The Dead Matter (2010)

Oh. My. God.I watched this movie for two reasons...Jason Carter and Andrew Divoff.What a pathetic and ghastly waste of their talents.Whoever put Andrew Divoff in this role, should give up filmmaking. Andrew Divoff is a lovely person (I've met him) and to see him so disrespected in such a silly role, with a cheap, doll looking wig, was disgusting.Jason Carter is endearing in any role, and Tom Savini seemed to be in his element, but what an appallingly disgusting waste of time and money...my time in watching it and the money blown that they'd have just been better off flushing down the toilet.I've seen child actors perform better than the lead actress. I'm not sure if she just couldn't​ act, or had taken far too much Valium before her performance, but...dang.If this is Midnight Syndicate's idea of making a movie, and this is what they consider an attempt at one, they need to just stick to music.Not even their music can save this absolute abomination.Avoid...by all means...avoid at all costs.

It's a bit weird to me when a movie that's less than a year or at least a year old passes me by, or that I've heard of it but haven't seen it. Case in point: last year's "The Dead Matter." Directed by Midnight Syndicate main man Edward Douglas, and a remake of sorts of his earlier film of the same name that was shot on camcorder, I had heard good things about this movie, with Fangoria, Arrow in the Head and FEARnet singing its praises. So, does it live up to the hype? For the large part, yes.The plot goes a little something like this: Gretchen (Sean Serino) is morning the loss of her brother, so she and her buddies-Mike (Tom Nagel), Jill (C.B. Spencer) and Frank (Christopher Robichaud) hold a séance to bring him back. Well, what do ya know, Gretchen finds an ancient relic that can bring back and control the dead. Thing is, two warring vampire lords-Vellich (Andrew Divoff) and Sebed (Tom Savini) want possession of the relic, and vampire hunter McCallister (Jason Carter) wants to destroy it.If there's anything that harms the movie, its the fact that the actors playing our heroes don't do a good job. Serino tries her hardest, but she's just not that convincing as our lead protagonist, no matter how hard the movie tries to make us care about her plight. Meanwhile, Robichaud is hit and miss as the science loving Frank-sometimes admirably goofy, but other times kind of flat, while Nagel and Spencer feel like they're just kinda there.Apart from that, "The Dead Matter" is a lot of campy fun, and one of those movies I find myself disappointed that I didn't see it sooner. A fun mix of Gothic atmosphere and tongue-in-cheek black humor, the plot and events usually play like Hammer meets a horror-comedy from the 80's ala "Night of the Creeps" with vampires and zombies. Speaking of which, the dead here are interesting-the zombified Mark (Brian Van Camp) is amusing with his drinking beer and other goofy antics that thankfully don't suck, but most of the dead here of of the more haunting, specter like variety ala "Carnival of Souls." I find it refreshing to see someone who thinks outside of the box instead of constantly feeding us the typical zombies eating yards of intestines type of movie.Also, while our heroes are bland, everyone else does a fine job. Divoff is a hoot to watch (bad fright wig and all), while Savini makes the most of his time as his vampire rival, and Carter is a lot of fun as the vampire hunter out to stop them. Oh, and while not a gore-fest, you still get some nice scenes here and there (including an awesome bit with a jaw being torn off), though I must say the director must also be commended for not going overboard with splatter.So, will "The Dead Matter" win any awards for originality? Probably not. It is however, a refreshing little sleeper that shows what plenty of gumption and can-do spirit can accomplish, and for that, I applaud it. Check it out if you dig your Gothic horror with a sense of humor.

