DEAD & BREAKFAST (2004)

Thanks to another well known web site, the cover of this DVD box has got the following words written across the top: " …the US answer to Shaun of the Dead", so obviously I was looking forward to watching this zom-com from across the pond. How disappointed I was…..

So, we have a handful of friends travelling across country to get to a wedding. They get lost late one night and end up in some backwater American town needing to find a place to sleep (they are in a camper van, why do they need a hotel?) and get directed to the local Bed and Breakfast (can you see what they did with the title? How clever). So they check in and during the night the chef gets killed. This scene sets the tone for the rest of the gore: unlike most of the other deaths in the film, the actual act is not seen, however the after effects are only too obvious. They must have gone down to the local slaughter house to get all the blood that they needed. Obviously the newcomers are suspected and the local sheriff asks them to stick around until things are sorted out.
The owner of the B&B is an aging gentleman (David Carradine) who looks dodgy from the start, but only plays a bit part, which is a bit of a shame as I would liked to have seen more of him. It turns out that he has a polished wooden box in his room that he keeps as a good luck charm, believing that it will keep all bad things away and bring him good luck. So guess what happens when one of the hapless friends breaks into the room and knocks over the box? Go on, guess…

The story was very weak and as you may have realised from the opening few paragraphs, predictable. I never really got involved with the characters and didn’t really care who lived and who got massacred, as long as they DID get massacred and on this front my bloodlust was satisfied. Although the effects were a little wobbly at times, it was refreshing to see that all the viscera and claret were makeup and liquid rather than really cheap CGI that would ruin the film further. One scene that stuck in my mind was a particularly funny moment with a very bendy chainsaw and a neck. And that leads me quite well onto the –Com bit of the movie. Shaun of the Dead was funny. Very funny. This wasn’t. It had it’s moments (see above) but on the whole the jokes were poorly executed and about as hilarious as a self assessment tax form.
It’s not that I hated this film, it’s just that I was expecting so much more and was disappointed in all respects. Yes, there was a lot of gore and lashings of blood and it was funny in a few places, but it ultimately left me dissatisfied and not in a hurry to watch it again. As per most of my reviews, I would suggest that you get hold of this film and make up your own mind but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

There a number of extras on Anchor Bay's DVD including a couple of group audio commentaries with various cast and crew members including writer/ director Matthew Leutwyler, SFX supervisor Michael Mosher and key actors such as Ever Carradine and Erik Palladino. I usually look forward to the blooper reels which often get added to fill out the disk space, but in this case they weren’t very funny. There's also a few well deserved deleted scenes and extended scenes but, alas no making-of feature which would have been a nice addition to the package.