Plot: What’s it about?
As a group of campers enjoy the great outdoors, a meterite careens down from space and heads right toward the planet’s surface. The meteorite soon crashes down pretty close to their campsite, which puts an end to the festivities. Two campers move in to take a closer look at the site of impact, which is quite a sight indeed. One of them bolts to grab a camera in order to document the event, while the other sticks around. Soon however, his guts are sticking to some sharp teeth, as an unknown creature has emerged from the impact and devoured him. As the other camper rifles through his tent, the creature hunts him down too and before he can even react, the blood is all over the place. The beasts, with razor sharp teeth by the hundreds, soon move toward a house and soon make short work of the residents. Meanwhile in the same house, a young man named Charlie tries to put a mean scare on Mille and Herb, only to be let down. But later on, Charlie and his friends put on costumes and head down to the cellar, in hopes of scaring an electrician who was supposed to be down there. The scare is on them, as they only discover an open toolbox, a severed hand, and a horrific creature with some wicked teeth. What are those hideous creatures and can they be stopped, or will the entire town be munched?
The horror genre has been about indies before the movement was cool, as well, most folks who want to make a horror movie don’t have much cash. Just write your treatment, round up your friends, get some chicks to show their titties, and rig up some blood drenched special effects, all staples that even poor productions can round up. As expected, a lot of these low rent movies turn out to be pure shit, but sometimes a golden nugget is excreted and without a doubt, The Deadly Spawn is one of the success stories. Shot on 16MM with a budget of just over twenty grand, this movie comes off as a slick, well produced motion picture. Not as polished perhaps, but still slick, thanks to some great production values. The draw here is with the gore and special effects, both of which are frequent and well crafted. The creature effects look incredible for this kind of production, with effective visual presence and movement. The filmmakers don’t get shy about blood either, so the red stuff flows often. The performances come off as bland, but that doesn’t concern me, as we don’t look to horror movies for great performances. The film has blood, great gore sequences, and some wicked creature effects, sounds good to me. Synapse’s disc has been in the works for a while now, but the day has arrived and fans will be delighted, as the studio has given The Deadly Spawn the royal treatment it deserves.
Video: How does it look?
The Deadly Spawn is presented in full frame, as intended. I’ve never seen an acceptable home video edition of this film, as the low rent 16MM elements haven’t allowed for one, but Synapse has ended that tradition. The print is in remarkable condition, with minimal grain and even less debris, to the point of disbelief. I think Synapse has cleaned up the print a lot, or just had access to newly found materials, as this flick has never been so clean and crisp. A few scenes have more grain than others, but the entire movie looks superb in this version. The colors are brighter than ever, while black levels have richer shadows and offer great contrast performance. I knew Synapse would reward fans with a fantastic new visual treatment, but this version surpasses all expectations and the label deserves immense praise for this release.
Audio: How does it sound?
The soundtrack isn’t as impressive as the visuals, but given the age and budget of the material, I think it all sounds passable. The audio here isn’t too crisp, but it sounds good and on the whole, I think fans will pleased. The music sounds good, with minimal distortion to report, while the various sound effects come through well also. No issues with dialogue, as it sounds clean and properly balanced at all times. This won’t replace your current home theater demo disc, but given the circumstances, this is a more than adequate audio option.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The first audio commentary track here is with director Douglas McKeown and several other cast and crew members, while the second track is with producer Ted Bohus. I found both to be worth a listen, though with more people involved, the first track was more loaded with comments, so silence was never an issue in that session. I was also pleased to find an alternate opening sequence here, complete with new effects and credits. This disc also includes audition tapes, a massive selection of still photos, talent files, a reel of outtakes, a fifteen page comic book style prequel, and the film’s theatrical trailer.
