Gut

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! :)

The acting, which has been frequently panned, looked pretty bad in the trailer but once you get into the film, it's really not that bad. The movie itself is pretty far removed from a snuff film, but snuff films are central to the story.

Yeah, it's pretty slow paced. But I've certainly seen worse. The two lead males (named Tom and Dan in the movie) end up being fairly likable and we're certainly rooting for Tom's wife and daughter to come out of all this crap the men got into unscathed. There are several things that I would've handled differently than Tom, but it's understandable why he tried to keep it all a secret...and then it spun all out of control.

If I listened to several reviews here, I would not have watched the movie at all, and that would've been a miss. I dislike when reviewers tell you "don't watch this movie, it's garbage." Everyone's got an opinion, and most opinions are just one point of view, so don't presume that nobody else will enjoy a film even when you did not.

Even if I hate a film, I won't ever tell people not to watch it. I won't proclaim it's an hour-and-a-half I can never get back (duh, no kidding). "Gut" is worth a shot. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for some viewers it's worth the time.

"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.

There is not much to say about this movie, other than poor. Poor acting, Poor Story( what there is of one) and a dreadfully poor attempt at a movie.

Do not waste your time and money on this.

The movie takes an eternity before something really happens, and when it does you will be wondering why you have sat through it for so long.

now i don't mind slow paced films however there is nothing here to keep your interest, and like me you may find yourself skipping the film forward, and trust me you will not have missed nothing. it surprises me that movies like this are ever made.

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