An Exercise in Poor Taste - The Dead Hate The Livi

[Guest TSMAdmin]

Yo, Adrian, I did it! I finally wrote my “return article”! Oh, wrong movie, sorry. Yes, I spent two THRILLING weeks in the Midwest, with nothing to do except play cards and read Lord of the Rings. I’m almost done with the second book; the first book was such a chore to try and get through, though, that I’ll admit this is one of those cases where the film adaptation is better than the book (and I didn’t even like the film!). Anyway, onto more important matters…

 

Drezzy suggested via e-mail that I check this out a couple weeks before I left. I had been meaning to anyway, because of its reputation amongst many mainstream horror fans as pretty fresh, original, and “the only good Full Moon movie since their Paramount days”. When I ordered the Full Moon Budget DVD 10-Pack and found this inside, I knew it was a testament to the fact that the movie really WAS “good” in a traditional sense, or at least popular. I’m also going to change one of my review categories slightly, from the somewhat general “redeeming aspects” (which was surprisingly easier than I thought) to “ONE redeeming scene”, which would be the “best” scene that I’d use as evidence to back any argument against the film “sucking” (I honestly believe that every film, no matter how bad, has at least ONE redeeming scene, whether it’s unintentionally funny dialogue or a particularly awesome kill). Either way, it’s taken me a month, but I finally get to fulfill Drezzy’s request for…

 

The Dead Hate the Living!: Limited Edition (2002)

Full Moon Pictures / Shadow Entertainment

 

Film (complete with minor plot spoilers!):

Our story begins with Some Guy Who Looks Like Rob Zombie (whose name, we will later learn, is Eibon) on a shaky video feed. Seems he’s awakened the dead, and can’t control his own legions. He attempts to kill himself and join his zombie hordes, but one of his ranks comes and does the job for him.

 

Meanwhile, Some Chick Who Looks Like Katie Holmes (whose name, we will soon learn, is Shelly) is about to do an autopsy of a dead male that’s rather yellow and has about half of his face torn off. She finds a large bite-mark (complete with tooth!) in his neck, and when she turns her back on him to record this, he does what all corpses do in movies like this when you turn your back on them, and vanish. As if that wasn’t enough of a clichéd foreshadow, the lights go out too (ummm… so much for it being fresh and original). Shelly goes looking for a way about, but the disappearing corpse is back, with a scalpel and a vengeance! Shelly’s throat is slashed, spilling blood all over the morgue’s resident skeleton and floor. Even that’s not enough, as tall, sickly, and gruesome drags her over to the table where he was dissected, rips her shirt off and makes out with her. Shelly re-awakens, and shows her appreciation by wrapping her legs around her former hunter for some corpse on corpse action! Is that legal?

 

Cast your legal fears aside, it’s just a movie! No, really, it’s a movie about a crew making a zombie movie, as we cut away to the director and introduce our characters. Besides Shelly and Eric (the yellow zombie), there’s David, the director and Shelly’s brother; Paul, David’s best friend and make-up effects guy; Topaz, David’s love interest and the one who picks up supplies for Paul; Nina, David and Shelly’s other sister, the resident bitch who steals Shelly’s leading role; and Chaz, the sunglasses-clad stoner who gets it all on film. While filming, the crew run into a large, coffin-shaped object they decide to use as a prop, and, upon opening it, what should fall out but the corpse of Some Guy Who Looks Like Rob Zombie? David suggests they not only shoot using the large, coffin-shaped object, but using the corpse as well. One thing leads to another, and they accidentally activate the coffin-shaped object, bringing Some Guy Who Looks Like Rob Zombie, his two bad-ass zombie henchmen, and all the other dead in the building to life, and at the same time trapping themselves in a sort of netherworld. Will our heroes escape?

 

At first glance, this might seem like another one of Full Moon’s formula “kids trapped in a house with spooky evil nasty force” piece, and at its core it still is. However, it has enough class to work around its core plot (which is already given a kick by the “movie within a movie” factor), and rise above it with the help of two things: loving tributes to other zombie films and some seriously cool zombie leads. The tributes range from the fairly obvious (“We’ll be the next Romero and Savini!”) to the slightly obscure (Eric’s yellow zombie being modeled after the title character of War of the Colossal Beast). Never one to alienate the casual horror fan, however, there are also several funny quips from Eric regarding his lack of “hardcore” horror knowledge (“If this David Worbeck guy is so important, how come I’ve never heard of him?”). Although some critics have accused the film of having so many of said references that the script borders on rip-off instead of tribute, the characters are patterned after real-life director Dave Parker and his friends, and the commentary track quickly confirms his fan-boy status. The characters are warm and “dorky” with their references, as opposed to the “terminally hip” slick but smart-alecky know-it-alls of a Scream. This film’s characters are huge fans of the craft and as such are admirably dedicated to their own film, which enables a bond between the viewers and the characters such that we give a damn what happens to them (already alleviating the greatest problem with modern horror films), even if we can’t totally agree with their handling of the situation.

