Dead on Appraisal

Director(s) - Sean Canfield (Top of the Brine), Scott Dawson (The Janitor), and David Sherbrook (The Black Box)
Starring - Zack Fahey (Crossroads), Mike Pfaff (Infected), and Marguerite Insolia (The Burden)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "Real estate is hell"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     Over the course of three months I have been slowly making my way through Midnight Releasing and Brain Damage Film's online screener list. A majority of these films were on the bad side but a few of them were solid flicks that really needed to be added to any horror fan's collection.  Recently, I reviewed the flick Rabid Love and fell in love with the film so I assumed the next film I watched would be extremely shitty.  That film, Dead on Appraisal, had amazing poster artwork so I tried to be optimistic and I am glad I was because this film was surprisingly entertaining. 
     The film follows a down on his luck real estate agent who is trying to sell a home with a tainted past. The home once housed an alien creature that turned it's victims into horrible abominations, a band of misfits and heathens that transform into monsters, and a war veteran that did not come home the way he left.



     Out of the two years I have been writing reviews I have noticed that I have not wrote a lot of bad reviews for anthology films.  In fact, off the top of my head I can not think of any.  I'm sure I have but I'm sure it is limited. Anthologies usually offer different stories from different spectrums of horror which offers something for everyone.  This film did not do that but it did offer two solid stories about monsters and one that you will not see coming.  I enjoyed the film, though flawed, and it reminded me a lot of the television show Monsters that ran from 1988 to 1991 mixed with the cult classic TerrorVision.  The acting in this one is on the low end of indie horror.  Some of the scenes were better than others but for the most part the acting could have been better.  The stories for these are not original but fuck were they fun as hell.  The stories offered nothing new but were done in a very entertaining way.  I was not expecting the type of creature feature that we actually got.  On the downside, I did not like the wrap around story about the real estate agent trying to sell the home.  It tied the film together well but was boring as fuck.  Finally, the special effects in this one is amazing.  The creatures and monsters looked great.  In fact, I was honestly blew away by how great the special effects and gore looked.  Overall, Dead on Appraisal was a solid anthology that looked great and was fun to watch.  The special effects in this one needs to be seen to be believed.  Check it out.