DEAD MEDIA Review: The Format Might Be Dead but The Horror Lives On
Dead Media is available now on VOD at Amazon Prime from Antenna Releasing
Dead Media is the story of three 20 something roommates Maggie (Sammi-Jack Martincak), Brenda (Jessica Fenton), and Daniel (Antonio Teodoro) who decide to stream Night of the Lurchers, a campy cult classic horror movie from the 90’s, but when Maggie invites her hipster Gen X uncle Heppy (Sam Landman) over to join them, he brings over his rare DVD copy of the movie and things take a unexpected turn. The disc contains a cursed hidden special feature that when activated breaks down the wall between the world of the movie and their reality, unleashing a nightmare they struggle to survive & escape from.
Full disclosure: I am a Gen X physical media obsessed uncle who loves to share movies with my nieces and nephews, so take that into consideration that I may be biased in how much I enjoyed Dead Media.
Once Maggie unlocks the mysterious special feature, the roommates and Uncle Heppy find out not only is the house infected with the lumbering Lurchers from the movie, but all the doors in the house now lead to a different scene from the film or a special feature included on the DVD. To survive, they must team up with Rita Nast (Anna Sundberg), the film’s director who disappeared after the movie’s initial release, who they are able to join forces with after encountering her via one of the movie’s featurettes. With her help, they learn the origin of The Night of the Lurchers’ haunted background and the DVD’s damned genesis, arming them with the knowledge they need to return to their reality.
Dead Media is clever and funny with some nice film making for such a low budget production. It’s a strong feature length debut for writer/director Joseph Scrimshaw, who has only directed two shorts previously (he also has a small role in the movie as a character interviewing director Rita Nast from one of the special features on the Lurchers DVD). He gives the movie a colorful aesthetic while making great use of their limited sets. I like how the look of the movie changes formats depending on if they are experiencing a scene from Lurchers or one of the discs special features. It’s clear that Scrimshaw-like Uncle Heppy is a fan of classic horror films, especially Italian horror with nods to Stage Fright and Demons. The latter being a huge influence on the film, considering that like Dead Media it is about people watching a horror movie where the fiction on screen spills into their reality. There is even a character in Night Of The Lurchers who wields a samurai sword just like the hero from Demons.
The small cast are all good in their roles. Sam Landman does a great job of playing the nostalgic Uncle Heppy as a lovably tragic figure instead of making him just a sad punchline. There is also a fun appearance from actor James Urbaniak (Oppenheimer) who gets to play dual roles as the mad Dr Sven Rendall from Night of the Lurchers and Guy Leopold, the actor who plays him. Mystery Science Theater 3000 and RiffTrax fans will enjoy the brief but funny appearance from Bill Corbett.*
Dead Media does run a little long and loses some steam in the third act** but overall is a fun horror comedy that makes terrific use of its premise while striking a good balance between tension and laughs. Fans of the horror genre will appreciate the references to numerous classics and physical media enthusiasts will appreciate the film’s love of the format. I am excited to see what Scrimshaw does next.
*Writer/director Joseph Scrimshaw worked on the RiffTrax release of Samurai Cop as a writer.
**This almost feels like a meta joke because in Dead Media the characters discuss the importance of horror films coming in at 90 minutes while the movie has a runtime of 99 minutes. Too bad Scrimshaw hadn’t listened to his characters.
Passionate genre film enthusiast
I don't believe in guilty pleasures
