Customer Reviews

Cut

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The plot: A group of film students decide to film a "cursed" horror film, but all of a sudden, they begin to get murdered by a masked killer, one by one. Sound familiar? Yep, it's bone done similarly in Urban Legends : The Final Cut and Scream 3. But Cut managed to pull the plot off exceptionally well. And sometimes, with more suspense. That's what this movie is full of. Suspense. There will be times when it seems as if the killer will pop out of nowhere, but he calmly walks onto the scene. That was one of the awesome things about Cut. Another is the killer itself. The mask is a bit creepy, and he's not afraid to use anything in hand to murder his victims. Although it seems like fire was his favorite. Another formula that was used in this movie was that they combined the slasher movie technique with the evil spirit technique. The two were combined, and didn't slow the movie down one bit. The cast of characters were awesome, but stereotyped. You had the joker, the tough one, the slut, the sweet one, the innocent one, and the one you think is the killer but turns out not be. And then there is the one person who graced this film. Molly Ringwald. After seeing her in all of those 80s teen romantic comedies, I was surprised at how well she did in the horror genre. All in all, it isn't as good as Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer, but is much better than I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend.

This isn't a good movie..... It's GREAT! This movie is from Australia and is similar to our Halloween movies in many ways. The acting is as good as most dead teenager type horror movies of the past years and the FX's are good. The mad killer is called `The Scarman' and he is creepy in the Michael Myers vein. It pulls no punches in its killings and moves along like most horror movies of the 80's and 90's. The gore factor is high. The killer picks off is victims in novel ways. This guy could have the type of horror movie cult following that Michael, Freddie or Jason have here in the states but this movie seems to be a threat to those franchises. It is being released directly to video/DVD here after being released theatrically last year in Australia. There is even a sequel in the works and we all know that sequels are only made if there is money to be made. Overall it would be a good date movie, the scares are there. Also the potential for the `Scarman' to become a Halloween costume favorite is very favorable.

Every time I watch a film like "Cut," I wonder why I feel the need to watch every horror film I can lay my hands upon. Why, I ask, would anyone subject themselves to such a derivative picture as "Cut"? What purpose does such a thing serve? Am I trying to punish myself for some ancient, unremembered sin? A few minutes later, I start shifting the blame to the filmmakers. Why, I ponder, does a director feel the need to release a film that essentially rips off "Scream"? Did they really think obtaining the services of one time '80s star Molly Ringwald would secure them an audience in the United States? Don't they realize this actress's best days on these shores are long gone? None of these questions have any adequate, let alone satisfactory, answers. Perhaps it should suffice to state simply that films like "Cut" arrive in the U.S. market because rental stores need product to fill gaps on the shelves. Or maybe someone really thought that making "Cut" was an original idea. No, scratch that. Even though this movie came from Down Under, the people responsible for this boring slasher film had to know that they were making something completely unoriginal. They had to, right? RIGHT?!?

The plot: A bunch of low budget filmmakers studying their trade at a university learn from their instructor, who just happened to work on the project back in the day, that an unfinished horror movie called "Hot Blooded" carries a most peculiar curse. The original director perished at the hands of a disgruntled co-worker, and ever since then anyone attempting to finish the film suffers a similar fate. Being inquisitive, bold filmmakers, the kids in his class take a vote and decide to try and finish the film. They even go so far as to acquire the rights and the completed reels from an elderly woman who, predictably, issues dire warnings that go unheeded. They also procure the services of the original star of the film, the pampered and egotistical Vanessa Turnbill (Molly Ringwald), to pick up where she left off. With nothing but a dream and a few minor, uninteresting subplots, the young filmmakers head out to the original remote location to shoot their film. And wouldn't you know it? Before you can say, "that's a wrap" the crew starts dying off in particularly violent ways. The killer goes around wearing the garb of the villain in the film, just as he did when the murders first started all those years ago, and the movie lets us know right from the start that anyone and everyone could be the one behind the mask.

A killer clad in black, a bunch of red herrings, and plot twists and turns all point to the possibility that "Cut" may well fall within the parameters of an Italian giallo film. If only we could be that lucky. What we have here is your standard, by the numbers slasher film. Problems of metaphysical dimensions abound in this film. First, you've got a cast so big it could fill out the crowd scenes in a Cecil B. DeMille epic. There is the director Raffy Carruthers (Jessica Napier), the producer Hester Ryan (Sarah Kants), the cinematographer Damien Ogle (Sam Lewis), sound guy Rick Stephens (Stephen Curry), wardrobe chick Cassie Woolf (Erika Walters), boom operator Paulie Morrelli (Matt Russell), electrician Jim Pilonski (Steve Greig), and make up artist Julie Bardot (Cathy Adanek). Guess what happens when you have this many characters in a quickie slasher film? Yep, you guessed right; we spend so much time trying to remember who is who and what they are doing that we lose track of the film. With so much cannon fodder milling around it's quite difficult to flesh them all out in a way that makes us care about them. We barely have time to learn someone's name before they fall under the murderous attacks of the killer. The script tries to engage by throwing us a few bones, namely the old relationship jealousies between a few of the characters, but none of it really matters. Or helps.

