The Dead Next Door (1985) Rating: 4.0 stars out of 5.0 stars
Cast: Peter Ferry, Bogdan Pecic, Michael Grossi, Joile Jackunas, Robert Kokai, Floyd Ewing Jr., Roger Graham, Maria Markovic, Jon Killough, Scott Spiegel, Jeff Welch, Michael Todd, J.R. Bookwalter, Jennifer Mullen, Joe Wedlake, Lester Clark, Barbara Gay, Bruce Campbell (voice only) Written and Directed by: J.R. Bookwalter Running Time: 81 minutes
Five years after a virus has caused the dead to rise and walk the Earth in search of human flesh, a squad of zombie hunters (known fittingly as the Zombie Squad) are working to rid the nation of the undead. While taking care of some business in Ohio, the Zombie Squad stumbles upon a religious sect that has other plans for the living corpses. It's up to Raimi (Peter Ferry) and the rest of his squad members to figure out what the cult is attempting to do and stop them before they are allowed to get away with it.
An incredibly ambitious film directed by a then 19 year old J.R. Bookwalter and financed by an uncredited Sam Raimi, The Dead Next Door has an epic feel that it is actually able to pull off (thanks in large part to the hundreds of extras that agreed to participate and some kindly folks in Washington that allowed them to shoot on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and on the lawn of the White House). Bookwalter was able to assemble a large enough cast that the film never seems as if it is low budget at all. In fact, only the use of 8mm film (and a couple of weak performances) gives away the fact that the film's budget was nowhere near even some of the lowest budgeted independent films.
Sam Raimi's connection doesn't just end with his production of the film. Penultimate cult star Bruce Campbell of Raimi's classic Evil Dead trilogy does a vocal turn here dubbing over the lines of what sounds like the character of Raimi (and possibly one other character). Also, Evil Dead II co-writer Scott Spiegel makes an appearance as an ill-fated member of the Zombie Squad early on in the film. The film Evil Dead itself gets a tribute early on in the film with several characters watching the film on TV and hyping some of the more famous sequences to other characters.
Note: Several characters are also named after other horror film directors, most notably the character of Raimi, but there is also a Commander Carpenter and a Dr. Savini that show up in the film. For some reason, only those three directors are used, but there's an interesting parallel between Jon Killough's character of Vincent and his more-than-a-passing resemblance to director Tim Burton (the irony being that Burton's first short film was entitled Vincent). I don't know if the reference was intentional, but it is clever nonetheless.
The cast is fleshed out by a number of people who have become regulars in other Bookwalter directed and produced films. Barbara Gay has a cameo as a nurse and went on to appear as Whinnie in Skinned Alive and makes an appearance in The Sandman (under the name Barbara Katz-Norrod). The creator of the zombie virus, Dr. Bow, is played by Lester Clark, who also appeared in Skinned Alive and had a character named after him in Polymorph. Skinned Alive director Jon Killough appears as the aforementioned Vincent. Two other cast members, Floyd Ewing Jr. and Scott Spiegel, also had major roles in Skinned Alive, fully solidifying the connection to that film.
Some better than average special effects also lift this film high above its low budget roots. Several very inventive puppets complete the image of severed zombie heads swallowing fingers (with the finger coming out of the open throat hole), zombies eating rats, and even walking cadavers displaying levels of decay that an actor in makeup wouldn't be able to. Plus, Bookwalter's expertise at editing allows for some effective shots of people being hit with machetes or ripped to shreds by hordes of mindless killing machines.
The Dead Next Door is available on VHS from www.tempevideo.com. The transfer is overly dark, which makes for a bit more of a distraction than there should be, but an adjustment of the brightness on your set should take care of most of the problem. The video contains a "making of" segment that details what Bookwalter and his cast and crew went through to make the film and even contains some interesting commercials for the release of the original videocassette (one featuring Bookwalter himself showing what happens if you decide to pirate his film and another that features Barbara Gay again as an old woman who desperately wants a copy of the film from her local video store). There is also a discussion of the proposed sequel to the film that sounds like a good idea, especially after viewing The Dead Next Door's surprise ending. A DVD is set for release this summer and it is proposed that the disc will contain commentary, the original cast audio track, and a few other select goodies.
Well worth checking out, The Dead Next Door is a stellar effort and worthy of the cult status it has achieved in the fifteen years since its first release. I've seen it said about Bookwalter before, but I can also attest that given a huge budget he could really turn some heads. He has a great grasp on editing and direction and is even currently working on a Full Moon film. I hope he does get around to a sequel to his first film ever because I'd be interested to see where he takes the story from here. Given the talent he has already displayed I'm sure it will be something worth talking about.
Reviewed by Brian Matherly - bmath2000@hotmail.com AOL Instant Messenger: Widescreen25 The Jacksonville Film Journal - http://www.jaxfilmjournal.com/
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