With myself still recovering from a trapped nerve in my rotted back, I have had a much reduced blog output, it has gotten quite neglected these past few weeks. I hadn't actually intended to do any blog posts at all this week, but an email informing me two of the screeners I currently have for review were about to expire meant that I was forced into action! The first of these two films I watched was Horror Show Pictures, The Dead Place. This indie horror, written and directed by Michael Pickle (Stab Awake), had the big selling point of featuring an actor best known for playing the part of a particularly sadistic clown.
It begins with a serial killer, credited solely as 'The New Kid' (David Howard Thornton - the Terrifier series), heavily injured, after having taken a fatal blow from his final victim. As the killer slumps to the ground, he begins to lament his fate, and his sadness at not being able to kill anymore people. It is then that he hears a strange voice from a supernatural entity (Bill Oberst Jr. - The Man in Room 6, 3 From Hell). This voice offers the dying man a chance to kill again, all he has to do is give himself over to the being and give him his soul.
Meanwhile, high schooler Isaac (Idris Veliu in his film debut) has been having a tough time. Cursed with the gift of being able to see dead people since a young age, people around him find him weird, with even his own mother beginning to think her child needs psychiatric help. One day, the entity contacts Isaac also, interested in his special gift, it promises him great power should he also give himself over to it.
I really enjoyed this indie horror. For a change, I thought the main protagonist was a great character. Sure he is troubled, but at heart it is obvious he is a genuinely decent person, something that comes across with his interactions with other characters, such as the respect he shows for his wholesome father. Isaac's girlfriend Katharine (Lexi Graves) and younger brother play their parts well, but it is school trouble maker James (Nick Theurer - The Bell Keeper) and his gang who were the highlights. The running joke of James vehemently denying he is a bully despite all the evidence to the contrary somehow never wore out its welcome.
Thornton is great as the red hoodie wearing ghost killer. It was cool to see the actor in a speaking role, and with his way of talking, he came across like a Freddy Kruger style wise-cracking villain. This was fitting as the story of The Dead Place did feel a bit familiar to A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge. This killer is missing from the film for much of the first act, but when he finally reappears he was fantastic to watch. I loved the gleefully evil way he spoke, and his manic ever present grin. The practical effect of his distended jaw looked ok, but was certainly better than some less than real looking CG blood sprays, but outside of that, there was a good amount of blood flowing. There was also a decent amount of kills, including some lovely looking throat slits.
The story kept my attention throughout, leading up to an unexpected finale that seemed to set up a sequel, rather than give any closure to this film's over arching plot, a minor annoyance.
The Dead Place can be a little rough around the edges at times, as can be seen with some of the less impressive effects. I did think both Thornton and Veliu were great in their roles, and of course it is always a pleasure to hear the voice of Oberst Jr. If a sequel does get made, then I will be interested to see the direction this goes in.
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