was awful. One of those films where someone tries to make a 'so bad it's good' film'. Well, that didn't work. It was so bad it was painful. At a glance I expected it to be biographical, but it was just using that in the blurb to get noticed. A total nonsense, dragging painfully on and on.

Take your money and give it to a wino - it will be better spent.

Absurd comedy movie that is funny with horror movies. Although the movie is listed with 3 odd points, I had fun watching it. The subject is about a horror movie director who cannot tolerate being ridiculed by the audience and sees himself as a genius director and uses real parts in his movie by killing people to prove it. But the event begins with the death of a woman named Gigi, a striptease bar dancer, whom the director, who is in search of, takes with her to become an actress, as a result of a serious traffic accident. Later, this dancing girl's brother hires the best detective to find her. Even the last credits part of the movie is funny. Sasha gray is really the best part of the movie. David Hess should have acted in much better movies when he was younger. It's a pity. I think jesse buck, who played the detective, was successful in absurd acting. I had a lot of fun with the movie and I gave it 6 points.

Sasha Gray at least 1 point for you.

If you love low budget films, this is an absolute must-see. I loved every minute of it, every bad line of dialogue, every bad joke, every predictable plot device, even the ridiculous costumes.

On the "B" movie scale I give it 8 out of 10.

The cast and director are (mostly) very experienced, if you think for a minute that the camp and cheese is accidental, you should probably rent a Van Damme flick next time.

Incidentally, it was filmed in my hometown, so I enjoyed seeing familiar landmarks. Most notably the famous Bytown Theater is featured in several scenes.

I read the other reviews on here and really, if you don't like "B" movies, don't write reviews on them... If you know what to expect from this film, you will love it.

OK, actual critical stuff... The opening and closing credits were both absolutely first rate. The score is brilliant, really ties the film together very nicely. The cast is full of familiar faces for horror buffs, which is a real treat. Sasha Grey performs excellently, and I love that the director never sexualizes her (except for a cute nurse outfit).

Watch this movie in the right frame of mind and you will have a blast!

For a porn actress seeking to cross over to the mainstream, taking a role in a B-(or less)-movie might seem like a heaven-sent opportunity, but if your name's Sasha Grey (real name Marina Ann Hantzis), you might want to think twice about appearing in a Lee Demarbre flick.

For the uninitiated, Demarbre is a Canadian film maker whose credits include the cult film Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, which was shot on a budget of $45,000.

His latest offering, Smash Cut, which made its world debut at Montreal's 2009 edition of the Fantasia Film Festival, is an equally low budget nod to schlock impresario Herschell Gordon Lewis (Two Thousand Maniacs, The Wizard of Gore). While such a film would seem like a natural opportunity for someone from the adult film realm to use as a segue into the mainstream, a later production – Steven Soderbergh's "The Girlfriend Experience" also starring Grey - was released well before Smash Cut, making this look like her second mass market role, when, in fact, the reverse is true. All of which is too bad for Grey, who is the only member of the cast who displays anything remotely approaching acting talent.

The story, such as it is, is thin, and one can suppose that Demarbre was merely looking for a vehicle for tongue-in-cheek humor and gore. A down on his luck director by the name of Able Whitman (played by veteran shock horror actor David Hess of original Last House on the Left fame), dismayed by the critical reception to his cheap films special effects, decides to use real human body parts to impart realism. His first victim turns out to be a relative of April Carson (Grey), a reporter for a local television station. With the backing of her station manager (H.G. Lewis) she sets out to infiltrate Whitman's production by responding to a casting call.

None of this really matters, though, as the film's true mission is to emulate the low budget schlock of Lewis' films, which it does admirably and is about the only critical compliment I can give this film.

Overall the story is poorly executed trash. In keeping with the Lewis factor, everyone involved with the exception of Grey seems to be trying to outdo each other on the bad acting scale. Lines appear to be not merely improved, but takes are used that show actors struggling on the fly to think them up.

Grey, whose acting is wildly uneven, is the only cast member who shows any potential of being able to believably take on a role, whether or not this was by choice or accident, given the atrocious performances turned in by the rest of the cast, is a matter for further debate.

What's unfortunate, however, is that this movie will be released after Grey's performance in Soderbergh's "The Girlfriend Experience", and look like a step down from a promising debut.

What's not in question here is Grey's acting ability, but the projects she chooses to appear in from here on in. Some of this may not be within her control, given her ongoing career in the adult realm, but choosing to appearing a mainstream film that has all the look, feel, and production values of a porn film (minus the sex) can hardly be taken as a wise career move.

Just before the movie starts Herschell Gordon Lewis pops up on the screen to warn you about you will see. For me that was the moment to not take the movie seriously. I guess a lot have done that by reading their reviews! The score is what made me remind of Blood Feast. The script is so seventies low budget style, man, this is just back to memory lane. Do not to attempt this flick with a feeling of nowadays. That it is an ode to Herschell becomes clear with a headline in a newspaper, Gruesome Twosome is written, do I need to say more. Due the fact that they made it exploitation style the acting is total crap, but still okay if you know what I mean. It's nice to see David Hess again and Berryman. I guess they had a lot of fun while filming. Of course the effects used are also old school seventies style which means, cheap but effective. You can see clearly that it is a manikin's arm used or whatsoever but the blood flows on a regularly base and a bit of gore is added. The only thing it lacks from is nudity, especially with the scene's in a strip joint and the appearance of Sasha Grey, know for her nudity activities and hard core flicks. Still, if you are into a good joke and an ode to the pre old school horrors than watch it, if you are into the torture porn or slashers, leave it.