The October Zombie-Thon! - Day 28: The Dead Next Door
Posted by Trevor Snyder on 10.28.2006
Hey, look, a zombie film from Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell...sorta.
THE DEAD NEXT DOOR (1988)
Written & Directed by: J.R. Bookwalter Country: USA
One thing should be perfectly clear by this point in the Zombie-Thon: there will never be an end to homemade, low-budget zombie films from first time directors. You could speculate for hours all the different reasons why, but one thing is for sure; the genre has a knack for inspiring its fanboys to go out and attempt to make their own zombie epic. Despite the fact that this ultimately results in a number of pretty horrible films, I'd have to say it's a good thing, overall. It shows that the fun spirit of the zombie genre, and its fans, will never die.
Plus, if one is willing to ignore all the unwatchable garbage that comes out of this trend, they will notice that many of these films are indeed some of more truly creative entries in the genre, and often the ones that offer a new spin on tired concepts. That's only appropriate, if you think about, since the film that kick-started the modern zombie craze, permanently removing cinematic zombies from their voodoo-based roots, was itself a low-budget film from a first time director. You've probably heard of it; it's called Night of the Living Dead, and it went on to do pretty well for itself.
Of course, the majority of these homemade living dead flicks are done simply for the filmmaker's love of the genre, and their inherent cheapness is quite apparent in the final product. The director simply does the best with what he or she has, and oftentimes the onscreen results, although ambitious, are nonetheless disappointing. It would be great if these amateur filmmakers could get even the slightest little bit of an assist from, oh, say, a true master of the genre. But, really, how often does that happen?
Well, at least once, apparently. In 1985 a young Ohio horror fan named J.R. Bookwalter began work on a low-budget film, eventually receiving some financial aid from none other than Sam Raimi, who was fresh off the success of The Evil Dead. Raimi used some of his pay for the upcoming Evil Dead II to fund Bookwalter's vision, and 4 years and $750,000 later, Bookwalter's The Dead Next Door was complete.
Although he is in un-credited, the film nevertheless gives a nod to its benefactor by naming its main character Raimi. Raimi is a member of the "Zombie Squad," a special zombie-fighting unit put together by the government an epidemic of flesh-eating zombies swept the globe and nearly decimated the entire population. Raimi and his fellow squad members are sent on a mission to Ohio, where the zombie plague originated, to see if they can find the lost serum that caused it and, in turn, discover a way to stop it. Tagging along is Dr. Moulsson, a shifty scientist who, in true zombie-movie fashion, cares much more about his work than the well-being of his protectors.
The Zombie Squad's mission hits a snag, however, when they encounter a strange cult, led by the mysterious Reverend Jones, who think the zombies are God's work and now worship the living dead creatures, going out of their way to preserve their existence. If you've been reading the Zombie-Thon and this sounds somewhat familiar, it should; the same idea was later used (perhaps stolen?) in the far-less entertaining Shatter Dead. Anyway, when one of the Zombie Squad's own members, Mercer, is bitten and infected with the zombie virus, it's up to Raimi and the rest to battle the cult and race against time to find the cure.
Now, despite Raimi's involvement and the money he gave the production, don't be fooled for a moment into thinking this isn't a cheapo affair. Shot on Super 8, The Dead Next Door looks and feels about as low-rent as you can get. The funds Raimi provided certainly didn't go into the film's apparently non-existent lighting budget, nor were they used to employ decent actors. It's not like I was expecting Academy Award worthy performances or anything, but man, this group is bad. Perhaps that's why lead actor Peter Ferry doesn't even get his own voice into the film. Instead, he is dubbed by Ash himself, Bruce Campbell. Although whether this was done to mask Ferry's limited abilities or simply because Bookwalter couldn't resist the gag of having Campbell provide the voice for a character named Raimi, I'm not sure.
Even when The Dead Next Door reaches above and beyond its fellow low-budget zombie film peers, it's still never really remarkable. For instance, don't get too excited for what the DVD box hails as "the spectacle of zombies on the White House lawn." I suppose the shot in question is somewhat impressive, given that Bookwalter was actually able to film outside the White House; I think it's safe to say that wouldn't fly today. Still, I can't help but point out that it's far from the "spectacle" promised by the synopsis, and more like a very brief shot of some guys in make-up crawling on the White House fence.
And, of course, The Dead Next Door suffers from the most common sign of a low-budget zombie film – the incessant need to reference other, better-known films and filmmakers. This is a trend that continues even today (as evidence by yesterday's film, Stacy, with its "Romero Squad" and the "Bruce Campbell Right Hand #2" chainsaw), but The Dead Next Door had it down-pat even back in 1988. Not only is our hero named Raimi, but we also get characters named Savini and Carpenter. And, in a moment that is either incredibly lame or an instance of inspired humor, depending on your mood, a zombie in a video store attempt to rent notable horror films like Dawn of the Dead and The Evil Dead before devouring the video store clerk. Although you may initially smirk at some of these references, the constant hitting-you-over-the-head-with-references approach grows tiresome fast, and is definitely one thing that future low-budget filmmakers should learn to go easy on (since Bookwalter made this back in 1988, I'll cut him a little slack).
What The Dead Next Door does have going for it is the sheer enthusiasm of Bookwalter, who is obviously a huge horror fan out to make a movie for fellow huge horror fans. No amount of Sam Raimi's money was going to buy Bookwalter any more talent as a director, unfortunately, but what he lacks in the technical aspects, he more than makes up for with the film's inventive story and his obvious love of the genre, which is so evident that it practically pours off the screen. This was obviously a labor of love for Bookwalter – my attention span barely allows me to concentrate on anything past an hour; imagine working on one movie for four years – and that love is pretty contagious when watching his film. Maybe it's not a perfectly polished film, but it has the same kind of "watching a first-time director and his friends learn what they're doing as they go along" kind of charm that films like Night of the Living Dead and The Evil Dead share.
And then there are the gore and make-up effects, which are the film's true attraction. Let me put it this way – when watching The Dead Next Door, it begins to become perfectly clear where the majority of that $750,000 went. For a film that is lacking in just about every other visual and technical standpoint, the effects here are great, and luckily Bookwalter keeps them coming at a pretty rapid rate. Not only do the zombies themselves look far better than you usually get in a low-budget film, but there are a few truly creative and unique gore moments mixed in with the usual biting and flesh-ripping, including a cool zombie "melt-down" and a ingenious sequence in which a severed head bites a man's fingers off and we watch them come out the head's neck.
Although The Dead Next Door seemed to suggest a prospective promising career for Bookwalter, he has unfortunately since gone on to helm a number of crap films with titles like Robot Ninja, Zombie Cop, and Humanoids from Atlantis. Perhaps a return to his roots is needed to bring back the potential hinted at here. I'm sure Raimi could part with some of that Spider-Man money he has laying around, right? C'mon, Sam, let's give Bookwalter a real budget for The Dead Next Door 2 and see what the guy can really do.
The 411: All in all, The Dead Next Door is a flawed and perhaps overly-ambitious film, but nevertheless an entertaining one. Far from being one of those unwatchable messes that give the genre a bad name, this is one of those rare cases of a low-budget, independent zombie movie actually reminding you just how exciting such a film can be if in the hands of a passionate, enthusiastic director with a true love of the genre. And if nothing else, check it out just for the gore effects, which are some of the most impressive you will ever see in an independent production.
