CUT AND PASTE/NAKED NAZI/TRAPPED…More Films By Jason Impey

A couple of months ago I reviewed a handful of short films by British independent filmmaker Jason Impey, the best of which was undoubtedly the accomplished faux-snuff of HANDMADE 2.

Now, I find myself presented with more discs offering more films (and shorts) from the talented Mr Impey.

First on offer is CUT AND PASTE.

Echoing Lucio Fulci's NIGHTMARE CONCERT, CUT AND PASTE stars Impey as himself - a young British horror filmmaker looking to make waves in the industry by signing a dream deal.

It seems like his time has come when producer Alex (Alex Bakshaev) sits in a darkened room watching a selection of Impey's previous horror efforts - beginning with a lengthy scene of a naked woman washing blood from her body in the shower - and decides that he likes what he sees.

Alex rings Jason and, in the dodgiest accent ever, tells him he loves his films and wants to make a deal. Elated, Jason rings his business partner Nick and tells him to meet him at Alex's apartment as soon as possible.

But Nick is curtailed when he jumped by a sickle-wielding Gimp on the way to Alex's place.

Jason, meanwhile, arrives at Alex's and the pair continue to watch more salacious scenes from his various shorts. Alex tells Jason he's hugely impressed, but would like more graphic sex - Jason immediately agrees that he would be willing to meet this demand.

It's not until late-on that the pair realise Nick has not arrived, and set about trying to find him. But the masked Gimp is also looking for them …

CUT AND PASTE is pretty silly fare, acted in a tongue in cheek manner and unconcerned with petty conventions such as tying up loose ends or offering fluid continuity.

However, it's great fun. Impey is a likeable onscreen persona, and exudes an infectious enthusiasm that lends the film energy. Most of the new scenes are filmed with style, employing Argento-esque coloured lighting for effect.

The fact that the new footage was shot in winter, in snowy weather, also affords the film a fair amount of visual style during its nighttime exterior moments. Impey got lucky here, I suppose.

The bulk of the film, like the aforementioned NIGHTMARE CONCERT, is made up of graphic scenes from Impey's previous efforts - SICK BASTARD, HANDMADE 2, LUST etc - so there's plenty of nudity and gore at hand, at regular intervals.

The disc that held CUT AND PASTE also included a 6-chapter scene-selection menu; a trailer; an interesting 4-minute Behind The Scenes featurette that shows Impey to be an affable, eager chap; a gallery of 13 on-set stills; a promo clip and teaser trailer for Impey's interesting-looking TORTURED (nudity, rape, zombies, gangsters, cannibalism - it's all good); a 3-minute short film from 2005 entitled MIND OF A KILLER, that sees Impey and Ken Dirke (SICK BASTARDS) bludgeoning each other with shovels.

Over on the second disc, NAKED NAZI is a less impressive affair.

It begins with a voluptuous brunette (Michelle Young) masturbating graphically beneath the opening credits, dolling herself in full Nazi attire, then stripping back down and pleasuring herself with a dildo.

Meanwhile, a rookie cop (Impey) is outside, moaning that he's been given the "shit job" of bumping off the brunette. It seems the police want her dead, because they're tired of her killing of her gimps …

Impey takes an absolute age to meander his way to the brunette's house, the film intercutting scenes of her wanking with stretched-out scenes of him walking through parks, woods and streets.

When he finally reaches her house, it coincides with the arrival on the scene of a ginger-haired Nazi officer (Alex Bakshaev). Unseen by each other, the two men break into the brunette's house via different entrances. Meanwhile, she's oblivious to their presence, as she's too busy abusing a PVC-clad gimp in her cellar …

There's only one remotely interesting visual moment in NAKED NAZI, and that's a brief scene where the Nazi officer spies on the scantily-clad brunette in her kitchen, writhing around on the glass panel of the kitchen door as he does so. It echoes Andrej Zulawski's POSSESSION heavily - for a moment.

Aside from that, this is a very ugly piece of filmmaking. The plot is utter nonsense, the acting is unconvincing and the music score (repetitive loops of badly-editing jazz-funk tunes) is deeply annoying.

But, as a blatant excuse to get a big-breasted brunette masturbating in your home, while wearing a Nazi uniform, NAKED NAZI does exactly what it promises.

I worry though - is this the direction that Impey is now going to follow? Young is game enough, so it may well be that Impey gets the bug for filming graphic porn. But if that's to take precedence over his horror leanings (as it very much does in NAKED NAZI) that would be a shame because, as primitive as his horror efforts are they are undeniably effective.

The disc also offered a 4-chapter scene-selection menu; soft and hard trailers for NAKED NAZI; CUT AND PASTE trailer; a gallery of 48 on-shoot stills (including hardcore images); A 3-minute short film entitled LUST, which offers soft lesbian action and hammer violence; the TORTURED promo (starring Young again).

Finally, there's TRAPPED, which despite being just under three minutes in length was presented on it's own disc.

TRAPPED is shot in black-and-white, but is very contemporary in it's theme and content. A young lady (Alexandra Kelly) is abducted while taking a stroll through the woods one afternoon, taken back to the killer's home and tied to a bed. There, she is tortured before she manages to escape … or does she?

Devoid of dialogue but complemented by a score hugely reminiscent of FRIDAY THE 13TH, this is Impey's 3-minute tribute to the slasher film. And it's not a bad effort.

The disc also includes a 4-minute Behind-The Scenes featurette (in black-and-white); a black-and-white gallery of 49 stills; trailers for THE TRIP, TORTURED, NAKED NAZI and CUT AND PASTE.

Impey has talent and energy - he loves the horror genre and is remaining prolific despite an obvious lack of funding. If he can keep focused on what he does best - quietly unsettling backyard horror - and steer clear of the uninspired smut of NAKED NAZI, then I think his future output will be very promising. But is he as eager to succeed in the business as his namesake character in CUT AND PASTE? If so, I fear he may chase the graphic sex angle in the hope of quick financial gratification …

For more information, visit www.jasonimpey.co.uk.

Review by Stuart Willis