A band needing a break gets the offer of a lifetime: To shoot a music video in a mansion for free. Of course, there’s a catch.
Written and directed by Don Capria, the story here takes a long while to get going, not in a slow burn sort of way but in a it just takes forever to get going sort of way. The characters here all have some sort of element to their personalities that makes them dislikable and, in some cases, despicable. These are not people most would want to spend time with, so they are not exactly characters to root for. Still, the film does have a clear villain and makes sure the viewer has someone to want to see win. On that front, the writing is not perfect, but it does get better when things amp up in the story and it helps keeps the viewer interested and entertained. It does go a bit torture porn-y, just slightly if compared with the sub-genre as a whole, so it’s not that bad for those wanting to avoid this sort of things.
The cast here is where the film shines. While their characters aren’t likable on the surface, a couple of them are a little less dislikable, the cast does well in being these people, bringing them to life on the screen. Louis Lombardi plays a total deranged creep with just the right level of despicable thrown in for good measure. Does his character have a reason for doing what he does? Sure. What makes him stand out though here is the way Lombardi plays him, how he makes him come off like a man you’d never want to spend any time with even before he gets to his point story-wise. The band and their entourage are played by Tyler Ivey, Brandy Ochoa, Darrin Hickok, Danielle Kotch, Haley Cassidy, Louis Rocky Bacigalupo, Greg Poppa. They each get some screen time but not quite enough each to make the viewer care all that much. Then add their “glowing” personalities and the cast had to do work with these and made the dislikable aspects of them part of their performances which works well in terms of getting their characters onto the screen.
A solid aspect to this film is the way the special effects are done. The work here looks great and makes the film that much more interesting. There is clearly a love of for practical effects and it is shared by this viewer, something most horror fans should be decently happy with here. To go with this, the cinematography allows a good view of these effects and is generally well done throughout the run time.
Director’s Cut is an entertaining film to watch with characters that hard to love or connect with. Of course, this could be getting old here leading to not liking these band members. Still, the cast is good, the effects are solid, the story needs something more here with a few bits and pieces that don’t make much sense within the story (see the Babs character which feels mostly useless here hence not discussed above). The film is entertaining enough and has some bloody bits and bobs, so some will love, some won’t.