Customer Reviews

Death on Demand

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Playing like a bad mix of 'House on Haunted Hill' and 'Halloween: Resurrection' (yes, worse than 'Halloween: Resurrection'), we follow the story of three couples (including a couple football players, an emo lesbian, and a porn star. . . seriously) who are invited to the former home of amateur mountain climber & psychotic murderer Sean McIntyre (which might be the lamest name for a killer in the history of horror). Why? Because some rich guy (who looks like the prickish lovechild of Eli Roth and Colin Farrell) promised them $5,000 if they'd participate in his live-stream webcast at the haunted house. As expected, the ghost of McIntyre is brought back during a séance (why do I even bother?) and begins to stalk down his house guests.

Well, what's there to say? I wasn't expecting much here, and I got what I was expecting. This simply is not a good film. The premise isn't awful, I suppose. Worse ideas have made better films. But, though it's said too much: The execution was just plain bad. The writing was stale, clunky, and chock-full of clichés; and it wasn't helped by the laughably bad acting. Sadly, unlike many other modern straight-to-video horrors, the cast that kept their clothes on isn't even attractive enough to make up for their lack of talent. I will give the film one compliment: the gore FX were pretty good. . . even though the violence was unrealistic (I mean, severing a head with a kitchen knife? C'mon). The direction (by someone who'd previously been into 'Sesame Street' videos) isn't terrible, but it seemed he didn't know which way he wanted to go with it, as it blends hand-held, steadicam, and realistic video. . . then there are jumping camera effects (including some little girl with cataracts or something) in only one scene that never show their face again. One style would've done better. . . at least we could've depended on SOMETHING in the film.

Beyond some good gore/violence, there really isn't much else to see in this amateurish film. There's better gore and better violence in better films. No need to bother with this one.

Final Verdict: 2/10.

The movie opens with the McIntyre murders, a black and white scene of a guy killing his family, then himself. 20 years later the house becomes a scene for a reality show where contestants must spend the night in the house equipped with sound (screams) and cameras. The characters entertain us with some "good" cheesy dialouge. The contest takes place on Halloween night with live streaming. In order to get viewers, they add a porn star to the group. The group includes two rival football players and their girlfriends along with a lesbian who is paired up with the porn star.

The couples initially hold a seance lead by Daphne Ciccarelle who dabbles in the occult...now it is a matter of who lives and dies and whatever plot twists they can come up with.

I liked the overall "B" movie quality to this film. While it isn't anything new to the horror film genre, I enjoy rip off movies that are done well with characters and dialouge.

Sex, nudity (cutie Anne McDaniels, Krista Grotte)

I have no problem with a little sex and nudity in a horror film but this film was more like a soft core porno horror film. Not my thing. I liked the gore and blood but not the other junk.

Arrange a competition around surviving the night in a haunted house, and I will watch it. I guess that means I'm part of the reason why bad low budget movies like Death on Demand keep getting made. All is not a total loss here, though - sure, the acting is atrocious and the script is juvenile, but there's a decent amount of gore involved.

For any insane killer, there's always someone more than willing to exploit that person's crimes for material gain. Twenty years ago, ice climber Sean McIntyre returned home (after losing it on a climb and killing his Sherpa guide because he thought he was a Yeti) to his loving family, only to slaughter all of them and then hang himself. Now, a young entrepreneur has put together a Halloween night webcast in the house, giving one of three local college couples a chance at winning five grand - if they can solve all of the clues scattered around the place and find their way out. Eager to prove himself to his doubting father, he's somehow managed to replace one of the original contestants with adult film star Velvet Luv in order to sell more online subscriptions. Velvet is partnered up with an emo lesbian (whose voice is even more annoying than Fran Drescher's), while the other couples consist of two antagonistic football jocks (Biff and Brad) and their girlfriends. Brad and Biff epitomize all of the worst stereotypes you've ever heard about football players - and they dislike each other intensely. After a séance to call up the spirit of Sean McIntyre, the contest finally begins. It's fun to watch the reaction of the contestants' buddies back at the dorm, but the action inside the house is just stupid and boring. Of course, we all know what's going to happen to these annoying characters.

Apart from the gore, it doesn't look as if anyone made any effort whatsoever to make this a movie worth watching. This is truly a film that only a bad movie lover can possibly enjoy. Those without a weird sense of humor and a weakness for really stupid movies may find themselves fantasizing about the death of director Adam Matalon and everyone else involved in this embarrassingly bad film.

Some people don't understand the slasher genre. This is not a big budget hollywood production. It is a slasher film and you either "get it" or you don't. Sound is terrific. Acting is so-so. Have fun with it.

This is a cool story and has great visuals if you like a good horror flick!