Monday, October 28, 2013

The Dead Matter (2010)

"A zombie?"
"Actually, I think they prefer the term 'Post-Mortem Americans.'
-Jill and Frank.




This is a film I was graciously given as a gift when I went to the HorrorHound convention in Indianapolis last month. It was made by the music group Midnight Syndicate, which is known for its Halloween music. Edward Douglas, the group's founder (& the one who gave me this) is in the director's chair here.

Gretchen (Sean Serino) finds a mysterious object with strange powers which she uses to contact the spirit of her dead brother. To that end, she conducts a seance with her friend Jill (C.B. Spencer) and their respective boyfriends Mike (Tom Nagel) and Frank (Christopher Robichaud). But the site they pick turns out to be one where vampires roamed centuries ago and are now walking again. Soon, Gretchen has only a vampire hunter (Jason Carter) as her ally.

The characters are all likeable, but, hands down, the scene stealer is a vampire played by legendary gore master Tom Savini. This is not the first time he's appeared on screen, but he is clearly having the time of his life playing the undead. That may sound a bit ironic given the gory death scenes he gave himself in films such as Dawn of the Dead (1978), Maniac (1980) and Grindhouse (2007).

Dramatically speaking, this film may not break new ground. But if you want something fun to watch on Halloween, you can't go wrong with this.

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