Splatter Movie: The Director’s Cut
Starring: Amy Lynn Best, Debbie Rochon, Tom Sullivan
Directed By: Amy Lynn Best
Written By: Mike Watt
Released: 2008
Grade: B

Splatter Movie: The Directors Cut is a mockumentary horror film. Taking place on the set of a horror film, it reminds me of Return to Horror High in terms of how the story progresses. The scares that they are trying to get out of their audience come to be to true in a film shooting that many of them might not make it out alive of. In this case, no one really suspects anything until close to the end.

Amy Lee Parker (Best) is filming her latest horror film. Many actors she has worked with before are joining her on this film as well while some are just getting their start in the film business. While filming is going on there is an interviewer asking questions and trying to get the scoop on what they hope to accomplish with this movie. Some of the first scenes include lesbian encounters. As people connect and the shooting of the movie progresses, things start to go wrong. There is a killer on the set that is one by one killing every one in sight. Soon there is barely anyone left. Anyone who sees this killer doesn’t even have a chance to get away since everyone assumes it is just a character in the movie.

Splatter Movie: The Director’s Cut is a fun movie that makes an example of horror stereotypes. Rape is one of the most intense and scary instances that happen in these films. It is one o f the largest and most demeaning crimes. Rape, not just in film, but in society in general always shows women as the victims, never men. When the rape scene in the film is being taped, it takes a completely different direction. The woman in the situation, played terrifically by Debbie Rochon, turns the role of a damsel in distress to a woman with a vengeance. She rapes her attacker with no mercy. This shows an example where women don’t always have to be the target and if they are they can still fight back and take charge of the situation.

Nudity is a subject in the film as well. There is quite a bit of it in the film they are making. This is shown as something they have to do, after all sex sells. They know if they show more female nudity the audience might sit through the minor male nudity that is in the rape scene. Also, it continues with the classic horror rule, that sluts die first. The girls who are in the more sexual scenes really get in to their actions. While this is shooting you get the feel that someone is watching them, sure enough an older crew member is. In this case, the viewer who is spying is the one who is targeted first.

Mike Watt wrote the script with a comical edge combined with the on set horror atmosphere. The film is not so much about the suspense as it is about reminding us of the fun of horrors. There are a lot of gory deaths, which add to the entertainment. One of the best was when a hook is shoved in to a man’s jaw and it becomes completely ripped off. The killer than just walks away, with the victim’s head in hand. Those involved with the movie particularly Watt and the director, Amy Lynn Best, are just big horror fans. So anyone who likes the genre should be able to relate to them as well as the characters on this level. Some of the characters don’t have as much depth, but Splatter Movie: The Director’s Cut isn’t really about meaning. I like horror to have motives and meaning inside it that diverge out in to your mind. It puts the audience inside the killer’s head, someone who is normally not understood on any level. Splatter Movie: The Director’s Cut even purposefully disregards the back story of their villain in the movie within the movie and the real killing that is happening around them. When we find out who it is and what the reasoning really was, it is goofy and refreshing. Tom Sullivan acts this part with great energy and charisma. In some films, the story falls apart if the back story isn’t original or representing the character enough. Also, it seems like a lot of horror films reuse the story, which just takes away from the character. Splatter Movie: The Director’s Cut avoids that completely, which tells the audience that this is just a time to sit back, relax, and watch a few fellow horror fans, who have a love for making films.

- Kelsey Zukowski