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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OTTAWA-MADE FILM SMASH CUT SET TO BECOME A SMASH HIT WITH PREMIERE AT MONTREAL'S FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL JULY 18TH

Cast and crew, including stars David Hess (Last House on the Left) and Sasha Grey (The Girlfriend Experience), will be in attendance.

Smash Cut, the new film from director Lee Demarbre (The Dead Sleep Easy, Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter) and Ottawa independent production company Zed Filmworks will have its premiere at North America’s premier genre film festival, Fantasia.

The screening will take place Saturday, July 18 at 12:15 AM at the Hall Theatre, Henry F. Hall building, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve O.

The midnight timeslot is appropriate for this homage to midnight movies.

Inspired by the career and filmography of horror-film pioneer Herschell Gordon Lewis, Smash Cut is a gore-splattered satire of the blood sport known as filmmaking.

It’s the story of Able Whitman (David Hess) is a horror-film director whose movies are panned by critics and audiences alike – until he starts killing people and using their body parts as props in his new flick. As Whitman’s mind unspools and the bodies pile up, only intrepid reporter April Carson (Sasha Grey) and celebrated private detective Isaac Beaumonde (Jesse Buck) stand between the demonic director and his unquenchable thirst for butchery at 24 frames per second!

An A-list cast of B-film stars
Directed by Lee Demarbre and written by his frequent collaborator Ian Driscoll, the film boasts an A-list cast of B-film stars, including:
• David Hess (Last House on the Left, House at the Edge of the Park, Hitch-Hike)
• Sasha Grey (The Girlfriend Experience, 2007 Penthouse Pet of The Month, 2008 AVN Award – Female Performer of the Year)
• Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes, The Devil's Rejects)
• Ray Sager (The Wizard of Gore, The Gore Gore Girls)
• Herschell Gordon Lewis (director, Blood Feast, 2000 Maniacs)
• Phil Caracas (Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter, Harry Knuckles)

The filmmakers also a number of local performers as prolific Canadian actor Peter Dillon, Cirque du Soleil performer Jesse Buck, Hilotrons front man Michael Dubue and soon-to-be-stars Jennilee Murphy and Guen Douglas.

Sasha Grey’s real first mainstream film
While Sasha Grey is currently garnering much attention for her role in Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience, her role in Smash Cut was her first starring role in a mainstream feature. She completed filming on Smash Cut just weeks before heading to New York to shoot with Mr. Soderbergh. It is worth noting that casting adult stars in Canadian horror films is not without precedent – David Cronenberg cast Marilyn Chambers (Behind the Green Door) in his film Rabid in 1977.

Blessed by the Godfather of Gore
As noted above, film’s premise is inspired by the career and filmography of cult director Herschell Gordon Lewis. Known as “The Godfather of Gore”, Mr. Lewis invented the gore genre – a precursor to the slasher film – when he directed Blood Feast in 1963. Mr. Lewis deemed the script for Smash Cut “a hoot”, and appears in a cameo role. Ray Sager, who starred in Mr. Lewis’ The Wizard of Gore (1970) also appears. While two high-profile remakes of Mr. Lewis’ films have premiered at Fantasia in recent years (2001 Maniacs in 2005 and The Wizard of Gore in 2007), Smash Cut is the first film inspired by Mr. Lewis’ work that he has appeared in and publicly endorsed.

First festival of many
Smash Cut has already been accepted at a number of other film festivals worldwide, and will play in the United States and Europe following its premiere in Montreal. It has also been sold for commercial distribution in territories worldwide.

For more information about Smash Cut, or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Lee Demarbre, director
613 730-6552 (office)
613 301-4728 (cell)
leedemarbre@rogers.com

Robert Menzies, producer
(613) 878-3790
robert@zedfilmworks.com

For photos, trailers and more, visit the official Smash Cut website at smashcutmovie.com