High Octane Pictures is gearing up for its May 1st VOD release of Dead List, a new horror film directed by Holden Andrews and Victor Mathieu. Dead List is a recipe of electrifying horror troupes that encompasses almost every subgenre that the field has to offer. Written by Andrews, Mathieu and Ivan Asen, this upcoming release follows Calvin and five other struggling actors, who all seem to end up auditioning for the same major motion picture role. Calvin is perhaps the most desperate to nab the part, and he’ll do anything to get a severed leg up on the competition…even if that means using a demonic book to curse his rivals. As the book’s pages and influence manifests, each actor is killed off in a unique and disturbing way, until Calvin is left alone to stop the curse…or become its next victim. Deane Sullivan, Jan-David Soutar, Matt Fowler, Nick Franchik, Eric Pierce, Rob Healy and Josh Eichenbaum star in this mash-up of Final Destination, Hellraiser, Open Graves and Jumanji. Can you escape evil when you least expect it?
Listen, it’s pretty easy to grab my attention, so I felt fairly positive about Dead List as soon as it started with a chase scene. I’m sorry, but the tactic is a severely underutilized horror tool. Kudos to Andrews, Mathieu and Ansen – who also served as producers on this flick – for using a chase scene so early on. Their concept and script is genius in itself, and I can only wonder what more they could have accomplished with a bigger budget. The main culprit is the Satanic book that uses its negative power to kill the struggling actors, but it does so in a clever and metaphoric way each time; resulting in a movie that’s a solid narrative yet reminiscent of a horror anthology. By watching Dead List, you get healthy doses of worst fears, crazed killers, clowns, sea monsters, ghosts, and literally everything in between. It’s a macabre gauntlet for survival, with every opportunity ending in a gory disaster. Again, I only wish Dead List had a bigger budget. Some scenes left a little to be desired, while others were spot on production-wise. And, hey, it had some pretty realistic looking blood!
I’m trying to find something that I can say, “yeah, I definitely didn’t like that,” but Dead List was fun and surprising. The retro musical scores were a little underwhelming at times, but there’s no glaring mistakes. The mood never reached its full intensity, which resulted in some flat moments, but overall Dead List is pretty cohesive. I think its creators stretched their imaginations and its actors took some daring risks, and it paid off. I think Dead List is going to appeal more to the independent corner of horror fans than it will Blockbuster buyers, and that’s OK because that’s exactly who we cater to here at HorrorSociety. I don’t know if I’d ever give it a second watch, but it is definitely worth the price of a stream. Check this one out on May 1st when High Octane Pictures puts it out on VOD. A second chance at stardom becomes a race to the grave in Dead List; a dark, dismaying and suspenseful indie flick that has something for everybody. I enjoyed it. Final Score: 6.5 out of 10.
