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Released by: Kino Lorber Films
Released on: 1/22/2013
Director: Charles Evered
Cast: Michael O'Keefe, Michael A. Newcomer, James Van Patten, David Naughton, Olesya Rulin
Year: 2011
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The Movie:
Lance (Michael A. Newcomer) is a pretty boy Hollywood director who gained fame, fortune, and power from his Saw-inspired horror movie output. And he's a real asshole too, as made evident by the way he talks to and treats the guests at his most recent ass-kissing party. One guest is not on the list, and after being turned away at the door sneaks his way into the director's home. Frank (Michael O'Keefe -NOONAN!!) eventually reveals himself to the director as a student of his films, but for a reason other than admiration. It turns out his daughter was the victim of a copycat murder based on a murder in one of the films, and holds the pompous Lance responsible for his daughter's death-by-torture.
It also becomes known that Lance's sister Melanie (Olesya Rulin) has been abducted by Frank, and is currently being held in the house against her will. This is Frank's leverage against Lance for the remainder of the tale, as he mentally tortures Lance through threat of harm to Melanie. Frank wants Lance to kill himself to save his little sister, and pushes him to the brink of making choices that will alter, or perhaps end, Lance's life.
Basically a two-man play, A Thousand Cuts stays away from much by the way of graphic violence, and focuses more the anguish of a grieving father and his less-than-legal ways of expressing said anguish. It also stays away from being much of a horror movie at all, despite the misleading disc packaging, and it also stays away from being anything all that interesting. Firstly, it takes much too long to establish the fact that Lance is a douche bag in expensive clothes. The whole first act is the party, which seems only to serve two purposes…padding and allowing a reason to have a couple of recognizable names spurt out a few lines so you can throw their names of the cover. David Naughton is barely in the movie and is nothing more than a guest with some screen time. A few lamely scripted jokes and he wraps for the shoot.
The two leads, Newcomer and O'Keefe, are the only saving grace in the picture, which is a good thing as the movie is basically a long dialogue between the two of them, with pauses for off-screen rape and amputation. Newcomer makes an impressive transition from a giant asshole to a broken and desperate man. O'Keefe is pretty good with the deadpan delivery, although is a bit over the top with his under the top character.
But the movie is just a mediocre offering. It feels like it plays a lot longer that it does and when all is said and done, not much happened. Just a pretty heavy-handed message about the impact violent films have some people, and the accountability of those who create said films. That's fine, we can handle a message in the story, but how about some entertainment value given back to those sitting through the message. A Thousand Cuts successfully fails to deliver that entertainment.
Video/Audio/Extras:
For a Blu-ray, it's not very impressive to be perfectly blunt. The party scenes are outdoors at night and at times the picture is murky, very noticeably so, and inconsistent. Better lighting results in better clarity, but it never really shines. It doesn't look as crisp and vibrant as one might expect a new movie, presumably shot on digital, to look. Probably this is attributed to the production values of the movie, and not the transfer to Blu-ray, especially when considering how fantastic a job they've done on the Redemption label product. Audio is a 5.1 stereo mix, but it's a talky movie more than a sound effects/music driven movie, and so as with the visuals, it doesn't impress. It serves its purpose though; it just isn't anything above the average.
Extras are slim. Well, practically non-existent. A trailer for the feature and a still gallery, which is nothing more than screen captures from the finished product.
The Final Word:
Feeling more like a 2nd tier cable-made movie than the psychological thriller the back cover leads the reader to believe, this little borefest might find its way into your life through some late night surfing, but it's tough to recommend on any level. It's bland and lacking anything of real substance.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
