RE-CUT

Re-Cut (2010)
Directed by: Fritz Manger
Written by: Dylan Manger, Fritz Manger
Starring: Austin Basis, Meredith Phillips, Ross Kohn

RE-CUT

Film: RE-CUT

Directed By Fritz Manger

Written By: Fritz Manger and Dylan Manger

Starring: Ross Kohn, Meredith Phillips, Austin Basis

Rating: 15

Running Time: 90 Minutes

Review: Ross Hughes Offical HCF Critic

“One of the most frustrating horror films you see this year

Re-cut reminds me of that children song about that little girl, you know the one, “when she was good she was very good but when she was bad she was horrid!”. The experience of watching this new horror from Fritz Manger fully sums up that little rhyme, one minute I was holding on to the arm of my chair in terror, the next I was screaming at the entire stupidity of what I was seeing, Re-Cut is good people, but its also bad!

East Coast filmmakers Adam (Ross Kohn) and David (Austin Basis) borrow their uncle’s van to drive to Wisconsin to shoot a documentary about reality star Meredith Phillips who by all accounts is an actual real life reality star who appeared in some show called “The Bachelorette.” Meredith has agreed to star in a little documentary that they are filming but on arrival she changes her mind for no apparent reason and makes out she can not even remember agreeing to this project!! There are moments like this in this film that does not make sense and has no explanation and if you want to enjoy Re-Cut you have to simply ignore it! The two boys are angry and storm into their van but Meredith who I forgot to mention is now trying to prove herself has a serious news reporter has been given this little story about the death of two girls at a farmhouse in the countryside of Spring Green. Again logic is way out of the window when she is told she has to cover this story but the station can not offer her any crew as they are all busy so with a quick thought she recruits Adam and David to work as her crew in exchange for providing footage for their documentary.

So yes horror fans what we have here is yet another horror found footage film that ticks all the boxes when what is needed for this kind of genre!

*An opening title that tells us that this footage was found-

*An opening sequence that shows the crew getting their cameras together-

*A spooky town with a secret

*Running in the dark through a forest, or in this case corn fields

The only thing that is missing is one the crew actually turning the camera onto themselves and giving their last speech to anyone who manages to find this footage!

It seems that I am being very negative about Re-Cut but its more to do with the horror frustration running through my veins at how at times the film was good! Right at the beginning we are introduced to home clippings of these two young girls staring back at the camera wearing identical white gowns while this spooky and freaky theme is playing! It sets the tone beautifully at the horror that is going to unfold! Re-Cut’s strength is that there is a real good story here to be told! There is no creature smashing up a city, no she bitch haunting the woods, this is a disturbing tale of a trio of film makers who stumble upon a secret that may have been the motive for the girls murders in the first place. Their snooping and need to get to the truth leads them to a suspect’s’ farmhouse which eventually leads to a terrifying night they will never forget in the small town Wisconsin.

So why did it not work?

Well for a start, for the life of me I can not understand Manger’s need to shoot his bolt straight away in the film! From the off we virtually see the end of the film and then it cuts to the beginning which made me scream out in despair. To make a good horror documentary the main focus of the horror and the hook is to make the viewer watch and see how these characters get in the situation they are in! I mean would the Blair Witch have worked if we had seen the image of the “Staring at the wall!” right from the off? Of course not, that is why Blair worked and is still talked about today, simply because the terror is within the journey they got there! To show these new trio in peril straight away rids the movie of the suspense and danger, its like “so that is what happens to them, oh why bother watching now?”

It does not make Re-Cut pointless and I can see some horror fans wondering why I am making such a fuss when films like this nature always leads to one way, but I would rather have not known and how does the film cut from end to beginning to end to beginning through out, the killers must have carried on filming after climax and then edited it their way, and somehow the said footage still ends up in the FBI hands. As you can see Re-Cut offers more questions than it actually answers!

But still the mystery of how these two girls died is a massive draw! The town itself is ugly and you sense that it labours many secrets and while they arrive at the police station and ask to see the case files we get a haunting image of a crime photograph showing these two girls hanging which is a very strong set-piece and highlights the good story arc that is hidden between the poor moments!

The characters are very likeable even through they do the most stupid things you could possibly imagine! Would you get into a strangers car when you know there is a killer out there?…NO!……would you go down an underground basement with people you do not know? NO!, the only character that you have sympathy for is David who to be fair does everything right and yet still gets sucked into the chaos thanks to the stupidity of others!.

The script also offers some dodgy moments that will make you laugh! When the three end up in prison after trespassing we witness a scene of them coming across an old man in the cell who shares with them a little story about the town! How this segment was filmed is because Meredith has a hidden camera in her jumper which again questions the entire logic of the picture!

There are good moments but the shadow of Blair Witch haunts the entire show and to be fair the film flows beautifully and you watch until the very end even though you will probably guess who is behind this mystery way before the final reveal! Its just the end and final shot leaves a bitter aftertaste! You know what is coming but when it does it ends with a jolt! There is no further developments and for me I wanted to see more, wanted to know the ins and outs, maybe it was because I just did not want the film to end which for me is a sign that I was actually enjoying the show, but then again it could be because I wanted more from than ending that was already ruined for me thanks to the director who could not wait to show his hand!

OVERALL: Another found footage horror that will frustrate more than scare! Some good moments including a freaky song does not get rid of the sense that all horror fans have been here before, but only better!

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