McCallister and Mark, a vampire/zombie fighting duo are after Vellich, the ancient vampire leader, who has a scarab artifact in his control that allows him to have power over the undead and the forces of darkness. McCallister and Mark temporarily take possession of the amulet and are on their way to a mystical place in the Ohio woods where the unholy relic can only be destroyed. However, Vellich will try to get there first to prevent this and take back the amulet. While both parties fight it out at the magical location, they lose the scarab. Enter Gretchen and her friends the following evening, who decide to hold a séance in the woods at the same mystical place, to help her communicate with her dead brother. The group finds the artifact at the magical site and Gretchen takes it home with her. She soon befriends a zombie that comes to her apartment and she feels that her new found amulet and walking dead friend can help bring her deceased brother back. However, McCallister and Vellich both want to reclaim the relic and Gretchen's friends are concerned that she has set them all on the road to utter doom.The Dead Matter is a well executed movie with good directing and editing. Special attention is placed on the film's technical areas for smooth viewing throughout. The story is also quite involved, so the viewer will have to really pay attention to take in the different characters and sub plots that are going on to understand their connections.Midnight Syndicate, known for their Halloween and haunting, horror music CD's provides the soundtrack for The Dead Matter. The movie had some good eerie music in it, particularly the main title and end credits theme. Edward Douglas, the president and co-composer of Midnight Syndicate, steps into the film director's chair for The Dead Matter. He does a nice job using the camera to tell his story visually with good choices for shots.British actor Jason Carter delivers some fine acting and is well cast as a Van Helsing type vampire hunter named McCallister, who is after the scarab and tries to save Gretchen and her friends from the forces of evil. He is very intense in the role and his sharp features, European accent and old style clothing really embellish his performance as McCallister. Our main indication that McCallister really lives in the present day world is that he carries a cell phone with him.Horror genre favorite Tom Savini, the special make-up effects artist behind such scare classics as Friday The 13th, Dawn Of The Dead and Creepshow, has a small role in the film as Sebed, a modernized rival vampire leader to Vellich, and his old style blood sucking ways. Savini fans will enjoy seeing him acting in the movie. And fellow special make-up effects man Robert Kurtzman (formerly of KNB EFX Group) is one of the producers of the movie. Robert Kurtzman's Creature Crew provides the special make-up and visual effects for The Dead Matter.There are some creepy looking night exterior shots of the walking dead coming up the road and through the fields. In a few scenes, there is also homage to classic horror movies like Night Of The Living Dead, A Nightmare On Elm Street and others that fans of the genre should pick up on.An interesting scene that was chilling takes place when Gretchen and her boyfriend Mike try to get the zombie to help her communicate with her dead brother in the cemetery. Aligned with a jolting music cue, the zombie suddenly starts repeating in a strange sounding voice, "Death is the answer...death is the answer…death is the answer…death is the answer!"One particular humorous scene in the film occurs when friend Jill arrives at Gretchen's apartment and wants to speak with her but the zombie then walks over them. Jill eyes the zombie and turns to Gretchen, "We need to talk…alone." Gretchen looks at the zombie and then smiles at Jill and says, "Okay." They both then step away farther into the room.Frank (Christopher Robichaud), one of the friends in the group, is a scientist and IT specialist at Trilec Labs, which specializes in diet pill formulas. He is fascinated with the zombie and wants to study it and run scientific tests on it, despite his friend's objections. Frank's character provides most of the film's comic relief and black humor. The feature film was made in Ohio and hats off to the filmmakers for shooting the movie on Super 16mm motion picture film, a great format for low budget filmmaking and horror in particular. The Dead Matter is a fun movie to watch with a new storytelling take on the traditional vampire and zombie films.

Ooeey Gooeey Cheesy Goodness. Please SYFY, you MUST show this movie on a Saturday Night time slot. Gather your friends for a Beer and Pizza party and get ready to laugh your butts off! Scary? Parts. Comedic? Indeed. Hot Chicks? Yeah..especially the one ogling Tom Savini. GRRrr. Boobtastic. So, get off your couch surfing behind and watch this film full of 80's satire humor and some bad ass Vamps and Post-Mortem Americans! Did I mention the creepy minds of Midnight Syndicate scored this film and the ultra goth Edward Douglas directed? Well, Duh! Of course he did..what other kind of a mind could ever bring back exactly what we have been missing in the horror genre? Thank you Mr. Douglas. I owe you a coke.