Written by: Ryan Dailey
If Scooby Doo met Half-Baked and had a child raised by Club Dread,its name would be The Director’s Cut.
The Director’s Cut is a film by Steven Aripez airing on Tubi as of the time of this writing. The film focuses on a group of friends as one of them, the owner of a video rental store, suspects that one of his regular customers may be a serial killer known as the fiend. Terence, played by Levelle Newman, has his suspicions raised when he pieces together clues he thinks he finds in a copy of Midnight Mangler director’s cut the suspect donates to his store.
The Clerks influence is strong with this film, using a lot of the same static two shots and set pieces that made that movie an early 90’s critical darling. The dialog is mediocre in this one, unlike the flowing words of its 1994 indie classic and mostly delivered in a stilted fashion. Oliva, played by Alicia Blasingame, is the only member of the ensemble cast that appears to have any real acting chops.
The movie itself is not unwatchable by any stretch, but it is a film that would be something to play in the background while doing other things and it definitely does not warrant repeat viewing.
The movie references and nods are nice, the first 20 times that it is done. It seems that a lot of character interaction talking about movies is there just to fill space and provide a dopamine rush to the writer/director. It is definitely a project that would have benefited from rewrites and a longer runtime to flesh things out.
The plot “twist” could have worked if one of two things happened. One, the movie did not try to play it as seriously as it did and two, if it did not seem like a last minute decision midway through filming.
To reiterate, there are definitely worse films out there and The Director’s Cut is serviceable, but it’s just that. Serviceable. The film does not take any real risks that typically one can with independent filmmaking. The movie needed to figure out what it wanted to be, a Clerks clone or a Triangle or Memento wannabe.
The Director’s Cut is streaming for free on Tubi.
