Cut

I actually stumbled across Cut quite a while ago as I'm a huge fan of Joe Dante and was checking out what Zach Galligan was up to these days. I'm based in America and I bought the film on Amazon and I was really impressed. Zach looks great and yes the two main actresses go topless which is always a plus in my opinion! I forgot about the whole one shot thing pretty quickly and viewed the film normally. The plot gripped me enough, I was sufficiently on edge and drawn in by the characters. I did get one belting fright which I didn't see coming and I never saw the twist coming either so it definitely ticked plenty of boxes in terms of what I look for in films I love. I'm not saying it rocked my world but I'm certainly not asking for my money back.

I have to admit I was enticed by the synopsis that mentioned the film was shot in one continuous take. The truth is most of it is, some 62 minutes worth of it, and that alone is reason enough if you buy into the gimmick. After all, you will have to put up with a curiously amateurish opening (done for a reason of course) that had some really deliberate bad acting just to get you into the mood for what's going to unravel, because the next action sequence won't turn up until half an hour later.

Set primarily within and around the confines of a mansion, I felt the story was nothing to shout about, being but a narrative piece that seemed secondary to the technical aspects of the film. Written and directed by Alexander Williams, ample time got devoted to introducing the group of 6 characters one by one, and there were some really uninteresting dialogue going on that had me switching off in some parts as they were really going on talking about uneventful back stories, suffice to know that they are in the home of someone else's uncle, and the introduction also allowed us to have a first hand look into all the rooms, nooks and crannies that will be useful come later in the film.

Basically, once we get past the introduction, things start to pick up. Suffice to say that our group somehow finds themselves terrorized by a group of clown face paint wearing thugs who are out for blood and will stop at nothing until everyone in the house is killed off. Equipped only with things found in the house and used as makeshift weapons, the narrative then unravels itself in real time as we are supposed to root for the individuals to get out of their predicament.

Taking place pretty much like a stage play, one must salute the technical brilliance of the film, having shot most of it in one single take, and you can imagine the kind of logistical nightmare that presents itself should any one part just failed to make the grade, or someone was to miss the cue. Sure there could be other films already made which employed similar techniques, but to me, it is still a marvel to wonder at the sheer determination for anyone wanting to pull such a film off, and the countless amounts of time and dedication that went on behind the scenes (some as seen during the end credits) to ensure things get worked out to perfection.

First of all this movie reeks of simplicity on which other movies simply don't because they offer no acting what so ever. This horror movie is excellent, because actors are really frightened and the place looks very comfortable for them to grow upon. Everything is learned from the story, which is how it should be! Mind you that tastes are always different and today there are plenty of people with exceptionally lowered taste, swallowing ridiculous CGI effects that hog the screen. Where is acting in all of that? Well...I believe that movies of this type offer refreshment in creating new ideas with little as much possible resources. Having an open mind, while watching this panic movie will entertain you without any wish for blood baths, fountains of blood, etc. Remember this is a movie about people left alone in an English countryside, having no working communication to call for police, where a bunch of clowns (they look awesome, BTW!) get to play a little game with them. Its a Fun experience, and I recommend you see it for yourself.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Cut is trying to ride on the publicity of being the first Brit horror flick to be shot in one continuous take, the impression being of trying to create a 'real time' feel to it. It sort of works in this sense, but in terms of making it 'work', it's a miserable failure.

This is just an amateurish and embarrassing effort from beginning to end, with no redeeming qualities to speak of. Cheap looking, not scary, not funny, poorly written, badly acted and over faster than sex. And, of course, infamous glamour girl Danielle Lloyd has her sexy image plastered on the front cover to lure you in, despite being in it for less than five minutes at the beginning. She shouldn't expect her 'acting' career to go very far on the basis of this. *

A proper script and better sound editing might have saved this effort from going horribly wrong. As for the story, it doesn't deserve describing - nothing happens that we haven't seen a dozen times in other films. People behave in the usual, expected dumb horror film character manner. Events happen that are meant to be scary but, most of the time, are not.

As it is, the "one continuous take" thing is a gimmick, nothing more. It doesn't add to the story or the suspense. The camera operator should get better paying gigs, but the rest of the crew should not be so lucky. Directing is hit and miss - I am sure it was extremely hard work to choreograph the entire 65 minute take, but the acting is so off that it kind of kills all the other aspects of direction. Especially after the mid point does most of the acting degenerate into insanely theatrical territory. In fact, the whole production seems like a stage play, and the performances are uniformly reminiscent of one. Dialogue at first sounds clever but soon becomes annoyingly so, and is most of the time very on-the-nose. And that is only when it can be heard, because at times sound mix is so bad, the soundtrack and noises drown out the actors' voices.

Fight sequences are ridiculous - I am sure it is awfully difficult to stage fighting when there are no cuts, but in this case they would have been better off not showing anything at all. Most of the fighting resembles very drunken bar brawls with old school slapstick fight sounds added.

Music is diabolical - I am not sure if it is meant to be ironic (the fact that the rest of the film seems to be played out straight suggests otherwise) - but the extremely loud eruptions of staccato effects are not scary at all. If anything, they are distracting and terribly irritating. There is zero tension.

I can only recommend this film to hardcore horror fans. The single take approach may be of some interest to film students or professionals, but content-wise "Cut" is a waste of time and talent. At least they spared some money on editing.