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Cast: Jonathan Wood, Mollie King, David Maguire, Renato Fabretti, Jennieka Chattelle, Martin Williams, Shaun Martindale, Melanie Munt, Sam Barrett, Tom Solly, James Helm, Jesse Phillips
A bloody, black comedy set in the harsh Australian outback, The Director's Cut tells the tale of a tyrannical director attempting to shoot his first feature film on a farm in the middle of nowhere. When people start dying he has to decide which is more important: his crew or his film.
As this Australian horror/comedy opens Director, Mike and his crew are holding auditions for a film they are about to shoot, for a split second I thought I was watching "American Idol" since Minke reminded me of Simon Cowell with his rude behavior. At the end he chooses a blonde girl, Ema to play the female lead. After finding out a competing film has a woman holding a gun on their promo poster Mike decides he needs one too so his assistant goes hunting for one and comes back with a guy dressed in a military uniform who seems to have a whole arsenal with him, so in the end they get the gun they need. As they all prepare to get into their cars to drive to the filming location their actor loses his fingers when someone shuts the trunk on his hand, the military guy to the rescue. This all takes place in the first 15 minutes of the film, the film immediately establishes itself as an off-the-wall comedy at least up to this point. After they arrive at the location they find a grew member dead in his bed but rather than call the police and halt production they decide to tell the rest of the cast and crew that he is sick and is not to be bothered. After shooting wraps for the day the crew sits around for dinner but Ema falls sick, the next morning when she goes out to take a shower someone dressed in as a koala bear climbs the water tank's ladder and dumps acid in it, the result is Ema is dead and the rest of the rest is beginning to suspect each other. This is where the carnage begins in the film and doesn't end. I have said too much about the film already so I am not going to spoil anymore of it here plus there are some very funny bits in the film that simply need to be seen and not told about. You can compare The Director's Cut to films like "Scream" if you want but don't be fooled it brings it's on brand of humor and thrills that makes it a funny, clever, original and at times gory thrill ride. The cast is fantastic, each and everyone does a great job playing these oddball characters. The production values are also great and much better than you might expect for an Indie film such as this.
Writer/Director, Paul Komadina does a terrific job at blending the comedy with the slasher genre. The film stays light and often times hilarious through the first half but the last 20 minutes or so it's a race for survival and there is some nice kills as well as tension and suspense. The Director's cut pokes fun at the genre while at the same time paying homage to it while all along crafting it's own special little horror/comedy. The film never reveals who the killer really is so I guess the intention is/was to do a sequel which I for one would line up for. Independent cinema has gotten so good over the last several years because of filmmakers like this that bring fresh, new ideas to an otherwise stagnate genre. I had a great time watching this, it is a fun ride that that had me laughing at times and holding on to my chair at others. The DVD doesn't come out till 10/12 but you can order it HERE. The DVD will come with Special Features that include:
Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailer
Released by R Squared Films
**** Out Of *****