Gut-Pile

Title: Gut-Pile (1997)
Rating: 2.5/5
Genre: Horror
Starring: Jeff Forsyth, Ron Bonk, Ed Mastin
Director: Jerry O’Sullivan
Duration: 52 mins
Trailer

Out hunting deer, Dan shoots and accidentally kills another hunter. Thinking there is no other option, he buries the body in a shallow grave and tells no one. A year later Dan goes on a hunting weekend with his two pals up to an old log cabin. As he is plagued by nightmares and plumbing mishaps, Dan soon realizes that there is an evil vengeance stalking him and killing all in its way. Will he survive the demons of the past?

Gut-Pile is a fun little movie that takes elements from Tales From the Crypt, Pumpkinhead, and The Evil Dead story wise. Stylistically, however, the shots are HEAVILY influenced by, if not downright stolen from, Sam Raimi’s debut feature, including his infamous “force” shot. Regardless of originality, this does keep the movie interesting, especially since this was simply a shot-on-video picture. The camerawork may not be original (mostly handheld, Dutch angles galore, etc) but the story technically is. While Gut-Pile may resemble The Evil Dead a great deal, it was actually based on two pre-ED Super 8 films the director made early in his career, called “The Axe” and “Scarecrow.” As far as perfecting his 17-year-old ideas, I’d say O’Sullivan was successful. Unfortunately, he could not reproduce Raimi’s gags as he did Raimi’s camera style.

I see no point in continuing to single out every unoriginality this movie provides (quite a bit, there are) particularly because it is above par on various other levels. First off, Gut-Pile is perfectly paced to fit its 52 minute duration. Sometimes this timeframe wouldn’t be enough to effectively fit a story into, while other times it may well be too long (see my review for Nocturnal Butcher at 38 minutes!). Next up we have the acting. Now I can’t tell if these are good actors plagued by a bad script or bad actors that are made better by O’Sullivan’s experienced direction, but all things considered the acting seems much better than the amateurishness that you can easily find in most other SOV productions. Lastly, the lighting and cinematography is also better than your average micro-budgeter. When things start getting spooky, the lighting changes from typical lamplight to dynamic shades of green, blue, and red. And while the locations are mostly authentic (big plus), the painfully obvious bedroom set build out of particle board of all things takes you out of the movie for a brief moment.

Now onto the shiznit that makes this a horror movie. The special effects are well-crafted and well-placed throughout the movie. The make-up work is pleasingly realistic, given the obvious low budget, and there is even a well-executed pyrotechnic effect I wasn’t expecting (since, you know, Gut-Pile was shot in the forest). We also see some standard haunted house set pieces that give this movie that good ol’ horror feel such as cobwebs, scarecrows, branches scratching at the window, severed limbs, creaky doors, and, of course, a gut pile. The music is the traditional combo of piano-laced synth drones and ambient wind tracks that is supposed to be creepy but adds little to the action.

Gut-Pile is a guy’s horror movie. Hell, a female character doesn’t even show up until the 45 minute mark (7 minutes from the end, if you can’t do the math). Beers are consumed, wives are complained about, and there’s enough flannel to fill a closet. I’m pretty certain that those reading have an attention span that can handle Gut-Pile, so if you ever see it on the shelves go ‘head and give it a watch. Beats waiting for an Evil Dead 4.