When George Lucas wanted to spruce up the special effects in the original “Star Wars” trilogy he had plenty of cash to get the job done.
Indie filmmakers rarely get that chance. Every penny counts when the major film studios don’t have your back.
Apparently, the folks behind the 2008 slasher film “Midnight Movie: The Killer Cut,” out June 14 on DVD, saved up enough shekels for a rare do-over. The horror film went under the knife to add new scenes, slice away some old ones and upgrade the visuals surrounding the movie’s killer.
This critic hasn’t seen the original version, but “The Killer Cut” stands as a respectable entry from the micro-indie realm, one which recycles existing genre trends before stumbling upon a fresh finale.
Patrons attending this “Midnight Movie” are in for more than their standard horror fare. The theater in question is showing “The Dark Beneath,” a grainy, ’70s era shocker directed by Radford, a man whose obsession with his work sent him away to an insane asylum. The prologue shows just what happens when Radford watches his own movie.
The audience attending the midnight screening, and the teens manning the popcorn counters, unwittingly become part of the film itself. The lumbering killer in “Beneath” starts appearing in the actual movie house to add to his body count.
It’s a slick gimmick, one enhanced by the refurbished effects which let the killer shimmer in and out as if he were bending time and space.
The victims, or rather characters, in “Killer Cut” hardly distinguish themselves save a burly biker dude who transcends expectations. We’ve seen these archetypes before, especially the dude we can’t wait to see killed, but it doesn’t ruin the experience. Performances are uniformly perfunctory but never distracting, a plus in the low expectations of the genre.
The kills rarely rank as clever as the film’s central conceit, and too much of the material feels borrowed from previous shockers. There’s a bit of “Scream”-style meta analysis, and the killer’s lithe frame reminds us of “Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon.”
But that mask … it’s righteous.
The killer’s weapon of choice, a spiral device which can scoop out a person’s heart in one vicious thrust, is a big improvement over most serial killer implements.
Director Jack Messitt isn’t a visionary, but he clearly adores horror movies and that affection shines through every sequence. And his choice of camera angles is occasionally inspired, like the sight of the killer sharpening his weapon shot from behind, his hunched shoulders a portrait of hate.
Horror movies too often fall apart as they reach their waning moments, but “Midnight Movie’s” casts aside its derivative roots for a truly original coda.
“Midnight Movie: The Killer Cut” feels like a big ol’ hug to the horror genre, albeit one with a spiked glove for the back slap.
(Photo Rebekah Brandes gets up close and personal with a serial killer in “Midnight Movie: The Killer Cut.”)
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I don’t doubt for a second that every single person who sees this will turn to his companions and say, “Dude, doesn’t the killer’s build remind you of ‘Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon’?”
But I kid. It sounds like they did more with less, always a laudable feat in film—though I’m stickler enough that I doubt that spiral heart-scooper thing would work. Plus “the killer in the movie becomes real” is a great gimmick for scaring the audience, since it subdues that “it’s just a movie” thing that lets you stay detached.
Unfortunately I don’t like slasher films, so excuse me if I give it a miss. It sounds like a well-done sample of the genre, though.