Gut

Director - Elias (Nightmare Men, Dead Sucks)
Starring - Jason Vail (Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies), Nicholas Wilder (Death Goes to Therapy), and Sarah Schoofs (In Theory)
Release Date - 2012
Genre - Horror
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The one thing that I try to do on a daily basis that brings me joy and helps me relax is writing reviews.  Sure, I may help post news and updates but for the most part I truly love to write reviews.  I love watching movies and then telling people, who I assume give a damn about what I think, what I truly liked and disliked about it.  Therefore, when I come across an indie movie that very few people have heard about I really want to watch it and help spread the word.  The conversations I have with indie directors often begin with me instigating it so I was shocked when I received an email from Anna Ganster requesting that I review the film.  I obviously said yes and was very grateful that she asked me to review the film.  So before I continue I want to say thank you for sending me a copy and asking me to review the film.
     The film follows two estranged friends, Tom (Vail) and Dan (Wilder), who were once best friends but have now went their separate ways.  The two work at the same job and often have lunch together but rarely spend anytime together.  Dan often reminisces of the days the two would watch horror movies all night and inspired to make their own amateur films.  However, Tom has better things to do like provide for his daughter and make love to his foxy wife.  Dan orders a snuff film and invites Tom over to view it hoping to bring back old times.  The two watch the film and vow not to watch another.  Dan is happy he got to spend time with his old friend, however, Tom can not let the movie go.  He starts to have hallucinations and begins to mix real life with the snuff film.  He is pissed at Dan for letting him watch it but caves in when Dan asks him to watch a new one.  Once again Tom starts to let reality slip and vows to stop seeing Dan and his snuff films.  Dan then calls Tom in a panic and reveales that he is now being stalked by the person that sent him the snuff films and that Tom and his family could now be in danger.  Tom has had enough and washes his hands of Dan.  Some time goes by and Tom leaves town for business.  While away Dan visits his wife and daughter to have dinner with them.  When Tom returns home he can no longer find his wife and child but does find a disc on the table.  After playing the disc he discovers that Dan is the one behind the snuff films and he killed his wife and daughter.  In a rage he goes to Dan's home where he beats his ass like a rag doll before forcing him to drown in his own blood.
     Before I continue with my review I want to make a confession.  I typically hate what I like to call body or anatomy horror.  These are the movies that play with the notion of a snuff film.  Most are unimaginative and are often extremely boring.  Though I was excited when I was asked to review this film I was a little worried.  I knew immediately that this one would fall in to the body horror sub-genre but I had no idea how it would be approached.  The acting in this one is absolutely phenomenal.  The entire cast did an amazing job with their performances and really helped drive the movie home.  They really put all they had in to their scenes and did a great job developing their characters.  The story is really nothing that you would call ground breaking or awe inspiring but it was very clever.  The film does start out very slow but slowly builds up momentum and by the end of the film you are on the edge of your seat wondering what the hell is going to happen next.  Finally, the film uses tension instead of special effects and true gore to reach out to their audience.  I was honestly expecting more special effects and gore from a film using the subject matter of the snuff film.  So that was a pretty big let down but does not ruin the movie.  Overall, this is a hard hitting movie that does pack a punch.  I highly recommend it.