A good idea is butchered in 'Demon Slaughter'

Demon Slaughter (2008)
Starring: Adam Berasi, Bill Wittman, Vic Badger, and Shannon Johnson
Director: Ryan Cavalline
Rating: Three of Ten Stars

Psychopathic killer Jimmy (Berasi) decides to quit the crime syndicate by stealing a few million dollars from it and then killing everyone that might come after him. But his partners in crime get wind of his intentions, and they decide to take out Jimmy and his wife (Johnson) first. And that's when the demons and zombies start popping up.

"Demon Slaughter" has in interesting story at its heart and that makes it yet another in the seemingly unending row of films I wish I liked more. Jimmy, as played by Adam Berasi is an absolutely unlikeable character, but the viewers become invested in his fate despite ourselves; he's a character like Scarface (from the 1930s version... I've not seen any of the remakes) with even fewer good qualities. This is a credit to Adam Berasi's acting talent more than the material (or the props) he's working with.

Unfortunately, the film is nowhere near as powerful as it might have been, due to budget- and skill-limitations on every front.

First off, this is a movie with lots and lots of gun-play in it, but there was not the money to hire an armorer (so the weapons--some of which look like toys--are never fired and the actors don't even try to simulate recoils), nor the budget to actually damage the interior of a building where a massive shoot-out takes place (all those missed shots from the automatic weapons never impact anything), nor the special-effects know-how to rig actors with squibs (or whatever the modern equivalent is) and blood-packs for when they get shot. All-in-all, the shoot-outs and gangster action felt more like someone trained a camera on adults playing Soldiers or Cops & Robbers rather than something that belonged in a movie.

Second, there wasn't the budget to fully create scary zombies when all of Jimmy's victims (I assume that's who the zombies were, although that's never expressly stated) come back for their revenge. The make-up and costumes were reminiscent of a high school play or cheap haunted house rather than something that belonged in a movie. It also didn't help that there were barely half a dozen zombies when the sequence called for a veritable hoard of them.

And then there's a the sound effects and sound recording in general. There is a reference to "boom operators" in the credits, but if such were used on this film, they were the least competent people to ever handle that equipment. It seems more likely that all dialogue was recorded with the built-in microphone on the cheap video camera that was used to make this movie, as there are times where the dialogue is so soft so as to be almost inaudible and the volume of the actors' voices vary greatly... sometimes to the point of being inaudible. And Cavelline uses the game gunshot sound over and over and over and over and over....

Finally, the transition point from violent gangster flick with a few horror touches into full-blown surrealistic horror film is so clumsily handled that anyone who's read "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (or read any of the many comic book adaptations, or the "Twilight Zone" episode based on it) will have a pretty good idea about where the rest of the film is headed. If the story had been a little more elaborately structured--with the first half perhaps being in flashback?--maybe it could have been a little less predictable.

Despite all the toy guns, bad effects, and clumsy filmmaking, the film has enough moments to make it just good enough to not end up at Movies You Should [Die Before You] See... but only barely. The scenes surrounding the death of Jimmy's wife that lead up to the transition from gangster movie to horror movie are pretty well done and are the film's highlight.

"Demon Slaughter" can be found in several DVD multi-movie packs from Maxim Media's Pendulum Pictures and Brain Damage Films. It's worth checking out if acquired that way, but you will regret spending the money if you get any stand-alone version that might be out there.

Writer is targeted by a mysterious killer(Think you can guess the surprise ending?)

Serial Killer (2002)
Starring: Adam Berasi and Vic Badger
Director: Ryan Cavalline
Rating: Three of Ten Stars

The family of a non-fiction writer specializing in serial killers (Berasi) is targeted by a mysterious murderer who is upset over being left out of his latest book.


"Serial Killer" is a no-budget picture that features terrible acting, worse camerawork, and some very ugly abusese of women. However, it does manage to invoke a consistent sense of dread (at least when you aren't marveling at the non-acting of the film's star, Berasi. There are also some elements that seem painfully amatuerish--like the scene where I was wondering if anyone had a clue as to how to properly light a set--that might be intentional when viewed in context of the Big Reveal at the end.

(The Big Reveal twist ending isn't really much of a twist, but it did make me feel more forgiving toward the sloppy plotting of the movie. It isn't enough to save this mess, and it is clumsily executed, but it does shed light on what I think Cavalline was trying to accomplish at other points in the film. I can't go into more detail without spoiling the plot... although if you seen one or two other "writer is stalked by mysterious killer" flicks, you may know what the "shock ending" reveals.)

