Death By Love

Director - Allan Grant
Starring - Yvonne Aric (Dark Harvest), Tamara Betz, and Brad Bishop
Release Date - 1990
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "A twisted tale of deadly desire"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     When I reviewed the Murderlust DVD released by Intervision I noticed that there was a bonus film on the DVD.  I truly enjoyed Murderlust and was looking forward to the second film, Project Nightmare.  Sadly, the film was not that entertaining.  It had a story that was very promising but it felt like they had to cut a lot of scenes during filming that actually important.  Either way it fell short.  Recently, Intervision sent me the Dream Stalker and Death by Love double feature to check out.  Dream Stalker is a film that has a lot of technical issues but was still able to deliver a solid flick.  I was afraid that Death by Love would be another dud like Project Nightmare.  Sadly, it was.

     The film follows a man who is falls in love with beautiful women who turn up dead.  The police investigate the murders and start connecting the dots.  They suspect that a man who had went to school with him may be a serial killer and devil worshipper who thinks he is actually Satan.  He then kills anyone that gets close to his dark lord.

     Death by Love is one of those films I could see playing late at night on Up All Night back in the 90s.  This type of film is not really fun to watch unless you are watching it with a few friends and beer or under gimmick or horror host.  The film itself is pretty boring so you need to find yourself in the proper setting to enjoy.  I was not.      I knew I was going to have a hard time making it through Death By Love but I didn't realize that it was going to be the type of film it actually was.  I was expecting a sexual thriller that can be found in the Impulse Pictures catalog.  Instead, I was pleasantly greeted with a Satanic angle that was underutilized.  The acting in this one is fair.  The cast puts in a little more effort than Dream Stalker but they still have a hard time finding the right emotions or committing to their lines.  A little more conviction would have went a long way.  The story for this one had some pretty cool ideas going for it but never fully dedicated themselves to it.  The film flows more like a crime drama rather than a horror flick.  If the Satanic angle or occult aspect played a bigger role in the film then it would have been a pretty fucking cool film but what we actually got was a slow paced film that has a story that does not deserve a feature length running time.  Finally, the film has some deaths but they are some of the most boring scenes ever filmed outside of a nudity free porno.  No imagination and effects were applied to these making for painful scenes.  Overall, Death by Love could have been a damn unforgettable film but the director and team took it a completely different route.  The set is worth it for Dream Stalker but you can skip this one.