2017 has been a strong year for horror—indie or otherwise—which means it has been tough keeping up with everything that has been released over the last eight-plus months. Here are my thoughts on a pair of films that I recently had the opportunity to watch, Michael Walker’s meta slasher Cut Shoot Kill and the zombie-themed It Stains the Sands Red from Colin Minihan.
Cut Shoot Kill: The biggest thing I look for whenever I go into any movie is whether or not the director at hand has any surprises in store for me as a viewer. And while Cut Shoot Kill may not seem all that revolutionary upon first glance, I must tip my hat to writer/director Walker, who did an admirable job subverting my expectations with his “movie within a movie,” often finding clever ways to blur the lines between fact and fiction for his ambitious story.
In Cut Shoot Kill, we are introduced to a struggling actress by the name of Serena Alexandra Socha), who begrudgingly accepts a role in a no-budget horror movie after the director Alabama Chapman (Alex Hurt) convinces her that it’ll be a “different” experience than she’s expecting. As it turns out, Alabama wasn’t lying, as we see how far the filmmaker will go to make sure he gets what he needs to create the ultimate scary movie.
Going the meta route isn’t necessarily a unique approach to a horror movie, but it’s the way that Walker plays with his narrative in some surprising ways that makes Cut Shoot Kill a bit of a standout amongst its peers. Walker also perfectly captures that rag-tag spirit that often accompanies being employed on a low-budget film set, but he then turns that idea of the summer camp-esque camaraderie that builds when everyone has to do so much for so little squarely on its head in a rather clever fashion.
For those in search of an indie horror diamond in the rough, you might really find a lot to like in Cut Shoot Kill. It probably won’t be making my End of the Year list, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still an admirable effort from Walker, who proves there’s always new terrain to venture when you’re traversing familiar territories.
Movie Score: 3/5
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It Stains the Sands Red: As mentioned in my previous review, I’m a big fan of a movie that can surprise me. I’ll be the first to admit that whenever I’m asked to watch a new zombie movie, the idea doesn’t exactly curl my toes. But then along comes Colin Minihan’s It Stains the Sands Red, which proved me wrong in so many ways. As it turns out, watching one woman outrun a singular living dead threat is just as compelling as watching folks battle against hordes of zombies, and if you’re in search of a zombie movie with a few new tricks up its sleeve, I cannot recommend It Stains the Sands Red enough.
The film opens amidst the early stages of a zombie outbreak, where civilization is just beginning to break down and there’s chaos everywhere. We follow Molly (Brittany Allen) and her boyfriend, Nick (Merwin Modesir), as they are making their way out of Las Vegas, driving along an isolated highway on their way to meet up with some friends at a distant air hangar. The couple runs into some car issues and flesh-hungry trouble along the way, leaving Molly stranded alone with a sole zombie (Juan Riedinger) on her trail through the desert. We watch as Molly braves the elements and does her best to thwart the imminent danger that is following her every move, and how her arduous journey transforms Molly into a survivor whose motivations greatly evolve throughout It Stains the Sands Red.
More of a thought-provoking drama/western/zombie mash-up than an all-out gore fest, IStSR takes several different routes tonally and thematically, but Minihan does a stellar job of blending everything together, creating an experience that is truly unique and utterly compelling to watch. While the script and all the film’s technical aspects are outstanding, It Stains the Sands Red works as well as it does because of Allen’s incredible performance that becomes the cornerstone to Minihan’s brilliant manipulation of familiar elements of the zombie sub-genre.
We’ve seen these flesh-munching creatures presented as walking metaphors for death on so many occasions in the past, so in IStSR, Minihan takes a radical left turn, where the zombie on Molly’s trail (who is affectionately nicknamed “Smalls” at one point) ends up representing life and a real connection in this world that had never given a gal like Molly a chance before. Just that aspect alone really hooked me on this film, and It Stains the Sands Red offers up so many more wonderful gifts for horror fans beyond that. I’d absolutely recommend it to all fans, but especially those who have felt like they need to see something new when it comes to their zombie cinema.
Movie Score: 4/5
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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