Dead Night



Director - Brad Baruh
Starring - Brea Grant (Dexter, Halloween II), AJ Bowen (Hatchet II, The House of the Devil), and Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, From Beyond)
Release Date - 2017
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Look deeper"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     I get a lot of movie in to review.  In fact, I'm too greedy and take on more than I have time for but I love it.  Everyone movie gets my undivided attention when I review them.  I always give each movie the same amount of time which results in one movie taking about 3 or more hours of my day with viewing time included.  Even though these movies get the same amount of time there is certain movies that I look forward to reviewing than others.  Dead Night is one of those films that I couldn't wait to review.  This film was recently released on DVD and I was sent a copy to check out. 

     The film follows a family of four and a family friend who rent a cabin deep in the woods that is supposedly on an iron deposit that has therapeutic properties.  However, this weekend getaway full of healing does not go as planned when they fall into a bigger plan involving witches and a politician looking to gain her career with the family stuck in the middle as blood tribute.
    
     Dead Night is one of those films that I just absolutely knew I was going to love.  The artwork and the synopsis on the press release had me sold on it.  I knew I would just love it but I was very, very wrong.  The acting in this one is hit or miss for me.  The real star of the film is horror royalty Barbara Crampton who absolutely steals every scene she is in.  Honestly, it's not fair to the rest of the cast to have them in the same scene as her.  The rest of the cast just doesn't do it for me.  All of the characters have the same personality and the cast does nothing to make them stand out or make them their own.  This cannot be said for the witches who, like Crampton, do a fantastic job.  The story for this one has so much potential but falls apart during filming.  The cabin in the woods with witches and a corrupt politician using them for personal gains is fantastic.  So many great elements there to make an amazing gory throwback film.  Sadly, The story falls apart for several reasons.  My biggest complaint is the characters.  Aside from Crampton's character and the witches I fucking hate everyone else in the film.  You want the bad guys to win which takes the power away from the story.  Its rare that you had the victims or good guys but the personalities for them in this film is just so ugly and annoying.  Finally, this film has spectacular on screen kills and practical effects.  I was surprised by the gore in this one and how brutal the kills are.  You can tell the director and crew was passionate about the film because a lot of thought and time went into these gags.  Overall, Dead Night could have been an unforgettable throwback to 80s horror but the weak cast and lack of likable characters turned what could have been a fun and gory flick into generic horror that is easily forgettable.