(Editor’s Note) At the time of this review,  DEAD HUNT is in talks  with a distribution company for a release. Due to his pedigree in the sub-genre of slasher productions, Mr. Kerswell got an advance screener copy of the movie, complete with all the extras. Once a deal has been cemented, I will post a link as to where it can be purchased.

A Detailed Review by Guest Reviewer Justin Kerswell

Starring: Dennis Hill, Sara Cole Pittore, John Patrick Barry, Colleen Taylor, Joe Ripple, Ann Marie Barbour, Justin Timpane, Leanna Chamish, Ben Schyan, Angela Watson, Andrew C. Ely, and special guest appearance by George Stover.

Written by Eric Martin Strauss

Music by Justin Timpane

Produced, Photographed, and Edited by Don Dohler

Directed by Joe Ripple and Don Dohler

This 2005 Baltimore lensed psycho-thriller utilizes the classic slasher template of isolating a group of people in an enclosed space—here, a large warehouse—and eliminating them one by one. Legendary low-budget impresario Don Dohler’s final film, which he co-directed with Joe Ripple, gets a worthy, extras-packed Blu-ray release.

In what has been compared to the Vincent Price movie THEATRE OF BLOOD (with the killer’s motive at least), a group of movie reviewers (and a Scream Queen) are invited to a party hosted by the webmaster of a horror film website. However, they find they are locked inside a booby-trapped space with a killer in black with a huge knife, who starts to whittle the partygoers down in gory fashion. 

As to be expected with a film at this budget point, there are a few rough edges, but it’s easy to look beyond them as it’s so much fun trying to work out who the killer is. Talking of the killer, their look is a doozy, with a balaclava, red face paint, and black-rimmed eyes (designed to obscure their identity), resembling a cross between a ninja and some kind of Kabuki performer from hell. Performances vary, but the cast is clearly having fun, and they drive the action forward in the grand slasher tradition with some great cat-and-mouse scenes. 

The image quality on the disc is as good as the source material will allow, given its SOV origins, and this is surely the best the film will ever look. The film’s low-fi—but still often effective—CGI effects also place it firmly in its mid-2000s time frame. Sensibly, these CGI effects are used to accentuate the action (some blood and signs within the film) rather than anything more ambitious and phoney-looking. The film also features a good splattering of old-school gore effects. 

There are two audio commentaries on the disc. The first is with co-directors Joe Ripple and Don Dohler (who also produced it). This commentary was recorded shortly before Dohler’s untimely passing in 2006. The pair discuss the film and the challenges of low-budget movie-making, especially filming over a two-year period. Ripple details how he had to step into an acting role at the last minute after an actor dropped out after one day of filming. They point out the visual sleight-of-hand they used to cover the ever-growing baby bump of a pregnant actress. They also note that the person who played the killer was a registered nurse, which could have proved useful if anything went wrong during the shoot.

The second commentary is a cast one from 2023, hosted by Robert Long, who also worked on the film. It is for the extended 94-minute version, featuring extra, alternative and extended scenes that Dohler trimmed down for his original cut. The difference in volume of the individual tracks can be a little distracting, but it is still fascinating to hear three of the actors look back at making the film nearly 20 years previously. They amiably chat about the shoot and what they and the other actors are up to today.

Also included on the disc are a blooper reel, stills gallery, trailers, deleted and extended scenes, two featurettes (including a making of) and even footage from the film’s premiere. Few other slashers from this time at this budget scale have anything like the love and care put into its special features.

BODYCOUNT: 13 5 Females 8 Males

1) male: gutted
       2) male: eye torn out
       3) female: electrocuted
       4) male: throat slit
       5) male: throat slit
       6) male: stabbed
       7) female: burned alive
       8) male: stabbed
      9) female: machete to the head
     10) female: stabbed
     11) female: shot
     12) male: shot
     13) male: shot

UK native Justin Kerswell is a world-renown expert on slasher movies. For over 25 years, he has run on of the most extensive websites on the genre, The Hysteria Lives.UK. With over 600 reviews of everything under the Sun that relates to Stalk-Hack-Slash movies. He and the crew of The Hysteria Continues Podcast have hundreds of shows on Youtube, and have done dozens of commentary tracks for horror movies for such distribution companies like Vinegar Syndrome. His world-wide celebrated book on slasher movies, “Teenage Wasteland” is now in its second printing. Check out the links below for more of this fascinating individual.