This fillm is better than director Ryan Cavalline's "Day of the Ax"--which I reviewed at Movies You Should (Die Before You) See--but it's still not quite worth the time it'll take you to watch it...unless you're the world's biggest fan of "torture porn" flicks. You might find this one mildly entertaining. There are lots of scenes of tied-up naked women talking about how they were captured.

And, while I don't recommend the movie, I want to reiterate the fact that I was impressed with Cavalline's ability to permeate the entire fillm with a mood or horror and dread, despite his limited means. If only more horror films that have budgets bigger than $1.45 could master this, maybe a few horror movies would do better at the box office.

'Dead Body Man' is almost worthwhile

Dead Body Man (2004)
Starring: Eddie Benevich, Jessica Lynn Baum, and Ryan Cavalline
Director: Ryan Cavalline
Rating: Three of Ten Stars

Willie (Benevich) wants nothing more than to sit on his couch and watch porn. Unfortunately, God is living in his closet, and He won’t give Willie a moment’s peace, constantly insisting that he capture sinners and kill them for Him. Will joining a support group for serial killers at the local community center give him the coping tools he needs, or is Willie doomed to never watch porn in peace again?

In every way, "Dead Body Man" is the best movie I've seen so far from Ryan Cavalline. It has all the makings of a truly twisted horror comedy, and it’s full of so many weird ideas that you’ll ask yourself more than once, “How do they come up with this stuff?”

From the movie’s “hero”--a mercurial delusional schizophrenic whose world may or may not be made up mostly of hallucinations--to the cannibal meat “distributor”, to the serial killer support group hosted by the local community center, to a last-minute plot-twist that’s both unexpected and in perfect keeping with the crazy, off-kilter tone of the entire film.

“Dead Body Man” is elevated further by its lead, Benevich, who not only shows himself to be a good actor in the film’s pre-title sequence, but who also displays a fine sense of comedic timing through the rest of the movie. Director Cavalline also steps in front of the camera to take a nicely done performance caricaturing the ultra-softie, ultra-permissive liberal social worker type, while Baum turns in a very interesting performance as the manifestation of Willie’s conscience. The fact that Willie lives on Elm Street and wears asweater identical to that worn by Freddy Kreuger from the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies is also chuckle-worthy.


And, by now, you're probably wondering why I've given a Three rating to a film that I am saying so many nice things about. It's because it has the makings of a good horror comedy. The parts are here, the potential is here... but the way it gets used ulimately ends up in a movie that's just good enough to be included as a secondary feature in a Bad Movie Night, but not worth seeking out otherwise.

"Dead Body Man stars out strong with a spastic retard--um, sorry... a physically challenged differently abled man--picking up a hooker. When he gets her home, there's a sudden change, and the viewer quickly discovers what sort of twisted movie he's in for. And the last 15 or so minutes are so whiplash-crazy in their reversal and then re-reversal of audience expectations that I tip my hat toward Cavalline in the most respectful way. These bookends, with the murders and the cannibal flesh trading and the support group visits in the middle could have all added up to a very funny and very odd movie, but Cavalline botches the execution.

First, theres a problem with the way the murders occur in the film. They are redundant, too dragged out, and hampered by poor gore effects. After the first two, the rest make for pretty dull viewing. (It also doesn't help that they don't make a whole lot of sense... Willie shoots one victim repeated, yet later the victim is tied up and apparently unhurt.) The film would have been much better served with just one or two killings at Willie's house and the one that occurs in the garage of a fellow member of the serial killer support group.

The redundancy and dragged-out sense of the murder scenes aren't helped by the fact that they appear to be ad-libbed to a large extent. I may be blaming Benevich for something that should be put at Cavalline's door as the script-writer, but the repetativeness of the jokes and the inconsistencies in the "story" that Willie tells a couple of times feels like the director told Benevich to just "cut loose" and then never tried to reign him in or do additional takes in which he gave suggestions as to what Benevich should do with his performance. (I think the actors playing the victims had scripted lines to work off, and with only two exceptions, these are also redundant--the girl who asks Willie to kill her so she won't have to listen to his story is pretty funny.)

Basically, as good as I think Benevich is, he gives us too much of a good thing, and Cavalline doesn't step in to dial it back, either on-set or in the editing room. And, in the end, the potential that is here is smothered in repetitiveness and dragged down by an overlong running time. In fact, if re-edited by someone with a very firm hand and shortened to about 70-75 minutes, I think this could be an entertaining (if odd) horror comedy.