Cut and Run (1985) New World/Action-Thriller RT: 90 minutes Unrated Version (strong graphic violence, language, full frontal nudity, some sexual content, drug material) Director: Ruggero Deodato Screenplay: Cesare Frugoni and Dardano Sacchetti Music: Claudio Simonetti Cinematography: Alberto Spagnoli Release date: May 2, 1986 (US) Cast: Lisa Blount, Leonard Mann, Willie Aames, Richard Lynch, Richard Bright, Michael Berryman, Valentina Forte, Eriq La Salle, Gabriele Tinti, John Steiner, Karen Black, Barbara Magnolfi, Luca Barbareschi. Box Office: N/A
Rating: *** ½
I suppose I should consider Cut and Run one of the most significant viewing experiences of my life although I certainly didn’t think so back in spring ’86. All I knew at that point was that I didn’t like it. I didn’t yet realize it was my introduction to Ruggero Deodato, the Italian filmmaker behind the grisly and controversial horror film Cannibal Holocaust, a beloved classic among gorehounds, one that I had yet to see. As such, seeing Deodato’s name in the opening credits meant nothing to me. The only thing I took away from Cut and Run that Sunday afternoon is that I wasted $2.50 on a boring, convoluted piece of crap.
So what turned me around on Cut and Run? It all started about 20 years later when I found a DVD copy that read “Uncut and Uncensored” on the cover. Naturally, I was intrigued and bought it. When I watched it, I was shocked to see scenes of graphic violence that weren’t in the version I saw in my youth. It turns out that two different versions of Cut and Run were made; a softer version for the American market and a harder version for countries- e.g. Italy, Japan- that typically demand stronger violent content. Several key sequences, like the opening attack on a cocaine-processing facility and the aftermath of a Miami drug house massacre, were shot twice. The bloodier takes are used in the unrated international cut. WOW, are they ever bloody! We get decapitations, disembowelments, impalings, dismemberments and one guy literally ripped in half. Let me tell you, it makes a HUGE difference. I’m now a fan of Cut and Run.
The still-convoluted plot has Miami TV reporter Fran Hudson (Blount, Prince of Darkness) and her cameraman Mark (Mann, Night School) heading off to the jungles of South America in hopes of interviewing Colonel Horne (Lynch, Invasion USA), a one-time associate of Reverend Jim Jones who supposedly died in the Guyana mass suicide in ’78. A photograph obtained from the scene of the aforementioned drug house massacre proves otherwise. It also shows Tommy (Aames, Charles in Charge), the missing son of her boss (Bright, The Godfather), working for a drug cartel. Fran promises to find him and bring him home. When she gets there, she finds herself in the middle of war between the cartel and a murderous cult led by Horne.
Occasionally, Fran reports back to the station in Miami via satellite. The boss and his wife (Black, Five Easy Pieces) are shocked by the violent images. When the cult slaughters everybody at the camp where Tommy is being held, it prompts the boss to take matters into his own hands to bring his son home safely.
The producers originally wanted Deodato to make a sequel to Cannibal Holocaust, but he rejected the idea and made Cut and Run instead. It’s nice to see he kept the gore at the same level. Well, almost the same level. There is no cannibalism in Cut and Run, but the gory violence is presented in a stark verite style that recalls the earlier film. It also graphically depicts the sexual violence visited on the women trapped in this life. Tommy’s only friend at the camp is a woman named Ana (played by Deodato’s then-girlfriend Forte) who understands his plight perfectly. Forced into sexual servitude by her keepers, she has one of the movie’s most harrowing scenes in which she lies still and expressionless as a male guest rapes her.
As nightmarish as I make Cut and Run sound, it also has its cool points like Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) as a particularly brutal cult member. He doesn’t get any lines, but he brandishes a machete like no other besides Jason Voorhees. It also has Eriq La Salle (Coming to America) as a strip club owner who somehow has information about the South American drug operation. He’s a total 80s black guy with how he dresses like a pimp. Lynch isn’t in it as much as I’d like, but he does get a neat monologue near the end that brings to mind Klaus Kinski at his highest peak of madness. The late Blount is pretty good in the lead. I always liked her. She’s attractive and talented. Aames gives a performance on par with his Razzie-nominated turn in 1982’s Paradise which is to say he doesn’t deliver a single convincing line of dialogue. Not that I could take his character seriously with the Mickey Mouse shirt he wears through the whole movie. I’m shocked Disney didn’t sue for copyright infringement.
Despite the confused screenplay, Cut and Run is a taut thriller with some potent ideas running through its veins. It’s beautifully shot especially in the jungle scenes that absolutely teem with menace and terror as to what might be lurking in the darkness or behind the next tree. It’s also a cool bloodbath of a movie. It almost makes one forget about the softer R-rated version. And don’t forget about Michael Berryman, that alone makes it worth watching.
