Blu-ray Review: Dead Shack (2017)

August 9, 2018

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

A family heads out to the woods for a lil’ camping R&R with their pal, the meek Jason (Matthew Nelson-Mahood), in tow. Once there the kids, Summer (Lizzie Boys), Colin (Gabriel LaBelle), and the aforementioned Jason go on a trek through the woods while the former’s parents get trashed. As they press on, they discover a house deep in the woods…a house inhabited by a seductive woman (Lauren Holly) who just so happens to feed unsuspecting victims to her zombified husband and kids. After a series of misadventures…i.e. shitty sleuthing involving Summer and Colin’s massively inebriated father (Donavon Stinson), the gang find themselves BD in the horror biz as the zombie plague spreads and they are the only thing standing in it’s way. Yeah, two teens with ‘tude and one nerd against the forces of the undead…we may be fucked here folks!
Dead Shack is one hell of a horror comedy my creeps! The cast o’ “kids” in the lead roles are flat out amazing and have a natural chemistry that really shines through…which keeps us well and truly engaged until we get to what we really came for; namely the ghoulish gory goods! On that front the film offers what you would expect; namely bloodthirsty gut munchers, plenty of spilled red sauce, and some good ol’ splatter. Adding to the fun are solid performances from Holly, and Stinson and Valerie Tian who are a scream as the drunken party obsessed couple in charge of our young heroes, slick cinematography, and a nice pace that deftly balances the horrific with the “ha-ha”!
As for special features on this Blu-ray release, things are rather light. We get a behind the scenes featurette and a trailer. I can safely say that if this one were re-released with more bonus material I would happily double-dip, but this release is worth picking up based on the strength of the feature alone…
Bottom line, if you are looking for a horror comedy that delivers on the “horror” quotient, is filled with characters you actually give a damn about, and is a solid spiritual successor to flicks like The Monster Squad then enter the Dead Shack post haste!
 

 


 

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