Rough Cut: Our Review of 'Director's Cut'

With the box office success of Terrifier 3, the further exploration and release of low budget slasher films is once again on the rise. Since John Carpenter’s seminal Halloween and Sean S. Cunningham’s first foray into the woods of Camp Crystal Lake in the original Friday the 13th, the slasher film has been involved with the yearly box office in some form or another, with ever-changing results. But as we face down what could be yet another boom in this ever-resilient subgenre of the horror category, we inevitably see films that were likely shot more for the VOD market make the trek into the theatre chasing box office. And Don Capria’s Director’s Cut certainly feels like it could be an example of one.

Enticed by the promise of a free music video, Long Island-based punk band “The Suicide Disease” makes the trek to an abandoned mansion deep in the backcountry of Pennsylvania to meet their mysterious benefactor Mister Director (Louis Lombardi). After arriving, the band soon realises that there’s more to what has been promised as the girlfriends along for the trip, Val (Danielle Kotch) and Jen (Haley Cassidy) see a shadowy figure in the basement and their manager AJ (Darrin Hickok) seemingly disappears. Inexplicably obsessed with the promised video in an age where many bands self produce their content, the band gets lured one by one into shooting their sequences. And that’s where Mister Director and his assistant Babs’ (Lucy Hart) true intentions are played out.

This is a film that doesn’t seem to know where it wants to land in terms of time. The band has newer technology in their possession and they seem to be in modern times with their surroundings, yet many plot points and tropes are straight out of the 90’s and manage to feel very outdated as opposed to reverential. As mentioned previously, the band’s obsession with this ‘professional’ video in the age of social media and YouTube feels improbable. And considering the lengths of disbelief they convince themselves to keep trudging along with becomes unbelievable.

The script is very bare bones here and doesn’t even bother taking into consideration the effect of the band’s torments regarding the surroundings. Each time a new member enters the set the effects of the previous torture are nowhere to be seen, as if the blood and implements of torture seem to have vanished in a scarily good cleanup session. I realise that this is in service of the director just adding more gore, which is frankly underwhelming considering the likes of other recent fare like Terrifier and In A Violent Nature. But it mentally took me out of the proceedings and lessened the impact of the actions.

Not all is gloom here though as this film looks way better than it likely has any right to based on its budget. Major kudos need to be given to the set decoration team and the way they have staged their surroundings. And the location of this film is excellent. The abandoned mansion takes on an eerie additional character vibe throughout the film. Script concerns aside, Capria comes across as a competent director, despite the film’s shortcomings in script there are still some well staged sequences here, even if the final result is a little lacklustre. But Capria certainly comes across here as someone to keep an eye on going forward. Remember, even Art the Clown’s first appearances were not without their issues.

The cast here is a bit of a mixed bag as the ladies of the film fare much better and provide better performances then their male counterparts. But in the end the script lets down most of them as the dialogue is hokey and events become more predictable as the film progresses. I was looking forward to seeing what Haley Cassidy’s character got up to as her styling choices evoke an emo Zendaya, but after a promising start she devolves into the stereotypical irrational and jealous girlfriend we’ve seen far too often. Brandy Ochoa’s performance as bassist Malice is a bit of a scene stealer though, and by far the film’s most engaging performance. Of course the film features a final girl, which I won’t spoil here, as it plays into the lack of originality the rest of the script possesses. But the ending is so uninspired that it ruins everything that directly precedes it.

In the end Director’s Cut falls prey to perhaps the worst thing a slasher film can fall to – it’s incredibly dull. Veteran character actor Louis Lombardi looks irrevocably bored here every time he appears on screen. And if a film like this is going to be as predictable and stereotypically written as it is, it better deliver in the gore department. But sadly Director’s Cut comes up a little short in this department too. The gore here feels like it was caught between trying to be somewhat believable and more fantastical, and ends up in the middle somewhere not achieving either. I hope this doesn’t dissuade other’s from dipping back into the slasher genre, or even dissuade Capria from making more himself. There’s plenty of water in the pool guys, sadly Director’s Cut never makes it out of the shallow end. Director’s Cut hits select theatres on October 31st.