Simply Perfect

Powerful

Absolutely Fantastic

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A gory return to the jungle for Ruggero Deodato and perhaps his last really gruesome film - certainly those which followed (a list which includes the likes of DIAL: HELP and THE BARBARIANS) didn't have as much gore and bloodshed in them as this or the director's own graphically nasty masterpiece CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. Unfortunately, in the seventeen years since it was first made, CUT AND RUN has been the victim of censorship worldwide. The American print was heavily cut, the UK print butchered of all gore and the only uncut versions were in a foreign language - French I think. Thankfully this is looking to change with the welcome recent release of an Anchor Bay DVD which presents the movie in all its widescreen, letterboxed glory. This is definitely one film which needs to be seen uncut to appreciate the full extent of the special effects crew.It's not that the gore is graphic - aside from a couple of moments, it's really no worse than any other mid '80s horror movie, complete with splattery decapitations and a brief stomach-slashing followed by some entrail pulling. There's no cannibalism here as the natives are friendlier than most, instead preferring to kill their victims by shooting them with blow darts in the neck or sticking them with knives. Yet Deodato still knows how to shock and surprise his audience when they least expect it, throwing in a couple of neck-hackings complete with spraying blood, splattery gun shot wounds, females getting nailed through their limbs, stomach impalings and a brief gutting. However, all of these (superior) effects - notable through their realism, the special effects are magnificently realistic here - are put in the shade by one graphically nasty moment which features a man getting his entire body split in two after his legs are pulled in opposite directions by being tied to two different trees. Yuck! Certainly one of the strongest gore effects I have yet to see and unforgettably sticky.Otherwise the film takes the form of a straight action-adventure, throwing about three different sides into the midst of a remote jungle location and having them blast the hell out of each other. Drug pushers are being murdered across America and a reporter and her cameraman investigate the deaths, often arriving at the crime scenes before the police. They're employed by the wealthy Bob Allo to travel into the Amazon to rescue his son, Tommy, who has been thrown into a drug mining prison camp by dealers (shades of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST here as the pair film the various atrocities they discover and broadcast it via a satellite link-up back to Allo in the US). Unfortunately a third party is also interested in the dealers, led by Colonel Brian Horne who was a close friend of Jim Jones.The setting is effective as usual for an Italian movie, lush green scenery beautifully shot, and all of the typical ingredients are here - attacks by crocodiles, blow-pipe shooting natives, a machete-wielding Michael Berryman (okay, maybe that one's unusual), jungle traps, rape, prison camps, and a voluptuous girl nude in the shower (the last one comes as no surprise seeing as this is a dyed-in-the-wool exploitation epic). In fact when the cast members arrive in the jungle about halfway through it makes you release how unnatural the scenes set in America feel - Deodato really does have some kind of spiritual connection to the jungle and makes it his own unique gory stomping ground! Also in the film's favour is the great exploitation movie cast, plenty of familiar faces putting in solid if not spectacular performances. Lisa Blount gives it her all as the stressed-out female reporter, kind of like a Heather Donahue for the '80s and is pretty as well as being sassy and assertive when the time comes. Leonard Mann, Willie Aames and Richard Bright play three male cast leads with a fair degree of skill that makes you feel for the characters vaguely. Then there's Richard Lynch as Colonel Horne whose character and acting is definitely inspired by Brando's Colonel Kurtz in APOCALYPSE NOW! Karen Black is on hand as Allo's ally but has absolutely nothing to do with the action whilst Eriq La Salle (more commonly known today as a doctor on ER) plays a loud - clothes-wise - street friend ala Antonio Fargas. Two Italian action stalwarts - Gabriele Tinti and the British John Steiner - are also welcome playing a pair of drug pushers who get graphically murdered. Finally we have Michael Berryman (THE HILLS HAVE EYES) once again playing a very scary chap, a white indio who jumps out of rivers and murders people in some scary shock sequences (my favourite being the opening scene in which he jumps about seven feet out of the water to gut some poor extra). The cast and the gore make CUT AND RUN the last jungle classic to come from Italy.

Ruggero 'we need more animal deaths and rape here' Deodato manages to almost make a decent film without all the disturbing crap, just like he did with Atnaaanalanais Interceptors, only this time he does seem to be reminding the world that he was the director of Cannibal Holocaust (Emmerdale version) and Last Cannibal World of Emmerdale. This time some guys are killing coke dealers world wide and stealing their stuff, prompting a mong journalist to try and track down Richard Lynch, who seems to be tied in with all the stuff that's going on, plus his slim line bald murder guy. Michael Barrymore. Michael's fresh from drowning folk in his swimming pool and has graduated to killing everyone involvoed in the coke trade and my god polish beer is strong. Volvo? The jouranlist and her camera dude head out to the jungle to meet John Stiener (the best thing about this film) and see first hand the work of crazy cult leader Richard lynch. Blah blah blood, blah blah gore, blah blah boobs, blah bkah oucjhc#####There's pubes too. Ruggero did us a great film in Atalntis Raiders, and Body Count was good too. Other than that this is your usual Italian mid eighties set in Miami and Philiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipines type stuff.

