Splatter Movie: The Directors Cut (2008)

Splatter Movie (2008) is an independent mockumentary (shockumentary?) slasher/horror flick written by Mike Watt and directed by and starring Amy Lynn Best.

The story of a group of film-makers shooting a film called “Tesseract,” which in turn, is about a group of film-makers being stalked by a psychotic killer. Gradually, the line between the film and real life begins to blur… before vanishing entirely! Both a narrative film and a documentary analysing the slasher sub-genre.

- Splatter Movie synopsis

Amy Lynn Best

Talk about something you can’t take seriously, Splatter Movie is a cheeky romp through the world of ultra low-budget independent horror-slasher film-making. But it takes it a step further and unabashedly provides commentary on many elements of the genre ranging from the various actor personalities to the behind-the-scenes crew.  Tom Sullivan (most known for his special FX for The Evil Dead) and Scream Queen Debbie Rochon have cameos in this indie low-budget homage to horror that also viciously pokes fun at the genre films. Both reveal (possibly true?) stories that contribute to the layers of the movie about the woes and dangers that are an all too familiar part when it comes to creating low-budget horror movies.

Tom Sullivan

The pacing is slow at first and presented as a documentary opening with a team of film-makers with handy-cams arriving at the Hundred Acres Manor to create a horror film about a horror film (Think Scream 3.) A movie within a movie… that’s within a movie (So meta). Okay, so we’ve seen this done before and perhaps even done to death. But there’s something satisfying about a group of creators coming together to deconstruct a niche genre they work in while employing the same devices that they are breaking down. Splatter Movie takes so many clichés and exploits the hell out of them – sensationalizing them in a manner that is so over the top that you can’t help but laugh at the typical masked psychopath murderer, the ridiculously cheese-tastic gore and violence, and the gratuitous nudity and exploitation of women that is “necessary” to make a successful slasher flick – but wait y’all it’s, like, OKAY because Amy Lee Parker (played by Amy Lynn Best) is a woman director! (Please note snarky tone.)

Debbie Rochon

This film is unapologetic in its low down gritty ways but there are moments when it really shines and… goes there… one of those moments is even with a dildo. But I wanted more of those moments. I wanted more shockumentary and blood. Lots more blood, actually. Unfortunately, at times I felt that I was just watching a home movie that had been thrown together and edited with iMovie 4. I imagine with even a little bigger budget this idea could have been expanded on and really delivered something worthwhile for the horror community. Something that not only deconstructed the horror genre but also added to it as an enjoyable production. But for me, Splatter Movie: The Director’s Cut falls short of providing solid entertainment. While the commentary was clear enough to pick up and appreciate, the movie was lacking in good ol’ fashioned horror splatter.