One of the real standout beauties of the indie horror film is its usual (and mostly expected) lack of restrictions. If an indie filmmaker sets out to produce and distribute his/her own film, they can make ANY kind of film they want to. It can be as sexual or as grotesque as they want it to be, with no worries of censorship or distribution hassles. The film may not sell in groundbreaking numbers, but then again, that's probably not the filmmaker's original intent anyway. They probably just wanted to get noticed. Not that I'm against any type of graphic footage mind you (quite the contrary actually) it's just refreshing to encounter a filmmaker who tackles such questionable subject matter and shows a bit of restraint as a director. Restraint in what he/she chooses to actually 'show' the audience. In what would naturally be an attempt to evoke true fear, and not just immediate disgust...an order that's not easy to fulfill. While The Great American Snuff Film is still littered with such disturbing and offensive examples of this type of footage, it's worth noting that restraint is definitely shown, and while the film is not without it's problems, this visual restraint makes The Great American Snuff Film all the more harrowing an experience.

The Great American Snuff Film revolves around a s'posed 2 1/2 minutes of super 8 footage from the mid nineties, found in the home of serial killer William Allen Grone. What we're presented with is a 'dramatization' of the events that led up to the footage being shot, with the last 2 1/2 minutes of The Great American Snuff Film (once again) s'posedly showing us the authentic super 8 footage that was found. The timeline leading up to the footage being shot is wafer thin. We start out with an abduction of two girls by partners in crime Roy and Bill (William Allen Grone himself). It's Bill's show pretty much all the way; Roy for the most part seems to just be along for the ride. Bill's intent the whole time? To complete his film, which will ultimately wind up being 'The Great American Snuff Film.'

We jump time as we skip back and forth revisiting the two young girls who have been abducted. In between footage of them being teased, taunted and tortured (at one point, locked in a cage and burnt with cigarettes in the scorching desert heat) we are presented with several flashbacks. We see how Bill and Roy obtained their van (which is VERY important to them mind you), hear about how they originally met, and visit with Bill's past as we find out where some of his sexual frustrations stem from. Of course, all of this leads up to a mostly grim (and predictable) finale. While there aren't many surprises to be found, it doesn't come across any less effective a climax.

While many films of this ilk will stress their exploitation elements for success, The Great American Snuff Film does one better in a solid attempt to take us deep inside the head of 'captor and captive' respectively, a method that's been used before (both successfully and unsuccessfully of course). There are definitely some brutal elements here as well, but the difference is in how these elements are handled and presented to the viewer. A lot of time is spent with the two young girls, adapting to their environment (while the abductors frequently move them to avoid just that), they manage to sneak in a few tricks here and there, like using a nail to tear off their gags at one location. As a matter of fact, when they are returned to said location, the viewer is able to let out a sigh of relief knowing of the trick that they have learned. There are some clever bits that take us inside the mind of a lunatic as well, like pictures of nude ladies on the wall with speech bubbles crudely drawn in marker that say 'Roy,' and a scene in which we learn how they develop their own film as to not get caught by the lab personnel. It's little bits like these that add a real 'human' (or inhuman depending on how you look at it) touch.

While The Great American Snuff Film is quite successful in many of its cinematic attempts; there are a few drawbacks. While I enjoyed learning more about the struggle that our characters endure, even at just under 90 minutes the film does feel a bit long winded. There's still much value here, but a bit of fat could have been trimmed. The films' score also has me on the fence. Much of the soundtrack is comprised of 'techno / house beats' that I liked, but just not in this instance. There are a few scenes in which it works, but it's mostly overused and inappropriate. Overall, I dug the music itself and on any other day would have given it kudos, just not in conjunction with this particular film. I'm sure it will appeal to the MTV generation though, if that's their intent.

Which brings me onto my next point. All of the technical aspects that are needed for a production like this fall into place. Nice aggressive surround mix, solid editing, well composed shots etc. From an artistic standpoint, director Sean Tretta has a real eye for the camera. Some of the 'looped' dialogue is painfully obvious, but easily a forgivable offense. Composed at approx. 1.85:1, picture quality was clear and while some of the center channel narration was a bit too loud, a nice sound mix overall.

The Great American Snuff Film has just obtained distribution in the US. If you can stomach the rudeness, there's some unexpected achievement in artistry to be found here as well. Certainly not a case of exploitation solely for the sake of exploitation (and a successful attempt at that), it's worth checking out.

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