So, this is it: the finally of Ruggero Deodattos „Amazonia"- (better known as „Cannibal")-trilogy. Almost needless to say that "Cut and Run" in no way lives up to the standards of the infamous "Cannibal Holocaust" but then again, I dare say that no other movie has achieved that to date.Apart from some very gory scenes of carnage and mayhem (decapitations, gutting and a man being ripped into half), the location, Deodattos misogyny and condescending attitude towards the indigenous crew, "Cut and Run" and "Cannibal Holocaust" haven't got much in common. The later is a hardcore horror-film, containing what some have termed "animal snuff", yet actually had a deeper meaning, that criticized the 1970's Mondo-genre (exploitive and often partially faked pseudo-documentaries) and the Medias attitude toward what they considered primitive cultures."Cut and Run" is a more straight action-thriller about a surviving Jonestown leader Colonel Horn (Richard Lynch) who, with the help of an Indio tribe, rips off American cocaine smugglers in the Amazon and a couple of journalists (Lisa Blount and Leonard Mann) out to interview Horn and rescue the missing son of their producer (Willie Ames).What speaks for the film (apart from the rather heavy violence and gore, presuming this is your thing and the reason to come across "Cut and Run" in the first place) is a very hostile, depressing, even misanthropic atmosphere. This is another thing that "Cut and Run" and "Cannibal Holocaust" have in common. Lynch, as a mix between insane Reverend Jones and drug-peddling General Kurtz, plays the role he has been born to play; same goes for Michael Berryman, who plays a psychopathic killer-Indio; albeit, both only have a few minutes of screen-time. John Steiner is a sadistic, sneering drug-runner, nothing we didn't come to expect from Steiner there. The rest of the are bit-players who go through the motions, trying hard not to embarrass themselves or, like in the case of Karen Black, aren't given much to work with.If at all possible, Deodatto managed to make the local Indios look even more ape-like than in "Cannibal Holocaust". The grimace, rape and hop from tree to tree, one is instinctively reminded of the sub-humans in Ralph Bakshi pre-stone-age cartoon "Fire and Ice". Like a participant in "Cannibal Holocaust" said: "Deodatto killed apes, turtles and iguanas, but he treated the animals with more respect than he did the natives." Five points from ten – that's one for Lynch, one for Berryman, one for the atmosphere and two for the gore-content and special-effects.And, on a ps-note, watch out for a very young Eric La Salle ("Coming to America", here playing a jive-talking', purple fedora-wearing pimp which, we had presumed, had died out with 1970's blaxploitation film) and try not to watch out for Hugo Weaving in an extra-role – he's nowhere to be found in "Cut and Run"; his participation is an urban legend.

Cut and Run is one of Deodato's strangest films due to the bizarre mix of genres. The film balances horror, action and adventure elements with gritty cocaine smuggling and hostage situation subplots. There is even an Apocalypse Now inspired crazy Colonel living with natives in the jungle. To say that the film bites off more than it can chew is an understatement, but that the fact that the film works at all is a great testament to Deodato's unique talent.There is little point passing comment on the film's plot because it virtually makes no sense. There is, for example, no explanation at how the Indian killings in the Amazon jungle simultaneously take place in Miami and the entire subplot involving Colonel Horne remains a mystery. The jumbled plot does have the advantage of giving Deodato the opportunity to dabble in different genres and he shows yet again why he is such an underrated filmmaker. Deodato's direction is technically brilliant and he brings his usual sense of flair to the film's action and horror set pieces. The dramatic moments are less successfully handled and unusually for a Deodato film, some sentimentality creeps in towards the end of the film.The film really picks up every time the Indians attack. Horror fans might be annoyed by the infrequency of the gore, but when the killings do occur, Deodato does not disappoint. There are beheadings, spears through the neck, darts in the neck and one of Deodato's best ever deaths when a man is literally ripped limb from limb (according to Deodato, inspired by the Vietcong). Part of the fun is watching legendary genre actor Michael Berryman camping it up as a demented Indian. He has several great moments in what is one of his more memorable roles. The other actors are also pretty good. Lisa Blount makes an impression as Fran and Richard Lynch always does a good job of acting crazy, making a perfect Colonel Horne.Also worth a mention are Claudio Simonetti's great synth score and the beautiful photography of the jungle landscape (Venezuela doubling for Colombia). Fans of Deodato should check out the accompanying "Uncut and Run" documentary in which Deodato rather amusingly talks about the shoot, stealing Wes Craven's job as the director and even bluntly says which actors he did not enjoy working with. Cut and Run might lack cohesion but it remains a highly enjoyable minor work from a truly great director.