Gut

This is a great debut feature from writer/director Elias. Although classed as a horror, it really is much more of a mystery thriller, with a focus on characters rather than action, and it works very well. This is a great movie for fans of independent film, and a great lesson in low key, slow burn tension building. It covers subjects like obsession, voyeurism, friendship, and the onset of adulthood and responsibility; but it also throws some great gore (and a descent amount of boobs) in the mix too.

The film focuses mainly on two male leads(Tom and Dan), friends since school but now gradually drifting apart as adulthood takes its toll. The other main characters are Tom's wife (who lovingly attempts to keep her husband engaged in their relationship), and also their daughter. Except for a couple of other incidental characters, that is pretty much the whole cast, but it is all the cast that is needed here. The injections of comedy at the start may, at first, seem like this is another attempt at mixing comedy and horror, but it isn't, it simply helps cement the impact of the dark deterioration of the characters later on. This film is, as I said, a slow burn, it's character based and dialogue driven and not one for people who need something explosive happening in every scene, however, fans of psychological horror thrillers should love it. The lead role of Tom (played well by Jason Vail), really captures the disenchantment of adult life, while Dan (equally good) represents that person who clings to his youthful freedom and cant understand why his friend wont stay there with him. Tom's increasing detachment from his friends and family is really the catalyst for all that comes later.

The film makes it clear that the two friends have always been fans of horror, (using various inter-textual references), and in an attempt to get Tom to engage with him again, Dan orders an underground horror movie from the internet; this is where things begin to go downhill. Eventually, Dan persuades Tom to come and watch the mysterious film with him, at first Tom is horrified by it, but afterwards cannot stop thinking about it. Nightmares, strange desires and hallucinations start to add to Tom's already struggling mind while Dan's obsession with these strange videos grows.

The gore in this film doesn't come in huge buckets, but when it does come it is very well done (the film earned a well deserved award for effects), part of me would have liked a little more gore at times, but the other part of me knows that it would have seemed gratuitous and would have detracted from the story itself, so I shall reprimand the gore hound in me for this craving.

I wont go further into the plot to avoid spoilers, but I will say that the ending is very well realised; many films that leave questions at the end either leave too many questions or give no clues to the truth at all. Here, although quite subtle, I think a great balance between closure and ambiguity is reached.

If I had any complaint about the film, it would be that in a couple of points the dialogue seems a little forced and unnatural, but this is very minor nitpicking in an otherwise engrossing, disturbing and well executed film.

I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more from writer/director Elias in the future, I suggest you all do the same.

"Gut" has a familiar feel to it. If you've seen "Thesis," "Videodrome," "A Serbian Film," The "August Underground" series,"8mm," or any of the other dozens of films covering this topic, this will feel like tread territory. "Snuff" films and their impact still represent a valid sub-genre, but "Gut" unfortunately brings little new to the table.

The story has many elements which will ring true to viewers: boring married life, soul-sucking work banality, an old friendship that has lost its zing, love of horror films; but while these parts make for identifiable characters, the film seems to wallow in them rather than rise above their baseness. It could be argued that the banal qualities are where the real horror lies, but the actors don't quite have the chops to sell it. The understated nature of the more violent parts of the film are well done and look believable, but this only echoes the feel that the film has fallen short. I certainly love understated films. "Beyond the Black Rainbow" was maddeningly open to interpretation, but left me feeling stunned and violated. While "Gut" definitely aimed for a similar jarring, I don't feel it quite succeeded.

The production presents a host of wins and losses as well. The film looks very good. Shot with a careful eye and a steady hand, the camera observes more than it dazzles, which makes for a calmer viewing experience. I was never annoyed by the editing, which is always a win when you're a long-time horror fan. The score has great and awful elements to it as well, as the hypnotic, delay and distortion-heavy, simple guitar ambiance is essentially a character itself. Almost endless, these guitar notes pluck in and out of the soundtrack without abandon, often interrupting quiet dialog or coming off as a practice recording. Additionally, the acting is wildly uneven. Several 3rd-tier characters' lines come off as forced, and the leads barely contain the film. For a movie consisting largely of dialog-free, music-driven scenes of people dealing with emotions quietly, I found this disappointing and surprising. The lines are often delivered with an unattached quality that never resonated with me. I could never forget that I was watching amateurs, and this was a detriment to the film's success. The sex scenes are frequent and relatively good, so there's that. I'm kind of over boobs and boning in horror, so it normally feels obligatory to me when it's there. That being said, the erotic displays in "Gut" are well-executed.

