Review: ‘Smash Cut’

It’s hard to criticize a film like ‘Smash Cut,’ particularly if you’re interests don’t mesh with those of the filmmaker.  For all intents and purposes, the film is critic-proof, as director Lee Demarbre pulls off exactly what he set out to make, an homage piece to Herschell Gordon Lewis.  A low budget nod to the shock and schlock of Lewis, Demarbre’s film acts as both horror and comedy, though, when all is said and done, it’s pretty much all comedy.

At the center of ‘Smash Cut’ is low-budget, horror filmmaker, Abel Whitman, played with a presence by David Hess.  He’s the kind of filmmaker who views his works as art, though most believe he “makes Ed Wood look like Orson Welles.”  It isn’t until a fateful night when Abel gets into a violent accident with a local stripper that he realizes the special effects in his film are entirely fake-looking.  With a taste for real blood, Abel decides he has to have real blood, real body parts, and real death in his movies, and, soon, he begins dispersing secondary characters in highly gory and even, somewhat, inventive fashion.  Throw into the mix a girl, ace reporter, played by Sasha Grey, who is also the sister of the missing/butchered stripper and who goes undercover to work for Whitman in an attempt to lure the serial killer out.

Cheesy effects, bad line-reading, hoky subplots.  These are just a few of the elements that made Gordon Lewis such an iconic filmmaker amongst the underground crowd, and it isn’t hard to believe someone would want to send him an homage with their own film.  To Demarbres credit, he doesn’t take his film or its subject matter too seriously.  A filmmaker trying to make a straight horror film in the vain of Herschell Gordon Lewis would fail miserably.  There just isn’t enough seriousness in the veteran filmmaker’s library to build on.  Instead, Demarbres tongue is planted firmly in cheek, and any criticism the film could have about the less-than-stellar acting and the corny screenplay gets jettisoned.  You seriously have to stand back and see what Demarbres was trying to do with his film.  Regardless of what you feel about the film, there’s no denying the creators behind it succeed.

But, even with the homages and, sometimes, blatant references to Gordon Lewis, Demarbres still finds room in ‘Smash Cut’ for his own brand of inventiveness.  He’s never satisfied with Whitman simply slicing people up with a knife.  Instead, we are offered a fresh buffet of creative death scenes, each one more gory than the last.  ‘Smash Cut’ is not a film for the casual, horror fan, and some of the more graphic moments will surely turn many off.  Some of it is overkill.  We really didn’t need TWO different shots of someone getting their eyeball mushed and pulled out with a scalpel.  However, much of the gore plays for successful laughs.  There are even some subtle details within certain acts of violence that do not go unnoticed.  The blood-filled gum bubble was a nice touch.

A few of the sight gags miss their mark.  Why Abel decides to dress up as The Man With No Name for one particular kill is anyone’s guess.  The scene where he dresses as Captain Ahab and harpoons someone works much better.

Of course, a lot of what makes the gags in ‘Smash Cut’ work is the performance from Hess, who, at 67, may very well have found his calling in the world of comedy.  He doesn’t deliver a line like a pro, but he certainly knows how to make you laugh.  Hess will have a long way to go to get away from being forever known as Krug in Wes Craven’s ‘The Last House on the Left.’  Hell, he may not even wish to shed the personification.  Nonetheless, with ‘Smash Cut,’ he may very well have begun that journey with a single, confident step.

It’s hard to judge from the rest of the cast who is trying to make themselves home in a schlock sendup and who is simply not all that talented.  Credit does go to Grey,  whose divorce from the world of pornography is being finalized in varying roles.  Michael Berryman gives a nice, little performance as a sleazy film producer with the worst hairpiece this side of roadkill.  Herschell Gordon Lewis even shows up for a brief cameo, delivering his stamp of approval for Demarbre merely with his presence.  Other, notable performances come from the lovely Jennilee Murray, who doesn’t seem to mind being covered in the red stuff, and Ray Sager, who turns in a decent job as a slimy reverend.

I also have to give commendation to Michael Dubue, who pulls off an oddly infectious score.  Much like the rest of the film, it captures the shlock and sleaze of the genre, and, for all of its eccentrities, it stays with you.  You will be humming the opening theme days after seeing the movie.

‘Smash Cut’ isn’t a film for everyone.  That part goes without saying.  If you’re not a fan of schlock films, then, chances are, you’re probably not going to find much to savor over in Lee Demarbre’s tribute to it.  I’m sure the director would agree with me.  For the rest of us, we realize ‘Smash Cut’ for exactly what it is, a fun, horror-filled playground that succeeds exactly where its efforts lie.  ‘Smash Cut’ is a smashing success.  Whether or not that’s a good thing is entirely up to you.