Customer Reviews

Dead and Breakfast (Unrated Edition)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

After finding this film on sale at a local DVD store, and reading the cover which proclaims that "Dead and Breakfast" is the US answer to "Shaun of the Dead," I had to pick this up for myself. I hadn't heard anything else about this film at the time, but being a huge fan of "Shaun of the Dead," and cheesy horror flicks in general, I bought it on a whim. While the aforementioned statement might be slightly misguided, "Dead and Breakfast" is certainly worth a viewing or two.

While on the way to a friend's wedding, six youngsters carpooling in an RV end up deciding to stop the night at a small town bed-and-breakfast. This bothered me right off the bat. They're in an RV, why stop and rent rooms? Nonetheless, they stop to sleep for the night in Lovelock. By morning, the two locals working the property are dead, and the six renters find themselves at the top of the suspect list and unable to leave to attend their friend's wedding. A mystery regarding the inn's owner and his son's untimely death gradually unravels. An evil spirit inhabiting a box within the inn has been unleashed and now resides in the body of Johnny (Oz Perkins), one of the band of six.

The body count mounts as Johnny converts more and more souls to his cause of death, destruction, and mayhem, leaving the remaining five friends and a few other of Lovelock's stragglers fighting for their lives. They batten down the hatches and pick off as many possessed as they can from the confines of the inn, a la "Night of the Living Dead," making weapons out of whatever they can get their hands on. In the meantime an all-knowing drifter (Brent David Fraser), the sheriff (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and Melody (Gina Philips) are seeking to get to the heart of the matter by visiting Lovelock's cemetery.

This film has lots to offer to the light-hearted and uncritical horror/slapstick fan. The gore is unsurpassed, and the laughs never let up. The acting is pretty darn good in comparison to other films of this genre. Furthermore, there is a Greek-style chorus (Zach Selwyn as Randall Keith Randall, a gas station attendant) singing rhyming country interludes throughout the films entirety, which, though odd at first, is a hilarious addition to the movie. Nods to previous horror films abound, and any genre aficionado should be able to appreciate that.

Dead and Breakfast may never be up for any fancy awards, it may be a little thin on plot, and may not be, in my opinion, as good as "Shaun of the Dead," but it is still great fun for anyone who can appreciate a jovial romp through puddles of oozing viscera.

What can you say about "Dead & Breakfast"? I picked this up at the store not knowing much about it other than it had a cute title, clever holographic packaging, a few decent reviews and a young, appealing cast. I can say that the charms, unfortunately, of the actual film are relatively limited. Pretty standard fare, really--I didn't necessarily dislike it--I just felt that it was so obvious in its intention.

This film wants to be cool. It was designed to (hopefully) be a cult classic. It wants you to revel in its self-aware kookiness. But that's just the problem. Taking its cues from so many better movies, this is a self-indulgent and unoriginal mess. The cast and filmmakers seem to be having a good time--you know this was a party set. It seems as if they feel that they are doing us a great service by letting us in on the joke. Well, I've heard the joke--so don't do me any favors.

I'm not saying that there aren't some amusing moments--how can you fail with redneck zombies? And musical numbers are always fun. And the TV-ready cast will be familiar to many, even if you can't always place from where.

The movie imagines that it's "Evil Dead 2," but it lacks real cleverness. It works slightly better as a comedy than anything else, but it's hard for me to imagine anyone being captivated by this. KGHarris, 10/06.

Dead and Breakfast has to be one of the most off-the-wall, oddball, horror-comedy splatterfest I've seen in quite awhile. The only thing I can think of to compare to would be Peter Jackson's Dead Alive. Some think this also has a feel of Raimi's Evil Dead II, but even Raimi's splatterflick had genuinely scary moments to balance the comedy.

I first read about Dead and Breakfast from Aint-It-Cool-News. I read that it was suppose to be some sort of zombie comedy and America's answer to the excellent British romzomcom (romantic, zombie, comedy) Shaun of the Dead. Well, that was all I needed to hear. I bought the dvd once it was out for sale and I have to say that it got the comedy part right and somewhat the zombie part. The zombie's are more like spirit-possessed people. I saw no gutmunching and limbs being ripped off unless it was the zombies themselves being hacked and chopped to pieces. Dead and Breakfast didn't skimp on the gore and splatter gags. And for a low-budget film most of the gags and gore-effects were pretty well done. But outside of the gore and blood there really wasn't anything scary about the movie to help balance the over-the-top comedy side of things. When I say over-the-top I mean it. There's a whole sequence of zombies busting out into a country line dance number all the tune of a trio of a rap-country zombie band doing a set on-top of an RV. I must say that this movie is weirdly funny.

The acting is typical of most low-budget horror flicks. Though I'm surprised that the quality isn't abit higher with a few young actors who have done better work such as Gina Phillips, Jeremy Sisto, Erik Palladino and David Carradine. I think the actors couldn't decide whether they should act just funny enough and serious when it came to be serious or just be over-the-top. I think if they all just went overboard with their performance it would've added more to this film. If I had to pick a stand-out performance then I'd have to say Erik Palladino's character of the boorish David would fit the bill. He seemed to know that the dialogue wasn't meant to be taken seriously and any of the scenes. He seemed to be one who was having the most fun on the screen.

In the end, Dead and Breakfast is one of those movies that will be seen as a cult hit on the midnight circuit. It'll do well for those Mystery Science Theater 3000-type of movie nights where people watch and add their witty comments with much beer to be had. I really think alcohol consumption would make watching this film a more enjoyable endeavor. There's not much scares to be had for a horror movie, but it sure has a belly-load of laughs, gags, and bloody slapstick.