I hate critique. It never feels just. I didn't go through the laborious process of making a film, so where do I get off criticizing it?! Ha. I guess I'm writing this to warn the viewer what he/she is getting into. The trailer for this film is great, and completely won me over. But horror trailers (or trailers in general, for that matter) are often awesome, so I guess it comes with the territory. If you've never seen a film about Snuff, then you might like this more than I did. I suggest "Thesis," though.

Hello, everyone! If all you horror buffs out there are on the prowl for the kind of interesting, compelling, and innovative horror-thriller that really isn't made anymore, that dares to *involve* the viewer in its horror (and not just splay it all out there graphically for the viewer to revel in), then "Gut" is absolutely the perfect movie for you! :) It's a terrific socio-psych horror film...think of it as "Fargo" with a Todd Solondz spin for the first half (with all the occasional dark humor that implies), with really great character development and humor, and an building sense of ambiguous mood/dread throughout (with Kubrick-esque sound design) that leaves your mind racing faster and faster. It has a Western/Jarmusch-esque alternation of quick cuts and long takes, but never in like a distancing or showstopping sort of way like Michael Haneke. And to top it all off, the underlying issues/theme of the movie are always clear and 100% relatable, about the neediness and isolated dependency and suppressed hostility of American suburbia, and the arrested development and uncommunicativeness that can result. The plot may revolve around snuff films, that is true (only VERY rarely seen on screen in slivers), but the film is REALLY about all the suppressed emotions and urges that get manifested *through* them. If you like movies like "Fight Club" and "Cape Fear", but on a smaller, more human indie-horror scale, this is most definitely the movie for you! Enjoy, everyone! :)

Anyone who is ever seen a horror movie before will figure out right away what it is they're about to sit through another hour of dreadfully dull 2-dimensional characterization and seen-it-a-million-times-before filmmaking to find out. This could've been a 20 minute short film, and still wouldn't have been a terribly interesting one at that. I'm not sure how this even so release, and I am positive that the glowing reviews are fakes by people connected with this film, because there is absolutely no way an objective human being Who was familiar with the horror genre at all could lavish praise on this. This film doesn't even try to be good. The filmmakers had one unoriginal idea, and they thought that all they had to do was put that idea on screen and that would take place of plot, narration, character development, Robert themes or any deeper meaning at all, not to mention that this is the single least gory "torture porn" film ever, with a total of maybe two minutes of exceptionally tame blood & guts, so it doesn't even work if that's what you're into. So instead, we get a feature length view of barely-developed characters walk a treadmill to a conclusion that we can see already from near the beginning of the movie. This film makes "Paranormal Activity" look as action-packed as a Michael Bay film, as well-crafted as Hitchcock, and as intellectually challenging as Tarkovsky.

Look, if a couple of high school kids up the block made this movie, I would congratulate them for doing a great job… for a student film (although it wouldn't really be *that* great a job, even for students.) But as a film that got real attention and supposed awards and wound up on a major streaming site that I pay money for? No fargin' way.

You have to endure a lot until the movie actually delivers. Which is the loaded end, that is really suspenseful and might keep you on the edge of your seat. If you let it, of course, because you might be so annoyed by that point that you don't care anymore. It's not only the "worst decision" possible thing, that brings the movie down, it's the essence that seems to be missing (would have worked a lot better as a short movie or with a better worked out script).

As it is, the end might leave you with a gut pun(ch), but not really satisfied. The acting isn't really good, the dialog either, nudity will either be considered positive or negative in your book, depends on you. Overall a decent first time effort, if you don't have anything against small budget (looking and feeling) movies