Death by Dialogue

Director - Thomas Dewier (Contra Conspiracy)
Starring - Ken Sagoes (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, A Nightmare on Elm St. 3: Dream Warriors), Laura Albert (Tales from the Crypt, Bloodstone), and Lenny Delducca (Comedienne)
Release Date - 1988
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Who said reading was good for you?"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I've been a fan of Troma for as long as I can remember but my obsession has taken a dark turn the last few months.  Recently, I found myself searching for those rare DVDs that was only released for a short period of time before being pulled for one reason or another.  I was able to track down a few but some of them still allude me.  While searching for these DVDs I found myself in a Troma trading group on Facebook and saw someone unloading a VHS of Death by Dialogue for a ridiculous price.  I saw the VHS was going for a stupid price but I know for a fact the DVD was fairly cheap because I bought it in the Toxie's Blood Bank tin set.  After seeing that I decided to give it a go and make it this weeks Tromatic Thursday watch.

     The film follows a group of friends that visits the elderly uncle of one of them who also owns a museum/antique collection.  Their trip starts off innocently enough but soon things take a deadly turn when they accidently uncover a haunted book that was never meant to be unearthed.  Now a vengeful spirit is killing everyone by using the dialogue spoken from the text.  They must work together to stop the spirit or die.
    




     I went into this one expecting the worst.  The artwork on the DVD and title was boring and generic but the film really surprised me.  Most of you know my love for Demon Wind and love for those weird ass cabin in the woods films.  This film was not set in a cabin in the woods but did have that Demon Wind vibe.  I really enjoyed it.  The acting in this one is not the best I've seen but it did have its moments.  Most of the cast delivers solid performances but a few scenes they overreach resulting in some overdramatic performances.  I was shocked to see Ken Sagoes from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and 4.  His performance was fun but he was clearly playing the same character from those films.  The story for this one silly but god damn was it fun.  The film took a basic premise, the haunted book killing people with the passages, and made it 80s as fuck.  The characters are generic as hell and the gimmick could have been a Twilight Zone episode but the film adds some 80s cheese and puts it in situations you would find in the decade like a glam metal show and so on.  I really liked that even though it dialed the absurdity factor to 11.  Finally, the film does have a few deaths.  The deaths are not that gruesome but they are fun as fuck.  You have a killer glam band, a woman in lingerie with a flamethrower and so on.  The effects work but are nothing memorable.  Overall, Death by Dialogue is a fun one and one of the better films in the Toxie's Blood Bank set.  Check this one out!