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My review on EVIL DEEDS. Well first I want to congradulate Matt on doing his first (& last) anthology horror film. I know it was a bitch for him to do, and he should be commended on this commitment on finishing the project. I think putting the mental patient story was a nice touch. I agree with Matt, seeing how that was the only footage shot in widescreen, it made sense to have that one with the Rico charcter coming out of the theater after that footage. Well done! Now I found the wrap around story with the Hermit very interesting. It was interesting to see a hermit be the story teller, because in the days of old time radio there was an old anthology horror/mystery radio program called "The Hermit's Cave". I don't know if this was Matt's inspiration for the hermit character or not, but that is what I thought of when I saw him. Some of the Hermit's mannerisms also reminded me of "Yoda" from Star Wars, especial when the hermit says to Rico "Away with your gun! I mean you no harm!" I quickly thought of Yoda in Empire when I heard that. "Vampire At Midnight" I won't comment too much on the vampire story since I wrote that, and already put my comments on the DVD. However, I do want to thank both Matt & Bailee Arnett for the work they both put into that. I thought the special effects were great! I did see where something could have needed a touch of improvement, but I feel that it was more of the fault of myself as the writer and not of the crew. If I ever write an anthology short story again, I think I have a better idea of what I'm doing. Like Matt, this was my first time with anthology. "Father, Forgive Me" Was funny as hell. I laugh so hard because I did see a lot of "Creepshow" in that footage. I knew of course that the daughter would be killed, but for a brief moment I thought when she begged her dead father to forgive her, I thought he/it might just drag her back to the house alive & scared saying "Now what did I tell you about letting strangers in the house." in a scolding tone, instead of chopping her head off, but I guess that would have been too comical for a horror flick. LOL! The werewolf one was the only one I wasn't interested in. I know Matt is on a limited budget, but to me the werewolf didn't look too much like a werewolf. The mask was too fake to me. Also I thought the scenes where you hear the werewolf coming to the house & growling could have been done better. The scene where the camera pans across the woods to the house was a great effect, but the growls didn't sound like growls to me. To be honest the growls sounded more like a man snoring to me. In fact, the snores were so contageous that I almost fell asleep when I head them. All & all though, not a bad film, and worth having in your Dark Night Films collection. Rob Gordon
Evil Deeds is the first film by Dark Night Films that goes the way of Creepshow. And according to Matt on the DVD, it may be the last. I think this is a shame, cause I really think this first horror anthology is a great start for something brilliant. Matt Spease as Director of segments like Forgive Me Father, Hell Beast, and Lamb To The Slaughter really puts his own unique spin on each story and makes each one exciting in his own way. Forgive Me Father has the distinction of being the only segment with any real nudity, the always sexy Lynda Huyck plays a pretty convincing role as Anna. Matt plays Mike, the scheming prick boyfriend and really shines in the part.. Daniel Ramme and Michelle Partlow both play their brief roles fairly well. The shocker of this story is seeing Charlie Spease (the drunk character of Jack from the EOQS films) as an undead slasher. It's hard to describe the color tone of this segment, it's pretty much the only segment that almost stays the same as the original. The gore is very sick, especially the crucificion. Matt's other segment Hell Beast is a very neatly done story, however I thought it was much too short, just as the segment gets really great... it's over :( The vibrant look of this segment is awe inspiring. Also the view through the Hell Beast's eyes is another brilliant touch. The stock footage that details Dan's story is very neatly done and it was great to see Lon Chaney Jr. in something new, some 32 years after his death. Then there is Lamb To The Slaughter, this segment is what makes this Recut version really worth it all. Steve Austin is super menacing as Max Bodine, even though his character spends more of his run time in the shadows, it's Austin's great line delivery that makes it something special. Brian Ramme is cool as usual as Detective Simms. Matt Spease is laid back and neat as the everyday man detective Frank Graham. Kaisha Johnson is a joy to watch in the part of Frank's ex-girlfriend and undercover cop Elisha Cooke. Rebekah Troup was cute as Frank's daughter, I loved Matt's lecture to her after catching her watching Night Of The Living Dead. The colors on this story are very much like those seen in the segment The Mental Patient. The gore in this segment is very slickly done. You can also tell where Matt Spease took over at points as the director from Isaak Partlow on The Mental Patient. Isaak's directorial style is slow and mythodical, but when Matt takes over the duties it's fast and furious. Brian Ramme (of Chameleon Killer) plays an excellent role as Detective Simms, the Doctor Loomis to Lynda Huyck's Michael Myers. And speaking of Lynda, she is superb as the psycho in this story. She's like a cross between Jack Nicholson and The Shape. The fight scenes (apparently staged by Matt Spease) are pretty awesome and relentless. The tone of this segment is very blue and dark, but it fits the whole story to a tee. The other director on the film is Bailee Arnett, who previously only worked with Dark Night Films as a second unit director on Dark World and Chameleon Killer. It's good to see her getting full reigns as a director on one of Matt's films. She does a great job setting up the mood on Vampire At Midnight. The only thing she needs to work on over Matt Spease as a director is her action scenes. You can tell this was her first try at staging a fight scene, where Matt has some great fight choreography in his films like Evil On Queen Street and Dark World, Bailee shows she isn't quite as adapt for that style of shooting yet. But her dialogue scenes with the vampire seducing the sick girl Miranda were very nicely done. This segment has a sepia type look of a silent film and it works well to set the tone. Also, gone is the annoying black bird, replaced by a strange mist. It works. Overall, I think it's a great film and is very worthy to be in any Dark Night Films fans collection.
