Let the Haunts Be Free: Clearcut

Sadly, we lost Graham Greene the other day.  He's one of the best - and most prominent! - Native American actors, period.  He really came to prominence in Dances With Wolves when he was nominated for an Oscar, though he'd been working for decades before that and has gone on to work constantly.  Even if you don't know who he is, you've seen him in everything from The Last Of Us to the MCU (he's Echo's grandfather).  And of course, he created the most beloved character in all of Canadian television.  So, when I heard about his passing, I thought I'd take a look at his overlooked but terrific horror outing: Clearcut from 1991.

I guess you could classify this as a supernatural slasher, though antagonist doesn't really do much slashing.  Based on the novel A Dream Like Mine by Canadian novelist MT Leroy, Clearcut tells the story of a white lawyer who takes up the side, rather unsuccessfully, of a native tribe feuding with a lumber mill.  He's taken on a dark kidnapping vision quest by Greene who may be the incarnation of a trickster spirit, or possibly just a local who's been pushed too far.  In the end, maybe it doesn't matter much anyway (from reviews I've read, apparently the novel takes at least as much of an ambiguous stance).  There's not a huge body count, the bulk of the running time is spent with just the three men (the third being Michael Hogan as the owner of the mill in a performance very reminiscent of Dabney Coleman in 9 To 5, but darker).  It's all pretty harsh and unflinching as this movie gets a lot of its strength from its anger.  And while everybody's good in this, Greene's shifty performance elevates the material, which might be a bit cliche or ham-fisted in certain aspects, to another level.

Severin gave us a pretty nice special edition BD of Clearcut as part of their celebrated 'All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror' boxed set in 2021.  But if you don't have a couple hundred dollars to lay down, don't worry, they released it as a separate, single disc edition in 2023.  Before that, this film had only ever been released as a barebones German DVD from Capitol Films and a triple-feature AAFES DVD from Spartan Home Entertainment in 2002.  If you're not familiar, AAFES discs are DVD made for and sold through the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which is basically the official tax-free department store of US military bases.  I have to admit, I'd be curious to check out this disc first-hand; but of course they don't sell these DVDs anymore.

Anyway, I'm sure they're the exact same discs.  But for the record, what I have here is the 2023 solo release.

2023 Severin BD.

The back of the case says this film is 2.35:1, but in fact it's even wider at 2.44:1.  Said case doesn't get into the source of this transfer, and this release doesn't come with a booklet... maybe the big 126-page book included with the boxed set spelled it out for us.  But it's pretty obvious that this is taken from a print, anyway, with it's high contrast and milky blacks.  Film grain is surprisingly light, too, when you can spot it at all.  This film has lots of nice landscapes and scenery, and a decent sense of style, which helps this film get away with looking as rough as it does.  I'd love to see it restored from the OCN some day, but I have a feeling we're lucky to have gotten what we've got.

Severin offers both a stereo (presumably the original) and 5.1 (surely a remix; a curious inclusion) track, both in DTS-HD with optional English subtitles.

They've also given this film a very satisfying special edition, which can't necessarily be said for every film in the Haunts set (which is perhaps why this film got a solo release, while a title like Robin Redbreast has not).  For starters, we have an audio interview with the director, which plays as a commentary over the film.  We also get a proper audio commentary, which is fairly insightful, by by scholar and anthropologist Shaawano Chad Uran.  The director also provides a video introduction, and then we get two excellent interviews, on by the composer and one, yes, by Greene himself.  As a whole package, I'd say these extras are very satisfying, answering most of the questions that come to mind when watching this film.

You Are On Indian Land

This disc also includes three short films (all in crisp HD), which is more a carry-over of this being part of the All the Haunts box, since they don't have anything to do with this movie or the people who made it, except for a general Native theme.  Two of them aren't even horror.  The first is a 1968 mini-doc called The Ballad Of Crowfoot.  In fact, it's more of an early music video for the folk song "The Ballad Of Crowfoot" by Willie Dunn, set to a collection of early photographs of indigenous people.  It also features optional audio commentary by Willie's son, Lawrence and co-producer Kevin Howes.  The best of these shorts is a 1969 documentary called You Are On Indian Land, filmed during a protest blocking a bridge between the US and Canada when the two governments tried to prohibit native trade (because it was crossing the border "off the books" by going through their reservation).  Finally, the last is a very low budget horror called Consume from 2017, about a troubled man plagued by visions of his disappointed ancestors.  It's interesting in concept, but has a very amateurish student film vibe, and it's all building up to the world's most obvious Tales From the Crypt-style twist ending.

So it's a great little horror flick that doesn't get enough attention, but thankfully still got a first class release.  And I'm glad it's been made accessible outside the pricey confines of the boxed set... though I have to say that box has a lot of other great stuff in it, too.  So if you can swing it, I'd recommend going all in.  But if not, at least be sure to pick up Clearcut.  And Eyes Of Fire.  And Viy.  And maybe some of those BFI DVDs.  Yeah, there's a lot you don't want to miss out on, including this.

RIP Graham Greene.