The Dead Ones Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.0

The Dead Ones Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson December 31, 2020

The Dead Ones was written and filmed in 2008-2009 and has only recently made its debut on home video. The movie chronicles the dark aftermath to a mass school shooting and also flashes back to that fateful day. Director Jeremy Kasten explains in the audio commentaries that every time a distributor was about to put up money to distribute The Dead Ones in theaters, another school shooting would happen to put it on moratorium. While the original cut of the film was much longer, this version released by Artsploitation Films runs seventy-three minutes and apparently was approved by Kasten.

The Dead Ones opens with footage from the YouTube video, "Locker Room Dungeon Boy," which depicts a teen male being beaten up by his peers. The narrative picks up with headmistress/principal Ms. Persephone (Clare Kramer) driving four teens in a lemon-colored van to Arcadia High School. The quartet includes Alice “Mouse” Monroe (Sarah Rose Harper), Scottie French (Brandon Thane Wilson), Katie Foster (Emily Davis), and Louis Friend (Torey Garza). Kasten and screenwriter Zach Chassler borrow the plot of Hughes's The Breakfast Club (1985) by having Ms. Persephone take them to school where they'll serve their summer detention. But instead of just having them sit in detention hall, she's ordering them to clean up a big mess that they were a part of. The scenes in the present are all shot at night and because the school interiors don't have bright fluorescent or LED lights, they appear very dark. Instead, many of the lights don't work and others constantly flicker or appear as if they're about to go out. The school is a pigsty and would likely take several days to completely clean up. Production designer Jeffery Pratt Gordon notes in a disc featurette that the filmmaking team shot in an abandoned West Baltimore school, which was built in 1923. Why is Ms. Persephone having the juveniles work at night?

Editor Maxx Gillman crosscuts to outside the school where four individuals are clad in boss leather jackets and pants. They're dressed as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Famine, Pestilence, War, and Death. Before they stealthily enter the school, they're locking windows up and chaining doors. They also seem to be preparing to release gas through the air ducts. Gillman cuts back to the teens and we gradually learn about their pasts. For example, Scottie was bullied, which likely led to him becoming a bully. Mouse had an abusive alcoholic father (Muse Watson) who was once employed by the school. But there isn't much backstory to any of the characters. To the film's credit, though, Gillman uses parallel editing skillfully to cut back and forth between the nighttime setting and the shootings at Arcadia some time before.

A reunion at school.

Chassler and Kasten want to show and tell its audience how a homophobic and bigoted youth culture constructs not only a venomous environment, but also creates killers out of the haters. The problem is that the script is so wafer-thin that it doesn't allow the four principals to have any depth. It's not that they have to be sympathetic but the audience learns very little about their backgrounds and social pathology. The movie does a good job of demonstrating how desensitized they've all become but shows hardly nothing beyond that. Inasmuch as the editing is effective, the narrative structure is also the film's downfall. The Dead Ones becomes such a disjointed affair after awhile that the audience doesn't know where it's at. It also transforms into a zombie picture but even as it attempts to reach Romero's territory, it comes up short.

The Dead Ones Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Artsploitation Films has brought The Dead Ones to Blu-ray using the MPEG-4 AVC encode on this BD-25. It's presented in its originally filmed ratio of 1.78:1. Cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt shot the picture with RED cameras back in 2009 and it doesn't look as sharp (or clean) as more recent movies lensed with HD cameras. Black levels are deep but shadow detail doesn't stand out much in the multi-plane compositions and background shots. Orange, teal, and blood red comprise the main hues. Lighting is much brighter during the school scenes shown in flashback, which were shot in daylight. Overall, the image can look a tad soft. Artsploitation has transferred The Dead Ones at a mean video bitrate of 29691 kbps.

The 73-minute feature receives nine chapter breaks.

The Dead Ones Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Artsploitation has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (3832 kbps, 24-bit) and a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo downmix (448 kbps). Dialogue isn't loud but intelligible enough to discern. There's some good separation on the surround channels during gunfire and scenes featuring makeup f/x. Sean Murray's score adds to the film's surreal atmosphere.

Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available to turn on.

The Dead Ones Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Jeremy Kasten, Editor Maxx Gillman, and Executive Producer Niels Harboe - this recently recorded commentary features Kasten, his editor, and executive producer discussing the technical aspects of The Dead Ones in a full-length track. There aren't too many gaps and it's not only better than the movie, but more engaging as well. In English, not subtitled.

• Audio Commentary with Kasten and Cast - in a second commentary, Kasten is joined by actors Sarah Rose Harper, Brandon Thane Wilson, Katie Foster, and Torey Garza. The cast members share memories of the film's shoot from a decade earlier. The actors have a tendency to ramble and yack away so the chat isn't as good as the other track. In English, not subtitled.

• Jax Smith on Working with Elvis Jones and the Special Effects (5:07, 1080p) - production intern Jax Smith talks about working with special effects artist Elvis Jones, her love for Halloween, mermaid parades, how she met director Jeremy Kasten and got on the set of The Dead Ones, and her duties as a PA on the film. In English, not subtitled.

• Set Tour with Production Designer Jeffery Pratt Gordon () - Gordon gives a guided tour inside the old school that was used for the movie. He takes us inside the classroom/computer room, the grimy bathroom, science lab, the "Hell World" set, and his personal favorite, the frozen cyclone. In English, not subtitled.

• Artsploitation Films Trailers - a trailer reel for The Dead Ones, Dead Dicks, Welcome to the Circle, Red Christmas, and Blood Paradise. These play in succession when you click on the item's text.

The Dead Ones Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Dead Ones took over a decade to even make it to the small screen but delivers a bare cupboard in the area of character development. Some of its themes and masked characters recall Bryan Bertino's The Strangers (2008), which is superior to this film. Additionally, if you're looking for a post-Columbine film that attempts what The Dead Ones fails to do, I'd recommend Gus Van Sant's Elephant (2003). Horror fans also may want to check out Christophe Gans's Silent Hill (2006), which I haven't seen but other critics have often compared it to The Dead Ones. If Artsploitation Films wants to release more titles on Blu-ray with similar themes as The Dead Ones, it should start with Kim Ki-duk's One on One (2014). (I mention that with a somber note as Kim unfortunately passed on earlier this month due to complications caused by COVID.) At least Artsploitation released a disc with an above-average transfer, very good sound, two commentary tracks, and a pair of featurettes. RENT IT before considering a purchase.