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.
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.