 

Said situation is made all the more creepy by the two zombie leads, Gaunt and Maggot. Gaunt, played by real-life 7+-footer Matthew McGrory, is tall and rail-thin, but, as shown in several chase scenes with him, in the smaller to midsize rooms and hallways of the film’s setting, McGrory’s head literally touches the ceiling. Though Gaunt is a great imposing figure, Gaunt, the film’s “cover boy”, with his reptilian face, pale skin tone, and large scarred figure, is just plain scary. The full-body makeup and performance by actor “Doc” are magnificent; his character is definitely one of the best zombies of all time. Most zombie films prefer ghouls en masse, it leads to hordes of zombies that lack a memorable personality or look, but Parker made the right choice when he realized that with his budget it would be better to focus on two strong zombies than a horde of zombies (although for those who get bored of Gaunt and Maggot there are a few scenes with a few other zombies, but there are never more than five or six at a time).

 

The Dead Hate the Living succeeds because it has, because of and above all the other factors, a slightly different look to it than the rest of Full Moon’s newer pictures. While I wouldn’t go as far as the crew and relate it to Argento, it definitely has a more “professional” look (even the best of the newer generation Full Moon films look shot on video and betray their budget from the get-go), although the CG effects in the film’s climax still look painfully obvious (I’ve set it before and I’ll say it many times again, but CGI hasn’t advanced to the point where it’s practical in low budget filmmaking yet). This is the kind of film where people can watch it and safely compare it to a "real" film, instead of "direct to video garbage". Had the film been shot in widescreen, there is little doubt in my mind that it could have, with proper distribution, done well in a theatrical release because of its look and its leads. Full Moon’s last zombie picture, Prison of the Dead, was undeniably awful, but this shows that, long after their Paramount days, Full Moon can still put out a solid film that’s “good” to both Full Moon fanatics and those with more “traditional” tastes.

 

Body Count (because every good movie has at least one death in it):

Six humans, seven zombies

 

Wrestling Moves/References (because in the end, this IS a wrestling site):

When he meets up with Maggot, a frightened Marcus strikes him, knocking his head to the side, but Maggot holds his ground, shrugs it off and retaliates with a killer (literally) right hand of his own. If that’s not no-selling at its finest, I don’t know what is!

 

ONE Redeeming Scene:

In the scene immediately following the one mentioned above, Maggot slaughters Marcus with a right hand through his body, and after his corpse falls, Maggot drags him away by the intestines. That’s a hell of a monster!

 

Presentation:

The film is presented in 4:3 full-frame, and being a new film, there are no errors with the print, and thus no glaring errors/clean-up within the transfer. The sound is nothing special, probably a regular Dolby Stereo mix.

 

Special Features:

As opposed to the regular fluff “cast and crew” that Full Moon has on many of its DVDs, this one, called “Memories of the Dead”, chooses to feature director Dave Parker’s personal thoughts on the cast (not surprisingly, all are positive, as it would be difficult for the film to come out as well were it a troubled shoot). In addition to that there are production art and photo galleries, the trailer, and a behind the scenes feature, which, although billed as such, is really more of an interview-based segment, with some funny interactions and quotes (Matt McGrory on his character: “My guy drools blood. I don’t know, you’d think after being dead for so long he’d have run out.”). Also included is the 10-minute mini-movie music video for Penis Flytrap’s “Tears of Blood”, which, made before the film, serves as a precursor by featuring both zombies (though more generic ones) and several of the same main cast members. Unlike the film, the music video is in widescreen. Finally, there’s a commentary track featuring Parker, Eric Clawson (David), Brett Beardslee (Paul), Jamie Donahue (Topaz), and Matt Joseph Stephens (Eibon), which, throughout all the jokes and backstage stories (although many make references to a deleted scenes/outtakes section that apparently was left off the DVD), shows how they bonded and became close friends through the whole ordeal. It’s informative, fun to listen to, and doesn’t drag, which is really all I look for in a DVD commentary.

 

Overall:

The Dead Hate the Living! is a lot of fun, and is also serious enough that it can be scary. It’s one of Full Moon’s best films, and of its films in the past 3-4 years, is perhaps the only film that will be taken seriously by mainstream fans, as it deserves to be. If you’re a Full Moon fan, you’ll love it, and if you’re not a Full Moon fan, you’ll probably be amazed that they can make a movie that is so comparable to a “real film” and different from their other films. Finally, even though this version is billed a “limited edition”, it’s exactly the same as the original release (which is apparently out of print, but shows up often, along with other out of print Full Moon DVD releases, at Suncoast, for some reason).

 

Do my columns suck, or are they an enjoyable read? If you liked this or any of my columns, or can offer any constructive criticism or interesting tidbits, don’t hesitate to e-mail me. If my column really r0x0red your s0x0rs, you can always buy my broke-ass an (Algerian) Independence Day gift, which I would of course review right away. For those of you who don’t feel comfortable wasting your money on a total stranger over the internet, check my DVD list below, and if you see anything you’d like me to review, don’t hesitate to e-mail me and request a review.

 

Until next time...

Edward Robins

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"To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about... [just] remember there is such a thing as good bad taste and bad bad taste." – John Waters