When I first found out about this extended edition I wondered what more Matt could do with Evil Deeds.....My questions were soon answered. For one thing ,what a difference a new story ,and a few inserted shots can make :) I must say that this movie turned out better then I thought it would be considering the problems Matt had in making it. The no show plagued Mental Patient turned out pretty well. Isaak Partlow as Steven was a cool cameo by the director ,and set the plot in motion with him telling the Violet character about the nut on the loose. And with Lydia Allen as Violet ,it's funny that the actress that gave Matt so much trouble ,gave the best performance. :) Lynda Huyck as The Mental Patient as usual did an ok job.She shines when she switches to killing mode. And what more can be said about Brian Ramme as Detective Simms.He plays another great cop character in this one. The only thing that bothered me about this is why would Simms just pull out his gun to Violet like that.I thought that it should have been a little more sutle. Not really that different from it's earlier version ,except faded color which gives it a 70's style look ,as Matt was going for. One nitpick on it is that the blood on the floor should have been splattered a little better....But that's ok :) Vampire At Midnight had some cheesy things about it,which can happen in some vampire tales.(Not that that can be a bad thing) This is the best segment for acting ,and the worst for fight scenes.The fight between Bobbi and the Vampire looked a little sloppy. But overall it was an enjoyable tale. Another story that's pretty much the same except for 1930's style look ,I guess as a bit of a tribute to that Universal Monster era of that time One thing I'm glad to see go is the black bird effect...it got some unintentional laughs from some of the people I showed it to. I really think the mist works much better. Well since I wrote the screenplay for Forgive Me Father i'm not going to get into it too much ,but one thing that I wanted was the father to be right there when their making out ,and avoid that walk down the stairs. But I understand the need to increase the running time. :) As I said in the beginning what a difference a few inserted shots make....For one thing Mike has been turned into an asshole :) I must admit that I like this Mike better then the Mike I came up with ,and I'm the writer :) A very big improvement. Hell Beast seemed to give Matt the most trouble ,and it shows.It seems choppy in some scenes ,and is a little too fast paced. Casey and Harley's acting was my least favorite of the stories ,but it's there first time at it so it's understandable. I did like the werewolf attack scenes ,they turned out well. Another story is improved here....And even given a better title I loved the edition of The Demon ,and the stock footage added to the exposition that Dan was getting out. A few things had me wondering though....Was The Hell Beast David Kessler?....Why was The Demon even interested in this?....And was David Kessler even a Werewolf at all.....Maybe I'm just dense :) Lamb To The Slaughter:) The new story ,and in my opinion the best tale on this DVD. Steve Austin really stands out as Max Boom in this one....You'll forget all about Damien when he's onscreen...He's not to be typecast. Matt Spease as Frank comes off as a common man character in this one....Just the average guy....Which I think Matt was going for. I had to laugh at his character trashing horror films :) Brian Ramme is great as ever as Simms. Kaisha Johnson gives a great performance as Elisha. If this story is a sign of things to come ,then I can't wait to see what's ahead for Dark Night Films. All ,and all Matt should be proud that his hard work has paid off ,and this movie turned out good.
