The thought of David Hess (the original Last House on the Left) playing an H.G. Lewis-inspired director seemed very appealing to me when I first heard about this flick. Add to that the curiosity factor of porn star Sasha Grey playing opposite him and I figured that this would be sexy and gory, if nothing else. Well, things do not always turn out like we hope and this ends up joining the growing legion of weak horror comedies that are populating the genre section at the video store. These parodies of horror filmmaking are starting to all feel the same and the sub-genre is becoming stale really fast. In this one, they are trying to emulate the style of original gorehound Lewis. The problem is that if I wanted to watch an H.G. Lewis movie, I would rather throw on Blood Feast or Two Thousand Maniacs! again. It is very difficult to intentionally make a bad movie without it feeling forced. Larry Blamire succeeded with The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra but unfortunately director Lee Demarbre does not fare as well with Smash Cut.

Hess stars as Able Whitman, a director who is known for being one of the worst but still believes in his art. Haunted by the fact that audiences think his movies suck and that his effects look fake, Whitman has a revelation after he gets in a car accident that kills his lap dancer lady friend. Rather than report the death to the police, Able gets his car washed and keeps the corpse in the trunk so that he can use it in his newest movie. As filming progresses, Able begins to murder the people around him both out of revenge and as a source for new props and gore. Meanwhile, the reporter sister of the dead stripper teams up with a private detective to find out what happened to her family member with the search leading her to Able where she lands the starring role in his "masterpiece". While this could have led to a lot of tension and become a tale of revenge, it does neither.

I don't know what it is with this flick but it just seems so desperate in its attempt to convince the viewer that it's a feature length homage to H.G. Lewis. I got it when the man himself was used to introduce the flick but director Demarbre feels the need to constantly remind the viewer that he is hip to Lewis' output and that he is so clever in the way he is purposely creating bad-looking effects. Something about this approach struck me as terribly annoying and even David Hess playing against type in a comedic role, complete with one-liners, could not distract me enough to enjoy this flick. Sasha Grey looking bored and fully clothed throughout and the super-annoying detective only adds to the monotony.

One good thing I can say is that the score by Michael Dubue that ranges from jazz to 50's b-movie to 70's porn hits all the right cues. I noticed the score throughout the film and it is so much better than the usual boring metal riffs that tend to populate low budget horror scores. As for the rest of the film, it is difficult to review a movie like this because it is intentionally bad. This can make a movie unreviewable because people can claim that I just don't understand the style. All I can say to that is if I have learned anything from H.G. Lewis, it is that the number one rule of exploitation filmmaking is to entertain the audience. In that respect, this flick does not deliver.

The bottom line is that there is just nothing new here and even with Hess, a small role for Michael Berryman (the original The Hills Have Eyes), and all sorts of cheesy gore you can't ignore that there is nothing going on in this flick and it is frankly just dull. Fans of Lewis' output have already seen this type of movie many times and there is nothing here that hasn't been done already in a more entertaining manner. I thought that the casting of Grey was a nifty move but she is so lost and uninspired throughout that I wish Demarbre had cast someone who at least gets what the material is going for. Hess did his best but his co-star deflated every scene that she was in and stole all the manic energy that he brought to the part. (Josh Pasnak, 6/20/10)

Directed By: Lee Demarbre.
Written By: Ian Driscoll.

Starring: David Hess. Sasha Grey, Jesse Buck, Michael Berryman.