The only interesting aspect of "Cut" concerns Molly Ringwald. It's been decades since "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club" swept over the country like a tidal wave, and the intervening years haven't been too kind to Molly. She continued to make films, mostly in Europe, after her career faded in the United States. Occasionally we see her in a made for television movie or even a series, but she has more or less gone the route of fellow brat packers Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, and Andrew McCarthy. I can say this about Molly Ringwald in "Cut": she's as attractive as ever, if not more so since she's a bit older these days. Unfortunately, her performance as the volatile Vanessa Turnbill hits new heights in histrionic overemoting. I'm not sure if the character called for ham handed acting or not, but Ringwald saw the part as an opportunity to go over the top and never come back to earth. Maybe she didn't like the script and just decided to throw caution to the wind with the part, or maybe she's lost the skills she once showed in her teen flicks, but her performance in "Cut" definitely comes in somewhere near the bottom of her filmography.

Trailers for "Cut," "Attraction," and "Blood Surf" are the only extras on the disc. "Cut" is a film that would probably appeal to slasher completists more than any other segment of the viewing public. If you like watching films with titles like "Slash," you'll find something to like here. Wait a minute, I like watching films with titles like "Slash" and I didn't find much to like here at all. Oh well, give it a shot if you simply must watch everything horror. Others would do well to give this one a pass.

I was at my local video store and i ran into CUT. The movie seemed interesting so i rented it. First of all the concept was interesting, a cursed movie, whomever tries to screen or finish the movie dies. The characers in the movie are very two-dimensional which translates into not caring who lives or dies. The killer eliminates them in very boring ways with very little imagination or even suspense. Molly Ringwald was ok her character(a washed-up actress,how appropriate) had only one setting (bitchy). The fabulous Kylie Minogue had a great cameo unfortunatly she was eliminated too soon. In conclusion i would not recommend this movie its very dull and uninteresting, a great concept that was poorly executed.

It seems as though CUT has been marketed incorrectly in the USA, because, as any Aussie will tell you, this is actually a spoof on horror flicks... it has a dry australian wit/humour style to the movie... combining both slasher scare tactics and laughs... Molly Ringwald is perfectly cast in this role as the arrogant american actress/goddess - which we love to take the ... out of in oz. Kylie Minogue (Australia's hottest export for over 15 years... not just since a cameo in Moulin Rouge) does a great job in the role she portrays... it's definately worth a look, but dont take the story line too seriously, as it is a "camp" look at slasher films, with an aussie bent.... if you dont find it funny, then try and check out other great aussie classics, and compare.

The best thing this movie has going for it is the humor. Wheather it be intentional or not. The movie has some suspensful moments I especially liked the killers mask, but for some reason it was hard for me to be scared of a killer with an Australian accent. I kept expecting him to start wrestling an alligator or something. This movie also had one the funniest death scenes I have seen in a long time the killer starts melting and screaming and it just seems to go on forever hilarious.

I rented this movie about a month ago.I kept thinking I rented this horrid slasher film and it's gonna [stink],but I was really very wrong.I thought it was actually scary in parts of it.The acting wasn't bad at all.It was actually good to see Molly Ringwald back on film.My only complaint on this movie is that,they drug it out too long in the end.I recamend this to anyone who likes horror/slasher flicks.Give it a try!

Okay, so this is not the best horror film out there. And so what if it copies the premise of the last Nightmare On Elm Street movie. The story is entertaining enough, the acting is okay, believe me there is much worse out there, and the production seems well done. Molly Ringwald is her usual self, the rest of the cast fits the movie. The gore is decent and overall it is not a bad film to rent with another movie to balance it out. Most horror movie fans will enjoy this I think, it is not great but certainly worth the time to watch it.

In 1985 a movie called Hot Blooded was being filmed but when the director is murdered by one of the actors the preduction closes down. 12 year later a group of film students hear about the movie and deside they want to finish it for their project. They hear a curse that surrounds the movie that basicly when ever someone has tried to finish it before, they end up dead. Not listining they track down the movies original star who was also attacked by the killer on set but turned the tables on him and killed him. She doesn't want to go back to set but does anyway. As soon as the students start filming they start to dissapear in gory fasion, it seems the killer is back. Cut is a truly great movie that deserves to be up there with Scream instead of going straight to video everywhere. It's probably one of the only Australian slasher films out there and like most Aussie horror there is buckets of blood. The charicter development could of been alot better, most of them I couldn't even remeber there names. The killer is cool, I loved when you found out who he was in the ending a bit of a surprise. His weapon was wierd it was a modified pair of ardin shears, I loved the line "it's not a knife officer, just a pair of gardin shears, slightly modified so I can do interesting things with it, like chop heads off". Another cool thing was that this starred 80s teen queen Molly Ringwald as one of the leads. Cut also has some humor to it and most of it works, to even it out there are some chilling scenes and gruesome kills. Cut is cool, rent it.

Having watched dozens and dozens of "B" slasher movies, i can honestly say that this movie is not a contender in the genre. Perhaps in Australia this is one of the best... but as far as America, there are many more "straight to video" and low budget slasher movies that are more unique and even "realistic". The whole identity of the killer in "CUT" is actually absurd and ends up turning the movie into a bad episode of Nickelodeon's "ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?" or "GOOSEBUMPS". The identity of killer was a let down. The acting, however, was actually good for this type of movie..but the script needed some work (there are too many cliche one-liners at the end..especially by Molly's character). Also, the killings and gore were quite good and stylish. The only problem I have is the plot..and identity of the killer. Instead of making it 82 minutes, they should have fleshed it out more, creating more of a background on the characters. There is a "secret" that we find out about on the the main characters but it's just spoken once and it just doens't make sense that no one would know about it before. And not to mention that it's not spoken about after that.The only explanation for the events is a simplified one that makes it all seem (like i mentioned) like a preteen horror show. Really, without the gore and language, that's what it is.