Richie
is not a vampire, but he is the sort of real-life monster who can suck the life
out of the people around him. His little sister Becca has been his primary
victim and enabler. She has put her life on hold to deal with his mental health
and substance abuse issues. Just when she thinks her brother can’t shock her
anymore, she finds herself face-to-face with two versions of Richie—one naked
and alive, the other dead and clothed. She is in for an even more chaotic night
than usual in Chris Bavota & Lee Paula Springer’s Dead D*cks, which screens during this year’s Blood in the Snow Film Festival.
Becca
had been thrilled by her acceptance into a graduate nursing program, but she
was unsure how to break the news to Richie. Then she walked into this mess. As
Richie semi-coherently explains, he kind-of, sort-of died by misadventure, but
returned via the awkwardly shaped portal that mysteriously appeared in his
bedroom. In fact, he quite irresponsibly repeated the process a few times—just
to see. That leaves several dead bodies for Becca to clean up before Matt, the
irate downstairs neighbor, calls the cops and the landlord.
Dead D*cks is a thoroughly
original genre film, but the terrible title is totally misleading. This is not
some kind of beer-swilling lad comedy with clones. There is a fair amount of
black humor, but it is deadly serious in the way it presents the impact of
mental illness and addiction on close family members. Yet, there is no
suggestion any of this is the product of symbolism-heavy delusion. The
fantastical stuff is very real in-world and it becomes steadily more real as
the full truth is revealed.
Jillian
Harris creates a harrowing portrait of emotional exhaustion and paralyzing
guilt as long-suffering Becca. Likewise, Heston Horwin is so relentlessly
convincing as Richie, the manipulative basket case, most viewers will want to
throttle him with their bare hands (but you can’t say his performance isn’t
effective). Special mention must also go out to Matt Keyes, who adds
surprisingly humanizing hints of empathy to the otherwise sick-and-tired
namesake neighbor. He gets some laughs and really helps keep things real (at
least until they go off-the-hook crazy).
Admittedly,
Bavota & Springer somewhat paint themselves into a corner, which forces a
clunky dismount, but let’s be honest: truly great endings are rare in horror
and related genres. It is much more profitable to focus on the 98% of DD’s that is fresh, sharp, and original.
It is small in scale, but it is still a bold film that definitely announces a
filmmaking tandem to follow in the future. Very highly recommended, Dead D*cks screens Saturday (11/23),
during BiTS ’19.