TheDeadPit

The Dead Pit (1989)

The movie opens in an institution for those with mental problems, in other words a loony bin. Here one of the doctors is practicing a unique form of medicine on the patients. To use his own words when challenged by one of the other doctors, “I’ve done life, now I’m doing death”. In order to stop him and protect the reputation of the hospital the doctor shoots his colleague in the head and dumps him with his “experiments”. He then seals up the evidence in the hidden passages where they were committed to be forgotten. But twenty years later a mysterious young woman shows up without her memory, and as she does an earthquake shakes the hospital. Which of course reopens the sealed passageway and unleashes the undead doctor and his minions. Soon the revenge minded undead doctor and his zombie legions are roaming the grounds killing everyone they meet. But there is also an unexplained connection between the girl and the evil doctor. Does anyone get out alive? What exactly is the connection between the young woman and the evil? You will just have to check out this long overdue DVD to find out!

Many times after waiting for years to have something come out on DVD I am disappointed. It is human nature for things to be remembered better than they actually were or in the case of a movie I haven’t seen it won’t live up to the hype. Now I had never had a chance to check out the Dead Pit, though I have always remembered the neat VHS case with the zombie LED eyes. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw when I popped this one in the old DVD player. The story is an interesting take on a zombie movie. The story doesn’t always make sense and is rough in spots. For example how did the doctor “erase” the girls memory before he was even released by the earthquake? The movie also gets slow in the middle with too many extended scenes of people wandering around the hospital. But the beginning of the movie and the last 30 minutes more than make up for any of it’s flaws. When this movie gets going it is a blast to watch and is worth all the setup. Also the dialogue is fun in a cheesy way. In addition to the already classic dialogue there is another line that had me laughing my ass off. When one character is faced with a row of disabled cars he drops the wonderful, “For dead people they sure are smart.” When it comes to silly 80s movies it just doesn’t get much better than this.

The cast is surprisingly good. From veteran actor Jeremy Slate to newcomer Cheryl Lawson the whole cast does a fine job with what they are asked to do. This isn’t Shakespeare, it is a zombie movie, so the emotional range goes from sitting up screaming to running down the hall screaming. But I’ve seen this screwed up in so many other low budget horror movies that I appreciate it when it is done right. Also actress Cheryl Lawson is well cast in her role as Jane Doe. She spends most of the movie running around in her underwear and has the “assets” necessary for the role. Okay that was creepy, but in my defense it is true.

I have to hand it to director Brett Leonard he made a good movie on a limited budget. The location of the hospital is genuinely creepy and works to add atmosphere. This is only further accentuated by some of the nifty camera work in the film. The camera moves around quite a bit following the characters around. This makes for a movie that always has something going on visually, which makes for an interesting watch. Also while some of the effects work was perhaps a bit ambitious for the budget I give them an “A” for effort. You have several exposed brains, some decent looking zombies, an onscreen lobotomy thru the eye, and not one but two melting heads. Some of it is cheesy looking, but somehow that just works with the rest of this movie. Hell there is even some decent old school miniature work on screen for the exciting climax. One minor complaint is the obvious boom mic that makes an extended appearance on screen near the beginning of the movie. There are some things that can’t be helped with budget, but how did you guys miss this? But overall this movie is well made and with the budget this was shot under an impressive effort.

The Dead Pit is an excellent piece of 80s cheese that lives up to it’s reputation from the VHS days. Now I’m sort of disappointed that I never actually rented the movie instead of just playing with the VHS case on the shelf. But I’m glad that I have it in my DVD collection and recommend that everyone else who, like me, is a child of the 80s go buy it now.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer