Dead Hunt (USA, 2007) DIR: Joe Ripple, Don Dohler. SCR: Eric Martin Strauss. PROD-DOP: Don Dohler. MUSIC: Justin Timpane. CAST: Dennis Hill, Sara Cole, John Patrick Barry, Colleen Taylor, Leanna Chamish, George Stover, Joe Ripple, Ann Marie Barbour. (Timewarp Films)
It is easy to write about Dead Hunt with a valedictory prose. This would be Don Dohler’s final film, and fittingly so, as he directed again for the first time in years, after writing, editing and producing his past several efforts while Joe Ripple directed. Both men share onscreen directorial credit onscreen.
Although Dead Hunt was written by Eric Martin Strauss, this film is on paper as pungent a satire as anything Dohler would’ve written in the previous 20 years. Like Vampire Sisters, this too is a horror epic for the dotcom era, but the similarities end there. In a plot that would make this a contemporary “giallo” thriller, reviewers for a horror movie website are killed one by one, each death mimicking a scene from one of the cut-rate films they know. (“That slashed throat is from Satan’s Revenge!”) This clever plot succeeds in portraying these victims (however innocent they may be) as pretentious windbags, and when one of them pronounces “giallo” wrong, it may or may not be intentional. But this regional variation on Theatre of Blood is the kind of picture most horror specialists would love to make out of vengeance towards their ill-received notices from windbag critics.
Although in this ensemble, the cast is likeable enough, the acting is mostly just okay. The movie is engaging to watch on a superficial level, but we really don’t care much about the characters. Acting honours actually go to Joe Ripple and Ann Marie Barbour as a married couple on the rocks. In the past, the smallish Ripple would always cast himself in unlikely roles, such as an FBI agent, and likewise, one wonders how his geeky horror-obsessed character Nick Keller ended up with a dish like his wife Sari? Its one three-dimensional scene is when Nick gets wounded by the killer, and the Kellers have a heartfelt conversation wondering where their relationship went wrong. Ann Marie Barbour absolutely scores as his bitchy wife who coins the plot of the movie: “Is that what this is about? That stupid website?”
Also on hand is B-movie scream queen Leanna Chamish as B-movie scream queen, Raven Rinaldi, who also becomes pursued by the killer at the convention. In hindsight, her non-acting may be appropriate for this role, which is a portrayal of a talentless actress who is probably adored by her fans for two reasons. Fittingly, George Stover (who appears in all of Dohler’s films) has a brief scene as a night manager.
Dead Hunt is typical of most efforts from Timewarp Films in that they may be good for a watch, but they don’t necessarily stay with you afterwards. There is a novel idea, but once the “cat and mouse” chase formula begins, the movie becomes as derivative as most of the films that these critics were prone to review.
While Dead Hunt was in production, its making was documented by John Paul Kinhart for his film Blood, Boobs and Beast. Nearly thirty years since his breakthrough film, The Alien Factor, we see Don Dohler still active in micro-budget genre fare, squeaking in the time to shoot footage whenever everyone’s day jobs or full-time lives jived. And still, the problems associated with no-budget production arose. Namely, an actor couldn’t make the shoot, and rather than hold production up further, Joe Ripple assumed his role. And then, shortly thereafter Ripple took a full-time job which affected the schedule, once again, Don Dohler assumed directorial chores. Ironically, in Blood, Boobs and Beast Dohler says to the camera that this would be his last film “for a while”, as once again the frustration of such a production had taken its toll. (In the film, problems with scheduling, intruder alarms and Maryland weather, turn the documentary into a minuscule Burden of Dreams.) Sadly, this statement would be prophetic as he passed from cancer in 2006 at the age of 60.
Originally published in Vol. #1, Issue #22, “Cheap Horror Movies …and Why We Love Them”.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.