Smash Cut

Smash Cut is a 2009 Canadian horror slasher film directed by Lee Demarbre and produced by Robert Menzies. It stars David Hess, Sasha Grey, Michael Berryman and Herschell Gordon Lewis.

For the film-making technique, see Smash cut.
Smash Cut
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLee Demarbre
Produced byRobert Menzies
Written byIan Driscoll
StarringSasha Grey
Michael Berryman
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Music byMichael Dubue
CinematographyJean-Denis Ménard
Karl Roeder
Edited byLee Demarbre
Production
company
Odessa Filmworks
Zed Filmworks
Distributed byImagination Worldwide LLC
Shriek Show
Release date
  • 18 July 2009 (2009-07-18) (Fantasia Film Festival)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$400,000 CA$[1]

Plot synopsis

Television news celebrity April Carson (Grey), working for station manager Fred Sandy (Lewis, in a cameo appearance), turns to the services of private investigator Isaac Beaumonde (Jesse Buck) to seek her missing sister, a stripper known as Gigi Spot (Jennilee Murray).[1][2] Carson assumes a role in a horror movie in the process, eventually learning that the movie's director, Able Whitman (Hess), is not only the culprit, but that he has rendered her sister's body into props for the production.[3][4][5] Whitman then requires more "props" for his film, which means more body parts, which in turn requires a killing spree. Meanwhile, detective Beaumonde pursues an increasingly deadly and grisly case.[6]

Cast
  • David Hess as Able Whitman
  • Sasha Grey as April Carson
  • Michael Berryman as Philip Farmsworth Jr.
  • Herschell Gordon Lewis as Fred Sandy
  • Jesse Buck as Isaac Beaumonde
  • Ray Sager as Reverend Ezekial Boone
  • Jennilee Murray as Georgina Carson / Gigi Spot
  • Michael Dubue as Alan Dackman
  • Barry Blake as Armand Parys
  • Parisa Kasaei as Intern
  • Peter Michael Dillon as Oswald 'Ozzie' Kohlberg
  • Meghanne Kessels as Mitzi Jackel
  • Jeff Lawson as R.L. Smith
  • Mercedes Papalia as Doctor / Stripper
  • Cinthia Burke as Starla
  • Csaba András Kertész as Restaurant patron
  • Nick Taylor as Movie Patron
  • Jade Carpenter as Young Female Actress
  • Guen Douglas as Gretchen Gregorski
  • Matthew Stefiuk as Grober
  • Rylan O'Reilly as Allan
  • Cathy Symonds as Marlene
  • Robert Reynolds as Rummy
  • Rusty Nails as Kohlberg - Oswald

Production

Filming was conducted between 9 May and 4 June 2008 in Ottawa, Ontario, at area locations including the Mayfair Theatre and Rockland, Ontario.[3][7][8][9]

Smash Cut features actors Sasha Grey, David Hess (The Last House on the Left), Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) and Ray Sager (The Wizard of Gore).[10][11] This film presented Grey, an adult film performer, in her first non-pornographic role.[1][3] Herschell Gordon Lewis, considered the inventor of the splatter film genre, is seen in the film's opening advising the audience to "watch if you must".[1][4][9]

The film's investors were concerned that Smash Cut would be hindered by the proposed Income Tax Amendments Act, 2006 law (Bill C-10) that could restrict tax benefits for films whose content the federal government deemed objectionable.[6] These concerns were particularly prompted by the casting of Sasha Grey, but director Lee Demarbre retorted, "I don't want to make a porn movie. I want to make a movie with Sasha Grey. I want to take her right out of the porn genre."[3]

Presentations
Original poster for Smash Cut

The film was first shown on 18 July 2009 in Montreal at the Fantasia Festival.[12] Another showing was scheduled at the London FrightFest Film Festival in the United Kingdom on 29 August 2009.[13] Canadian premieres in 2009 included Toronto on 15 October[14] and Ottawa on 20 November.[15]

References
  1. Warren, T. S. (19 November 2009). "Splatter Matters". Ottawa XPress. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2009.
  2. Murray, Jennilee (24 May 2008). "These Days". Retrieved 28 July 2008.
  3. Vlessing, Etan (26 May 2008). "The Big Screen: Slasher film risks running afoul of C-10". Playback. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  4. Vlessing, Etan (13 May 2008). "Adult-film star Grey segues to slasher fare". Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  5. Zed Filmworks: Smash Cut description Archived 20 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Imagination Worldwide: Smash Cut synopsis
  7. "Extras wanted for the 5th Feature Film from Odessa Filmworks". Odessa Filmworks. 11 May 2008. Archived from the original on 3 January 2002.
  8. Harewood, Adrian (16 May 2008). "Extras Wanted". All in a Day. CBC Radio One. Archived from the original (ram) on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
  9. "Ottawa's Zed Filmworks assembles A-list cast of B-film actors for new film Smash Cut". GAT. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  10. Gingold, Michael (20 May 2008). "David Hess, H.G. Lewis make a SMASH CUT". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  11. Olsen, Michelle Anne (29 May 2008). "A bloody good time on Ottawa film set / Director Lee Demarbre gives us a look at what goes on behind the scenes". The Charlatan. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  12. "Smash Cut". Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  13. "Smash Cut (Saturday 29th)". London FrightFest Film Festival. Archived from the original on 10 July 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  14. "On Screen". Eye Weekly. 14 October 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  15. "Schedule, November 2009". Mayfair Theatre. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
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