Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		3.0

The Dead Pit Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 1, 2022

If you were a certain age at a certain time, there were two VHS boxes at the local video store that stood out from the pack. The first was “Frankenhooker,” which featured a sound button that chirped “Wanna date?” when firmly pressed. It was fun. The film was not. 1989’s “The Dead Pit” also successfully worked a bottom shelf gimmick, offering a button that activated flashing green eyes on the cover’s lead zombie, attracting attention to an otherwise forgettable release. The green lights aren’t around anymore, but “The Dead Pit” has remained, with co-writer/director Brett Leonard (“The Lawnmower Man,” “Virtuosity”) trying to make the most of his helming debut, looking to use some Romero-esque undead action to fuel an extremely low-budget genre offering of terror. There’s gore and panic, but Leonard isn’t committed to a tighter edit of the endeavor, allowing padding to become the star of the show, not frightening situations of survival.

Jane Doe (Cheryl Lawson) is the newest resident at the State Institution for the Mentally Ill, tossed into a hospital with extremely sick people being cared for by Dr. Swan (Jeremy Slate) and his team. Jane is struggling with her memory, unable or unwilling to access her traumatized past, which has caused her tremendous problems in adulthood. Trying to make sense of her living situation, Jane is haunted by images of Dr. Ramzi (Danny Gochnauer), who, 20 years ago, used his privileges at the hospital to experiment on patients, tossing their bodies into a pit located inside a secret room. After an earthquake opens the sealed area, evil returns to the building, with Jane connected to the darkness, hunting for safety as her fears are ignored and the dead suddenly return to life.

The vicious ways of Dr. Ramzi are established during an introductory sequence, exploring his surgical fetishes and the creation of a pit filled with failed human experiments. “The Dead Pit” returns to the bad doc periodically, but remains with Jane for most of the feature, tracking the madness/awareness of the new arrival as she deals with bleak visions of horror, also undergoing treatment from Dr. Swan. His hypnotherapy attempts to unlock something inside the patient, but the writing is no hurry to get anywhere with Jane and her issues, preferring to follow the character around as she tours the facility. Leonard also gets lots of mileage out of her evening freak-outs, creating lengthy scenes of unreality to sell her burgeoning implosion. “The Dead Pit" is not a movie on a mission to thrill viewers, taking the slow road to suspense, which involves extended sequences of characters walking around the hospital or stuck in banal conversations, which does little to encourage excitement.

The Dead Pit Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Listed as a "2K scan from the original negative with extensive scene-by-scene correction," "The Dead Pit" comes to Blu-ray with an AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation. Color is indeed the highlight of the viewing experience, with the acid greens of the undead uprising coming through as intended, joined by washes of red lighting. Hospital interiors retain satisfactory whites and blues, and skintones are natural. Gore zone visits also keep their vivid hues. Detail is largely soft, lacking definition normally associated with negative work. Grain is blocky at times. Source is in decent condition, with some mild wobble.

The Dead Pit Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix suffers from age, presenting muddier dialogue exchanges that aren't always easy to follow (subtitles are not included on this release). Voices struggle with clarity, and sibilance issues are present. Scoring cues aren't better, providing a flatter sound for suspense sequences, without sharp instrumentation.

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

• Commentary features co-writer/director Brett Leonard, co-writer/producer Gimel Everett, and actor Jeremy Slate.

• Interview (10:55, SD) is an undated chat with co-writer/producer Gimel Everett (who passed away in 2011), exploring her entrance into filmmaking, offering to save the feature "Deadlock" with her partner, Brett Leonard, impressing the producer. Presented with a chance to make their own movie, Everett and Leonard wrote "The Dead Pit" in three weeks, and shot the picture in three weeks, speeding through the production process. With $350,000 for the budget, Gimel was forced to pull off a miracle, managing the troubles of a real psychiatric hospital used for the shoot, and the fatigue of unpaid extras and crew, who worked around the clock for Everett. Production struggles are recalled, and casting is celebrated, including the use of the interviewee's daughter for one gruesome kill. Everett also details her love of the genre.

• Interview (12:32, SD) with actress Cheryl Lawson examines how she initially get the job on "The Dead Pit," knowing nothing about the movie after she booked the gig. Lawson shares memories of her zombie interactions and identifies performance choices, though more emphasis is put on her nudity and limited wardrobe, which grew smaller after every washing. Stunts are analyzed and co-stars are assessed, while the location is praised for its authentic eeriness. The interviewee shares her pride in a Joe Bob Briggs award for "The Dead Pit," also recalling time with director Brett Leonard and struggles with the picture's low budget.

• Interview (21:07, SD) with director Brett Leonard reveals his position at a natural health food company when the opportunity came to support partner Gimel Everett, who was tasked to fix the action movie, "Deadlock." The hospital location is analyzed, helping to inspire Leonard as he pushed through the low-budget film. Casting is highlighted and production stories are shared, including the tale of his own cameo. Leonard discusses the success of "The Dead Pit" on home video, with the flashing lights cover helping rentals.

• Interview (13:35, SD) with actor Jeremy Slate tracks his career at the time of "The Dead Pit," making a living in soap operas. Born with a love of horror, Slate was influential in the making of the picture, and he recalls his fondness for the psychiatric hospital, helping to set the mood. For the premiere of "The Dead Pit," Wes Craves was invited to see the feature by Slate, who also describes his role in Brett Leonard's "The Lawnmower Man," which was restored in the director's cut of the movie.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:51, SD) is included.

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

Zombie activity emerges in the extended final act, and blasts of makeup effects and general gore helps the cause, but ugliness doesn't magically make "The Dead Pit" more interesting. Leonard struggles with his script (co-written by Gimel Everett), which is trying to pull off a major event of evil with very little money, and the run time (102 minutes) is unusually long for this type of B-movie entertainment, in need of pruning to tighten horror elements and storytelling. "The Dead Pit" eventually gets something grotesque going in the end, trying to provide a significant punch of grisliness and near-apocalyptic action as the players scramble to stop the flow of the undead. However, the conclusion of the film doesn't pay off the slow build of the material, it merely generates temporary excitement in an otherwise talky, needlessly overlong endeavor.