Take a nap before you watch it or else you'll fall asleep like me. I like a good goofball horror flick as much as the next guy, but this one is just a wannabe. It had potential with the comic book scene transfers and musical undertones - both elements which i liked and thought were quite creative - however, i just couldnt get past the horribly annoying and retarded characters, like the deputy - uggg! That first gore scene where dude's eating the pie in the kitchen did manage to squeeze a giggle or 2 out of me, though. So there are a few laughs and some decent effects, but for the most part the attempted slapstick is just too corny for my tastes. And not that it always matters in the horror genre, but the dialogue and script were just awful and contrived too. I give it a couple stars for the gore but I might suggest you rent this one before purchasing. Who knows, it might grow on me like Cabin Fever did. Word up

The cast alone makes this movie worth seeing--there's barely a face you won't recognize--Portia de Rossi, John Carradine, the guy from Drew Carey, billy from Six Feet under and Wrong Turn, the girl from the first jeepers Creepers. As for the movie itself, in the first half hour or so, I thought it was a bit too slapstick, but you really have to go with it, because that's exactly what it is--an all out comedy. It's not even so much a "parody" of other horror movies as it is a horror premise that has non-stop humor. Sure, you can see some of the horror nods--Evil Dead 2, Carrie, Creepshow with its comic book still shots--but this movie is totally over the top. Think the airplane movies with a horror theme and buckets o' blood. The entire movie is scored with a sort of hillbilly group and a singer who is basically the narrator of the movie, and he steals the show with his campy lyrics and expressive faces. And, if you get the unrated version, do expect a whole lot of cheesy blood and gore. This one is definitely one I could watch again and again, particularly with groups of friends.

Had I known that there was going to be some tiresome country & western, rapping Greek chorus guy popping in every few minutes and singing I never would have watched this movie.

What's even worse than the guy beating on a bucket while surrounded by dancing zombies is how clever this movie thinks it is...it's not.

If you're a True Horror Fan who wants his/her horror filled with hate, graphic violence, perverse sex and talent then skip DEAD & BREAKFAST. If you looking for something light then watch RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD again instead.

When a character utters the line, "This is like a bad horror movie," you know it's either a blend of horror-comedy, or just a really bad movie. In this instance it's both, but with just enough action, gore, comedy and casting to keep it from being unbearable, and may even more.

You've heard, read, and seen it before...group of young, attractive 20-somethings - Kate (Bianca Lawson - Save the Last Dance), David (Erik Palladino - U571), Johnny (Oz Perkins - Legally Blonde), Christian (Jeremy Sisto - Wrong Turn), Sara (Ever Carradine), Melody (Gina Phillips - Jeepers Creepers) - goes to hick town and stays at a B&B owned by Mr. Wise (David Carradine) where an evil spirit in an ancient Chinese box is accidentally released.

Mostly gore (tons of gore) and gags follow, enough oddball moments and jokes to entertain - and spur the unfortunate comparisons to Shaun of the Dead - and enough respect paid to the horror genre, mainly of the zombie variety, that aficionados will be pleased with the results. Most mainstream audiences will probably not enjoy the movie, but the bizarre moments (e.g. a severed head ventriloquism routine and a bumbling voodoo spell) should keep most until the end. Add in a homage to Creepshow and a country-rap fusion by Zach Selwyn who serves as the film's narrator, and it's an experience, despite a subpar script and moments of questionable acting/directing - that starts slowly but builds towards an enjoyable end.

Jason Elin

The tag line on the inside cover of the movie (left off the lenticular slip cover) says: "Dead & Breakfast. It's Like a Bad Movie...Only Worse!" They get a second star if only for truth in advertising.

The cover also says "The best independent horror movie of the year" and "...The U.S. answer to Shaun of the Dead". Well, Shaun of the Dead was a 2004 movie and this movie doesn't come anywhere near that level.

The jokes are flat, often slapstick, but also very often difficult to notice as jokes at all. The acting is bad (fairly normal for a horror movie) and the plot is basic if not bad. There are a bunch of scenes in the movie which make no sense whatsoever...the kind of stuff that should've been left on the cutting room floor. If that was suppose to parody horror movies, they missed the mark. The best thing about this movie is the gore which is so-so at best.

Another reviewer said that the hope that this movie will get better makes it worse to experience...that is almost exactly how i felt. Except by a third of the way through it was clear to me that it wasn't going to get better. I watched the rest out of morbid curiosity. I've seen a number of really bad horror movies. I even enjoy some of them. This was boring, plain and simple. Barely watchable and simply not funny at all.

There may be people who like this movie...there is a very country feeling to it. It may appeal to country music fans and people who like Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy kind've humor (frankly I'm surprised they didn't show up as cameos in the movie). The rest of the world should steer clear of this. If you want more of Shaun of the Dead....this is nothing like it! Not even Mystery Science Theater good.

It was good to see David Carradine again. A star for him, the best actor in the movie.

Wow, what an entertaining flick. It's got gore, talking zombie hillbillies, bloody murder, a rap country singing hill billy, an Asian voodoo curse, hot babes, David Carradine, and superficial city folks all caught up in the mix. I don't thing a horror film has been this funny since "The Army of Darkness". It even has the same premise of an evil spirit possessing the living. If you liked
"Shaun of the Dead", you might like this, though they are different from each other. Go watch it for Halloween, NOW!!!

Cover says, americas answer to shaun of the dead! Sorry but shaun of the dead was good! I could watch it over and over. This
movie just down right sucks. Do yourself a favor and don't waste
your money.