The Dead Matter

The Dead Matter
Directed by Edward Douglas
Produced by Robert Kurtzman[1] and Gary Jones
Screenplay by Tony Demci and Edward Douglas
Starring
Music by Edward Douglas
Cinematography Alex Esber
Edited by Edward Douglas
Production
company
Release dates
  • July 30, 2010 (2010-07-30) (DVD)
Running time
 89 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $1.5 million

The Dead Matter is 2010 American feature-length horror film by filmmakers Edward Douglas of Midnight Syndicate, Gary Jones, and Robert Kurtzman.

Synopsis

Gretchen (Sean Serino), a young woman, becomes desperate to contact her brother after his passing. She discovers an amulet that allows her to control the dead—which she uses to try and contact him. The amulet also allows results in the calling forth of a small army of zombies, comedically called "Post-Mortem Americans" in the film. This amulet is a sought after relic, pursued by two feuding vampires who have been at odds for millennia: Vellich (Andrew Divoff) and Sebed (Tom Savini). After encountering the vampires, Gretchen and her friends are joined by the vampire-hunter McCallister (Jason Carter), who had originally stolen the amulet from Vellich. McCallister helps Gretchen and her friends combat the villains, and the film ends with a final showdown between the protagonists and the vampires.[3][4] The film was called a "vampire-zombie hybrid movie" by the Columbus Dispatch.[1]

Production

Filming

The film's premise was derived from a student short film shot in 1996 for $2000 at John Carroll University. Filming on the professional release version began in the summer of 2007 at the abandoned Mansfield Reformatory in northeastern Ohio—the same location as the film The Shawshank Redemption.[1][2][5] The production budget for the film was about $1.5 million, raised from investors in the State of Ohio. Edward Douglas directed the film, which was produced by Robert Kurtzman's company Precinct 13 Entertainment. A rough version was screen-tested in early 2008 before the film was sent to editing.[6] The Dead Matter is the largest film ever to be funded and filmed entirely in northeastern Ohio. The majority of the cast and crew were also from Ohio themselves,[2] including the cast, a crew of seventy people, and about three dozen extras playing the role of zombies.[1]

Music

During the lead-up to the film's release, the Midnight Syndicate named their 2008 album The Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates as a marketing technique. The final soundtrack, composed by Edward Douglas, was released in 2010 as The Dead Matter: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.[6]

Release

The official premiere of the film occurred at the Tower City Cinemas in Cleveland, Ohio on October 3, 2009.[7] After this the film was shown at film festivals and fan conferences around the United States, before being released as a direct-to-video property. The film's DVD-release was on July 30, 2010, and was heavily promoted and featured in Hot Topic retail stores. A trailer for the film was posted on the Hot Topic website as well. The DVD and soundtrack CD were both included in the original package release. A week prior to the release, the film was shown at the Geauga Theater in Chardon, Ohio—the same movie theatre that the director saw his first ever movie, at the age of five, thirty years beforehand. Further screenings were held after the release in Indianapolis, Chicago, Atlanta, and Louisville, Kentucky.[8]

Reception

Killer Reviews wrote of the film that, "Its production values are good enough to keep us involved and the film knows well enough not to take itself too seriously which only adds to the enjoyment factor," and mentioned the film's "clever dialogue".[4] Movie Crypt wrote that the film was "a script that is clearly from a horror fan writing for horror fans".[3] Fearnet wrote that "The Dead Matter is an ambitious effort for a first-time filmmaker, but I’d say Douglas and company managed to accomplish their goal of transforming Midnight Syndicate’s sense of spooky Halloween fun to a visual medium. The writing is economical, and seldom bogs down with talky exposition; the plot is revealed in stages, and it’s only baffling when it’s intended to be."[9] Other reviewers noted the film's maintaining of more traditional vampire types, in comparison to the more "glittery" vampires of other films released in the 1990s and 2000s.[10] In October 2010 Fangoria Magazine named the film its DVD of the month in October 2010.[11]

Cast

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Who needs Hollywood? Vampire-zombie flick is pretty much an all-Ohio production". Columbus Dispatch. August 27, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 "A ghoulish business: locally funded vampire movie wraps in Northeast Ohio". Inside Business. October 1, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Review: 'The Dead Matter'". Movie Crypt. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "The Dead Matter". Killer Reviews. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Hollywood horror flick comes to Northeast Ohio". NBC 3 Cleveland. August 30, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Carl E. Feather (October 7, 2008). "Syndicate ready for Halloween". Star Beacon. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  7. ↑ Jeff Niesel (October 4, 2009). "At private screening, cast and crew relive making The Dead Matter". Cleve Scene. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  8. ↑ Julie Washington (July 17, 2010). "'The Dead Matter,' Hot Topic stores strike lively distribution deal". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  9. ↑ Gregory Burkart (July 27, 2010). "Review: The Dead Matter". Fearnet. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  10. ↑ Craig McGee (August 25, 2010). "Film Review: The Dead Matter (2010)". Horror News. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  11. ↑ "The Dead Matter DVD of the month". September 22, 2010.
  12. ↑ "The Dead Matter". IMDB. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
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