Cut and Run (1986)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Fran Hudson (Blount) is a local Miami TV reporter who never shies away from a story that is potentially dangerous. After some drug-fueled murders in the area, an informant, Fargas (La Salle) points Fran and her trusty cameraman Mark (Mann) in the direction of a mysterious man named Brian Horne (Lynch). Horne was a disgraced Army Colonel who ended up in the employment of the infamous Jim Jones. He was said to have died in the massacre at Guyana, but recent photos have surfaced featuring Horne. Fran and Mark want to go deep into the jungles of Venezuela where they believe he is hiding out in order to interview him. This coincides perfectly with the wishes of their station manager, Bob (Bright) as well as Karin (Black). Bob's son Tommy (Aames) has been missing and thought to be in the same area. So Fran and Mark have their work "cut" out for them, as they must report on the drug killings, find and interview Brian Horne, and rescue Tommy - all the while dodging the many pitfalls of the jungle, not the least of which is the violent and frightening killer Quecho (Berryman). Can they do it? Out of all the jungle movies released in the 80's, Cut and Run has to rank as one of the best. While it sits comfortably with other items on video store shelves at the time such as Cocaine Wars (1985), Cut and Run has a lot more going for it. Namely the strong cast, and equally strong direction by Ruggero Deodato, who most people would associate with Cannibal Holocaust (1980) - but here at Comeuppance we associate him with Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (1976), Raiders of Atlantis (1983) and The Barbarians (1987). Though, truth be told, Cut and Run shares more of the themes of Cannibal Holocaust than any of the other movies we mentioned - jungles, white people entering them and facing hostile Indios, and gore a-plenty. So while lesser filmmakers were off making nondescript El Presidente movies or Jungle Slogs (as we call them), Deodato corralled an impressive cast and raised the bar on all films of this type. He set the standard for the 80's video store-era jungle movie, and it has yet to be surpassed.Lisa Blount makes an appealing lead, and she's an actress we don't often get a chance to talk about. Eriq La Salle - much like his co-stars John Steiner, Gabriele Tinti and even Karen Black - puts in a colorful and worthwhile, but brief, role. Fan favorite Michael Berryman is on board doing what he does best, as is fellow fan favorite Richard Lynch. Both Berryman and Lynch have loinclothed goons - presumably no jungle movie would be complete without them. It's hard to say exactly what's going on with Willie Aames (or is it Willie Bibleman; not really sure) what with his curly mullet and Mickey Mouse tanktop over a red sweatshirt, but like Blount, we don't get to talk about Willie too much on this site, so we were happy to see him in a non-Charles in Charge role. But seeing as how the movie was directed with energy by Deodato, and has typically-excellent Claudio Simonetti music, you can't really lose...or can you? Actually, you CAN lose if you view the New World VHS. The Anchor Bay DVD is uncut so make sure that is the version you see/buy. The moments of well-executed gore are one of the main ingredients that set this movie apart from its jungle-based competitors. So make sure you see it all on the DVD. Corman and New World have a tendency to cut movies and make sure they don't go "too far", and Cut and Run was sadly a victim of that back in the day. But it's been rectified now, so there's nothing to fear. Except maybe Quecho.Cut and Run is a solid movie, and the DVD is a solid addition to anyone's collection.

Cut and Run (1985) ** (out of 4) A TV reporter tries to crack the American war on drugs so she travels to Columbia where she encounters the drug war mixed with a crazed vet and some cannibals. This was director Ruggero Deodato's third "cannibal/jungle" film following Man From Deep River and the infamous Cannibal Holocaust and this here is certainly the weakest of the group. The film is way too slow and boring and there are way too many different ideas trying to be done in the film. The so called "message" of wars on drugs doesn't do the trick either. Lisa Blount, Richard Lynch, Karen Black and Michael Berryman star. The only real reason to watch this is for gore hounds because there are plenty of gory decapitations and one scene where a man is split in half.

Not a cannibal in sight in this jungle, but that doesn't keep the almighty Rugero Deodato from making another nasty action movie, largely set in sweltering swamps and amidst brutal savages. The plot is weak compared to "Cannibal Holocaust" and a lot less shocking, but the action is merciless and exclusively meant for people with a strong stomach. Two journalists, specialized in drug stories, go on a jungle mission to unravel a network of drug transportation, led by a pivot figure who presumable died a couple of years earlier. Meanwhile, they also have to search for the son of a media tycoon who was kidnapped and hold prisoner in the same jungle. This is pure exploitation-gold with an excellent score, ingenious camera-work and very raw editing. Michael Berryman, the creep from "The Hills Have Eyes", has a staggering supportive role as – surprise, surprise – an insane madman. Don't bother too much about the lame acting and many plot holes, this is undemanding but fun stuff!

CUT AND RUN has one thing going for it: it moves. This movie may be a lot of things, but boring isn't one of them. It held my attention from beginning to end, end even shocked me a couple of times.A drug king (Richard Lynch) in South America and his partners have recruited a tribe of cannibals to aid them in their business, which is stealing other drug dealers' product and shipping it throughout the world as their own. A rich executive's son (Willie Aames) has fallen in with these people, and a female reporter (Lisa Blount) and her cameraman travel to the Amazon to investigate Lynch's business and hopefully locate Aames. Their transmissions are sent back for TV executive Karen Black to approve for network airing. Eric Lasalle (of ER) has a small part as a pimp who points Blount in the right direction.You'd think with a (somewhat) higher-scale cast than director Ruggero Deodatto had ever worked with before, he'd have managed to gain some level of respectability with this movie. However, with the exception of Lynch (who's great) and Lasalle, the performances are pretty terrible. Aames's performance is so hilariously awful, it's a miracle that he ever had any kind of career in show business. However, the great Michael Berryman plays a psychotic mute henchman with great enthusiasm.There's no on screen cannibalism to speak of, but there are a few moments of violence at which even jaded viewers may be taken aback. In one scene, a pair of women are raped, but first have their legs spread and nailed to the floor! In another, a man is caught in a trap, where his legs are pulled apart until he is ripped in half from the groin up. It's pretty disgusting.Overall, CUT AND RUN is a passable time-waster. It's more of an action movie than horror, but has its share of horrific moments. Other than the above mentioned scenes of violence, it's one of Deodatto's tamer movies. The fact that it started out as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST II is hard to believe.