''Cruel World'' is a 2005 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

horror comedy Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and sp ...

film starring

Edward Furlong Edward Walter Furlong (born August 2, 1977) is an American actor. He won Saturn and MTV Movie Awards for his breakthrough performance at age 13 as John Connor in James Cameron's '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''; which was followed by a mini-seque ...

Laura Ramsey Laura Ramsey is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her roles in films such as 2006's ''She's the Man'' and '' The Covenant'', 2008's '' The Ruins'', 2009's '' Middle Men'', 2011's '' Kill the Irishman'', and 2013's '' A ...

Daniel Franzese Daniel Franzese (born May 9, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, and activist best known for his roles in director Larry Clark's ''Bully'' and as Damian in Tina Fey's 2004 feature film ''Mean Girls''. Franzese is the creator of several live come ...

Nate Parker Nate Parker (born November 18, 1979) is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He has appeared in '' Beyond the Lights'', '' Red Tails'', '' The Secret Life of Bees'', '' The Great Debaters'', ''Arbitrage'', ''Non-Stop'', ' ...

Brian Geraghty Brian Timothy Geraghty (born May 13, 1975) is an American actor, known for his roles in the 2005 film '' Jarhead'', the 2008 film ''The Hurt Locker'', and in the 2012 film ''Flight'', along with his recurring role in the HBO drama series ''Board ...

, and

Jaime Pressly Jaime Elizabeth Pressly (born July 30, 1977) is an American actress, fashion designer, and model. Best known for her role as Joy Turner on the NBC sitcom '' My Name Is Earl'', she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in ...

. The film combines elements of a typical

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as ...

with elements of

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

. The film is about a psychotic man who loses a

reality game show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

and subsequently kills the host. He uses the house where the show took place to film his own reality show. In the show, several contestants perform challenges, and the losers are killed rather than being sent home. The killings are done in

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

style, and filmed as

snuff film A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a cland ...

Plot

Cathy Anderson, the former star of a reality show similar to '' The Bachelor'', is now married and living with her husband in the house where the show took place. The house still has several secret rooms and passages, as well as a host of cameras all over the estate. Philip Markham, who was a contestant on the show, comes to the home for a visit. Cathy is initially put off by his odd behavior, and feels more and more uncomfortable as Philip reminisces about the show. Philip tells Cathy he has sent out applications to colleges all over the country for his own reality show, which will take place in Cathy's house. Philip then murders Cathy and her husband. Later, the contestants—four men and five women—arrive. Philip reveals to them that after the first night he will not feed them. They go through different challenges, including locking themselves in coffins and trying to find the key inside. The challenges are more excessive than most reality show challenges, and often try to instill great fear into the contestants. Initially, contestants are voted off the show; however, as the game goes on, they realize what is going on and start trying to escape. In either case, they are killed either by Philip or his assistant, his brother Claude. Gradually all the contestants are eliminated except Jenny, on whom Claude has a crush. After Jenny wins, she is taken back to the house and guarded by Claude. Knowing that Claude likes her, Jenny begins flirting with him, telling him that she loves him and kissing him. Claude lets her go, but Philip finds out and captures Jenny before she can escape. Jennifer's attempted escape attracts the attention of the police; Philip kills one, then escapes himself, telling Claude to stay. As Philip escapes, police enter the house and arrest Claude. The final scene shows Jenny and a friend walking into a monorail when a message appears on her cell phone: "Please Leave Your Cell Phones By The Door". Philip appears on her phone and a hand grabs her by her shoulder, ending the film.

Cast

as Philip Markham *

as Jenny * Susan Ward as Ashley *

as Claude Markham *

Andrew Keegan Andrew Keegan (born January 29, 1979) is an American actor best known for his roles in television shows including '' Trinkets'', '' Moesha'', ''Party of Five'' and '' 7th Heaven'' and in films such as ''10 Things I Hate about You'' (1999), ''The ...

as Bobby *

Sanoe Lake Sànoe Lake is an American actress, model, and surfer. Early life Lake was born and raised on Kauai, Hawaii. She is of Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, German, Irish and English descent. Her name "Sànoe" means "The Mist of the Mountains." Lake w ...

as Ruby *

Aimee Garcia Aimee Sandimés Garcia López de Ordóñez (born November 28, 1978) is an American actress and writer. She is known for her television roles as Veronica Palmero on the ABC sitcom ''George Lopez'', Yvonne Sanchez on the CBS period drama ''Veg ...

as Gina *

Joel Michaely Joel Michaely is an American actor and film producer. He has appeared in such films as ''Can't Hardly Wait'', '' But I'm a Cheerleader'', '' Ghost World'', ''The Rules of Attraction'', ''Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'', '' Cruel World'', '' Factory Girl'' ...

as Jack *

as Techno * Nicole Bilderback as Mikko *

as Collin *

as Catherine Anderson *

James Patrick Stuart James Patrick Stuart is an American actor, currently portraying Valentin Cassadine on the daytime soap opera ''General Hospital'', for which he received three consecutive Daytime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Dram ...

as Deputy Grady

Production

The shooting of ''Cruel World'' began in July 2004 and took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Release

''Cruel World'' was released on DVD April 8, 2008.

Reception

James Bowman of ''

The New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New Yor ...

'' called it "a dreadful mess of a movie" that unsuccessfully tried to mix satire with horror. Bloody Disgusting rated it 2/5 stars and wrote that the boring kills failed to make up for the poor writing and execution. Scott Foy of Dread Central rated it 1/5 stars and called it "simply an abject failure any which way you cut it." Mike Long of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

rated it 1.5/5 stars and wrote that the film had "an awesome concept" but "simply doesn't work."

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruel World 2005 films 2005 comedy horror films 2005 independent films 2000s slasher films 2000s serial killer films American comedy horror films American independent films Films about snuff films Films about television Films about mental health American serial killer films American slasher films Films shot in New Mexico 2005 comedy films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films