DVD Review: Ding Dong Dead (2010)

DING DONG DEAD (2010)

Label: MVD Visual
Region Code: Region 0 NTSC
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 70 mins
Video: Widescreen 16x9
Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
Director: Creep Creepersin
Cast: Luke Y. Thompson, Julia Boyd, Nicole Sienna, Tara Strand, Julie Rose, Destiny Rodreguiez, Shannon Freyer, Dolce Death, Tara Cardinal, Vanessa Moreno, Megan Francis, Devanny Pinn, Chaile Wall, Elina Madison
Tagline: You Wanted a War? You Got One!

Doug (Luke Y. Thompson) is a recently unemployed schlub of a man, a bit of a loser in fact. A stocky little fellow whom refers to himself in the third person and obsesses over his sexy MILF neighbor Claudia (Elina Madison, SOMEONE'S KNOCKING AT THE DOOR, CORPORATE CUTTHROAT MASSACRE) while mumbling suggestive innuendos to himself like "you like it when I water my yard, do ya?" and then imagining her seductive response "I do, I like it when you water your lawn, I like it is so much. You know what it makes me wanna do to you?"until she overhears him and then he freezes up, like most of us would I guess.

Now unemployed Doug is left to wallow in his own crapulence and starts going a bit nutty left to his own devices without a menial job to keep him from entering the abyss of insanity. He sings songs to himself while cruising the internet for job listings, he talks back to the television set, y'know, the usual home alone stuff. He just seems like a sad little dude, this is something Creepersin seems to know quite a bit about and is touched upon in nearly all his films that I've seen.

After a late night run for a fast food Doug has a strange encounter with a mischievous girl gang known as the Ding Dong Ditchers, a group of gothy girls dressed in black who terrorize the neighborhood by ringing doorbells in the dark of night and running away leaving the homeowners dumbfounded, not exactly hardened criminals, yet. Doug calls the police over this annoyance and they intervene on his behalf. The triple D's are incensed by this and step-up their game from petty pranking to some low grade assault which quickly escalates to the point of no return.

Reservoir Bitches

The problem is that the DDD's don't realize how unstable Doug is; he's unemployed and a bit nutty, anyone who refers to themselves in the third person is not to be toyed with in my experience and the pranks are shredding his frayed sanity. During an egg raid on Doug one of the DDD's dies accidentally leading to an all out war between the  homeowner and the pranksters.

The girls not realizing one of their own has been killed launch an all out suburban assault on Dougie's home in search of their friend but they are unaware that Doug is having a mental meltdown. When the killings begin they come fast and furious and in quick succession; a choke-out, suffocation, cleavings a shovel to the throat and some dismemberment. The special effects in the film are quite minimal, not bad, just not focused on. While it's not a gore-soaked bloodbath there's a body count here that would do either Jason Vorhees or Michael Meyers proud. Something that made me laugh was that at one point during the invasion one of the gals decides to take a dump and Doug catches her on the toilet, quite a vulnerable position, which leads to a lethal swirly. Nice. This was quite an entertaining watch, Luke Y. Thompson's comic portrayal of a suburban schlub's descent into madness whilst dealing out some revenge is a recommended watch. 

Dougie's got a gun - and a sweet VHS collection!

DVD: DING DONG DEAD is presented in anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital stereo, there are no subtitle options. As with all Creepersin films it's a micro-budget feature, $1500 all told according to the commentary, and it looks pretty good, on par with CORPORATE CUTTHROAT MASSACRE though the night scenes are quite dark and grainy. I noticed the film is a bit brighter and has a more vibrant color scheme than his previous films which was appreciated.  I think some proper lighting might have gone a long way here but it's quite watchable. Creepersin handles cinematography himself and you can see his form improve with each film. The stereo audio adequately handles both dialogue and effects plus Kenneth Hampton's quirky score sounds great, definitely the best score on any of the Creepersin films, fun stuff. Special features include two fun commentaries and a behind-the-scenes featurette with cast and crew interviews wherein Creepersin talks about the inspiration for the film.

