The Dead Next Door: 20th Anniversary (DVD)

The Dead Next Door, originally shot in 1985 and only released on video prior to its big 20th anniversary treatment on DVD, is the story of us versus… us. The undead us, anyway. It’s your standard humans against flesh-eating zombies fare, but perhaps has a little extra oomph since Sam Raimi helped fund it and offered guidance to its fledgling filmmakers.

As an homage, writer/director J.R. Bookwalters named a character after him (the others have names like Romero, King, Jason, Savini and The Reverend Jones) and riffed lightly on Raimi’s Evil Dead style (he borrows much more heavily from Romero’s zombie palette). However, it should be noted that the auteur covered his buns by adding the following statement to the reel: “The story, all names, characters and incidents portrayed in this production are strictly fictitious and any similarity between this and persons living,

dead, dying, undead, brain-dead or just sleeping is purely coincidental. Sorry!”

The story starts right off in the melee as bloodthirsty deadies lumber in lockstep, arms extended, mouths and eyes gaping. Their sloughing skins ooze with goopy makeup effects, while their human counterparts burn through the budget blowing stuff up.

Our heroes are The Zombie Squad, with fearless leader Raimi (Peter Ferry) front and center as they uncover the secret that leads to an evil religious sect fronted by the Reverend Jones (Robert Kokai) who’s using his whacked out son Jason (Michael Todd) as a shield.

The effects are schlocky, the acting is atrocious, and the scares are silly… but the love of the labor shines through, making for a reasonably entertaining time in front of the tube. Although I’m not a big zombie fan, I must say I liked some of the more innovative little touches (ardent sign-toting protestors for “zombie’s rights”, and a zombie who can actually speak thanks to an electronic voice box manipulating his decaying vocal chords).

This 20th anniversary disc is sure to be a must-have for zombie completists. It’s got a casketful of extras, including a funny making-of featurette in which the cast and filmmakers share their fondest memories of making the movie all those years ago. (My favorite anecdote is about the DP, who was forever known as “The Prince of Darkness” after his first set of dailies came back from the lab!) There’s also vintage film with new commentary showing what went on behind the scenes, over-the-movie directors’ commentary, and deleted scenes.

= = =

Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson