Dead and Rotting

Dead and Rotting

'Dead and Rotting' presents us not only with yet another loaded special edition DVD from the folk at Temp Entertainment but also marks the feature debut of make up effects whiz David Barton in the directors chair and the final production work of J R Bookwalter for Full Moon. But what about the film - first things first, contrary to what the movies title would lead you to believe 'Dead and Rotting' is not a blow out zombie film in the ilk of Barton's early splatter effect work on 'The Dead Next Door' but in fact a more evenly paced tale of witchcraft and the perils of meddling with its practitioners.

It begins with three hicksville work buddies whom after a beer or twelve head off on a dare to visit the old farmhouse dwelling of legendary ageing witch Abigail. After an uneventful drive to the homestead the pals turn around to head home but are interrupted by the drooling maniac that is Abigails inbred son. Fleeing the scene to the comfort of their local bar they soon cross paths with the retarded son when he appears there for his nightly bowl of milk! Taking offence at the dim-witted sons attentions to a barmaid and vandalising of their van the guys beat the son up - this annoys mom who tracks the trio down and places a spell on them that temporarily makes their life uncomfortably hell. Unamused and seeking some revenge on the old lady they hire two teen punks to visit the old dear's home and stir up some trouble. The witless young lads though go too far upsetting old Abigail even more, so taking the guise of a buxom lovely young woman (in the form of the ever delicious Debbie Rochon) she seduces the trio of work chums and leads them into a nightmare scenario that'll soon have them wishing they had never set foot on the old dears home turf ever at all.

With 'Dead and Rotting' David Barton nicely shows that there's more to his talents than his outstanding work in special effects. His direction style is fluid and impressive throughout with nice use of colourful lighting and some great strong imagery during the films climatic sequences. His plot is very much reminiscent of the sort of solid horror films that we used to see during horrors revival during the early eighties. It starts off on a straight theme but builds with some refreshing and original nuances particularly for the aforementioned climactic scenes. Similarly the cast deliver a decent enough performance with the roles of old/young Abigail and her hapless son being stand out amongst them.

And as ever it is the all round package that is the Tempe special edition that takes this release up a notch with some grade A bonus materials on show. First off (and most fascinating) is the interview segment with director Barton. This is not in fact a discussion about 'Dead and Rotting' (for a full discussion on that you need go no further than the full length audio commentary that supplements the film itself) but an extensive overview of his career as a whole with some cool rare footage of his early work as he discusses openly his rise in the genre film making scene.

Next we have a 'behind the scenes' documentary that acts as a fly on the wall of the films production which shows that the crew involved here had a whole load of fun on the set with many voyeuristic laughs to be had (check out J R Bookwalter's unseen coffee jar project, he he). Following this there are two (yes two) segments on special effects, the first being a nice piece on 'Dead and Rottings' very impressive effects and the second looking at some rare old footage of Barton's own early work - insightful and engrossing stuff. The films effects come under scrutiny once again with the first of two stills gallery collections with the second gallery looking at production shots. Finally wrapping up the Barton overload we get one of his very early short Super 8 films 'Howard Street Blues', this is probably not going to be to everyone's taste (per se it's some teens having fun with their comedic home movie spin on the TV show Hill Street Blues) but it's till nice to see this sorta stuff being made accessible in this way.

But finally, like Tempe's previous special edition of 'Hell Asylum' we're once again spoiled with another insane short film from Chris Seaver and the gang at Low Budget Pictures in the form of 'Filthy McNasty'. Truly enjoyable atrocious acting ala Troma and hilariously gory effects are the order of the day once again as two college geekettes (of which one is played by the multitalented Rochon) make a pact with the devil for the opportunity to be acceptable by their in-crowd peers. They get their wish and are soon partying with the mindless elite but things soon messily awry when demon Filthy McNasty appears to collect some souls in his own delectable horny fashion! Although perhaps as not inanely gratifying as the earlier 'Mulva: Zombie Ass Kicker', 'Filthy McNasty' still has plenty of golden moments (my own highlights being the hysterical scene where a guy is caught jerking off with his cock smeared in shit or perhaps when demonic Filthy is getting head from a sloppy blonde chick and he bursts his dick right through her head!) This short is accompanied by an equally funny audio commentary where those involved fun it up big time.

Fans of Debbie Rochon will want to pick this DVD up immediately as it showcases two very differing styles of her work. Add to that we get to enjoy a solid fun horror movie with a whole host of great value extra features. Nice one Tempe - keep 'em coming! Check it out!

Review by Alan Simpson

'Dead and Rotting' can be ordered direct from Tempe by clicking here.


 
Directed by David P Barton
Released by Tempe
Extras :
Audio commentary, Make effects up segments, Interviews, Super 8 short film, Isolated music score, Stills galleries, Trailers & Bonus short film with full commentary!
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