Special Features:
- Behind-the-Scenes Featurette (8:55)
- Audio Commentary with Director Creep Creepersin
- Audio Commentary with Star Luke Y. Thompson and Creep Creepersin

Verdict: It's been an interesting journey following Creep Creepersin filmography and he's come quite a ways from FRANKENSTEIN. This is a very quirky comedy with some nice horror elements. Much like Creepersin's last film CORPORATE CUTTHROAT MASSACRE the comedy is the strong suit here, the violence is not particularly gruesome but it is fun stuff. I would love to see a straight comedy from Creepersin minus the horror, his comedy writing is pretty great. 3.5 outta 5

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DVD Review: Corporate Cutthroat Massacre (2009)

Corporate Cutthroat Massacre (2009)

Label: MVD Visual
Region: Region 0 NTSC
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 70 mins
Video: 16x9 Widescreen
Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
Director: Creep Creepersin
Cast: Alina Madison, Charlie Vaughn, Chandler Maness, Robyn Leigh, Tabitha Taylor, Derek Du Chesne, Sunny Doench, Stephanie Jacksonm, Dudley Beene
Tagline: It's The Office meets American Psycho

This is the third film I've reviewed from the prolific director Creep Creepersin whose previous films Creep Creepersin's Frankenstein (2009) and He (2009) weren't anything more than one and done DVD watches for me, I just don't think I would ever rewatch them to be honest. Each film had points of interest and some cool ideas but the artistry and craftsmanship weren't there to form a completely watchable film, they were rough watches that screamed amateur micro-budget filmmaking. Creepersin's latest film is a psychological thriller/slasher. As I understand it the origins of Corporate Cutthroat Massacre stem from actor/writer Elina Madison, the nightmarish killer snatch in Chad Ferrin's Someone's Knocking at the Door (2009), coming to Creep needing help editing her short film Late Shift. The two came together and fleshed out the story a bit and CCM was born from that short film, which is a special feature on this DVD.

The film revolves around a group of late-night office workers and their office manager Brandi (Elina Madison) who is quite the cold-hearted bitch, real uptight. This night she's even more stressed than usual when corporate sends down word that sales are poor and two employees need to get the axe by the end of the day. She calls a staff meeting mere minutes before the end of the shift and tells them that one, everyone is required to work late to assemble their sales figures, and two, that those with the lowest sales figures are gonna get the axe. Of course everyone is quite pissed about this and as the night wears on co-workers start falling victim to a killer who stalks the office corridors. Is there a nut on the loose, is one of the co-workers trying to up the odds in their favor by removing the competition?

Well, it's not a very original idea and not perfectly executed either but the cast are a fun bunch. There's the bitchy boss Brandi, the kiss-ass assistant Shelton (Dudley Beene), the lush Beth (Sunny Doenche), the man-whore Bryan (Chandler Maness), the office slut Kim (Robbyn Leigh), the dork Bernie (Charlie Vaughn), a young engaged couple John (Derek Du Chesne) and Pennie (Stephanie Jackson), plus the creepy new maintenance man Rusty (Frankie Ray), a recent parolee. This is by far the most talented cast of actors Creepersin's worked with that I've seen, solid performances all around, very charming and engaging people. Great chemistry between everyone, a good group dynamic that was quite entertaining. After seeing He I must say it's a  relief that Creepersin sat this one out and stayed behind the camera.

Be forewarned that this is more a psychological-horror-comedy than an bloody slasher, there's precious little on-screen blood or gore, the violence is more implied than shown, which was a disappointment, some bloody kills would have kicked this up a notch for me. Also, I didn't care for the fact that no one seems to realize that coworkers are getting knocked off till the final 10 minutes of the film, just characters getting killed off and no one seems to notice anything, kinda lame - no stalk n' slash thrills. The film's psychological twist is mighty predictable and doesn't hold up to scrutiny, either. The office comedy is the strong suite here, the horror, psychological and otherwise, not so much.

DVD: The film is presented in the anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo audio. The films looks good, the best any Creepersin film I've seen thus far, but still definitely a micro-budgeted feature. The stereo audio handles the dialogue and goofy filmscore well. Special features include a couple of featurettes consisting of interviews with cast and crew. The Nightmare Job featurette features the cast and crew discussing their own nightmarish jobs ranging from shoveling horse shit, expressing anal glands at a pet grooming facility, various retail jobs including Blockbuster and a Mexican restaurant and Creepersin talks about a shady medical plan scam he worked for before it was exposed by Fox 11 news. There's also a director's commentary and Elina Madison's original 15 mins short film Late Shift which was the progenitor to Corporate Cutthroat Massacre.


Special; Features:
- Hostel Takeover Featurette (9:54) 16x9
- Nightmare Job Featurette (7:21) 16x9
- Late Shift Original Short (15:48) 16x9
- Director's Commentary


Verdict: Neither a wholly original or exceptionally well done film, but I'm pleased to say that Creepersin has grown as a director, there's some good production value, decent writing and it's a film that I would possibly watch again, that's saying something. A decently fun psych-slasher with some entertaining comedy layered throughout with a fun cast but it's too light on the horror. Not a high recommend but you shouldn't run screaming from it either. 2.5 outta 5