Rough Cut

Director - Christopher Leto (The Housewife Slasher, Die Die Delta Pi)
Starring - Mike Duffau (Joe Vampire, Theatre of the Deranged II), Tanya Christiansen (The Monster's Garden, God Where Are You?), and Aaron Quick Nelson (The Hunter's Moon, Harbinger)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "He'll make you a star"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The horror scene is full of fads and trends just like every other aspect of life.  Don't get me wrong, I love horror but sometimes we find ourselves in a rut with films trying to mimic theatrical releases that hit it big in the box office.  We have torture porn in the same vain as Saw, paranormal flicks like Paranormal Activity, and zombie flicks that try to capture the melo-drama of AMC's The Walking Dead but very few films try to offer up something original, or at the least, draw inspiration from films that we don't see all the time.  A few weeks back director Chris Leto send me a link to an online screener for his film Rough Cut.  Just a few days later I received the same link from producer Sean Donohue who was also wanting me to check it out.  The film looked different.  Not something I would say is original, but one that is not conforming to a modern trend.  I was interested in checking this one out because it looked like a film that I call "everyday horror" which is what I lump Office Killer and Day Job to.  These are usually horror flicks that feature every day people in real life situations.  Thanks Chris and Sean for letting me check it out.  

     The film follows aspiring director Jack (Duffau) who just discovered his wife is sleeping around behind his back and does not believe he will succeed as a filmmaker.  He leaves his home in despair and soon comes across two bums fighting in the alley.  He offers the pair $50 to beat the shit out of each other to film it Bum Fights style (Get ya dick sucked!).  He soon realizes that he can still make his movie but in a different way.  He starts out kidnapping young women all over the city and torturing them on camera and in some cases even eating their flesh.  To finish the film he needs to film the final scene with the perfect woman...his whore wife.

     Chris Leto is a filmmaker I have known about for several years.  Sometime ago I checked out his slasher The Housewife Slasher which I was not really a fan of but the next film, in which he co-directed, I saw was amazing.  That flick, Die Die Delta Pi, was fantastic and perfectly captured that 80s dorm slasher vibe.  When he sent me the link for Rough Cut I was nervous and curious as to where this film would go but all in all it was a great film with some amazing moments.  The acting in this on great but praise needs to go out to the film's star Mike Duffau.  The cast is great but Duffau lays it all out on the table and holds nothing back.  He shows heart and really goes the distance with this character.  This is easily my favorite performance from any film this year.  The remainder of the cast have a great deal of talent and they all show that but Duffau outshines them all.  He is the perfect combination of psychotic and methodical and adds some laughs to the film.  The story for this one is simple but still packs a punch.  The story of a man discovering his wife cheating and goes on a murdering rampage has been done several times before with my favorite belonging to Tim Ritter's Killing Spree.  However, this film tossed in the movie angle and it unfolded perfectly.  The story would have been a bit on the boring side if we did not get the characters that we did.  Finally, the film does not really offer any on screen kills with a majority taking place off camera. However, we do get a lot of torture and a fair amount of blood.  The practical effects are decent and rely heavily on editing to make the gags work.  Overall, Rough Cut is a solid film that really delivers on the performances.  The film has some laughs, rather intentional or not, and really hits the spot when you want a good horror flick.  Skip the next big budget horror flick and watch this one instead!