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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