FILM REVIEW: I NEED YOU DEAD! WRITER/DIRECTOR: ROCKO ZEVENBERGEN

13/4/2021

I Need You Dead!

Writer/Director: Rocko Zevenbergen
Starring: Estevan Muñoz, Sean Abplanalp, Tim Coyle, Evelyn Gail, Lloyd Kaufman

After a moment of total teenage angst, a young punk finds himself at odds with a psychedelic monster of his own creation.

In order to give what we believe to be a more unbiased constructive criticism of the piece, the members of Bloodhound Pix are tackling each review as a panel of three. None of the members know the others’ thoughts on the content until after they submit their initial response.

Initial Reaction to i need you dead!

K.  I Need You Dead! tells the story of Dood (Estevan Muñoz), a modern punk, who takes some psychedelic gummy bears at a house party which cause him to spawn a gross lump of talking flesh that screws his life up, something along the lines of Basketcase or Brain Damage.  It’s a bonkers gonzo throwback to 80s sleaze, Troma movies and Frank Hennenlotter flicks (see Basketcase and Brain Damage).  The aesthetic is made complete with an analog filter and 4:3 aspect ratio.  I was pretty excited to see this simple but silly setup play out in an ironic way.

But the film proper is disrupted by a meta-interlude where the filmmaker and his crew, played by themselves, share their opinions on the film so far.  It starts as a funny bit, but then develops into a parallel plot weaving back and forth between the film within a film, aka Dood and his evil buddy, and the filmmaker struggling to complete this low budget production as his cast and crew leave him hanging.

What started as a 80s sleaze fest morphs into a pitch black look at the descent of the filmmaker himself.  It’s a unique turn and one I totally wasn’t expecting.  While I applaud the bold choice, I don’t think it works.  We end up with almost three different movies, as the film itself bends to the twisted mind of the filmmaker growing darker and more incomprehensible.  So we have the 80s horror movie, the meta narrative about the filmmaker and then the resulting footage which consists of senseless violence and mayhem as his film falls apart.  One or two of these ideas put together may have worked, like the horror movie and a tongue and cheek look at the making of, or a film following a struggling filmmaker and how his psyche twists the film he’s making, but all three together results in an overlong and muddled movie which doesn’t really give us anyone to root for nor any satisfaction to speak of.

I can see why the filmmakers would be reluctant to fully commit to the lofi style of the Dood film within a film, but I think that would’ve been the most fun and crowd-pleasing way to go.  I think it’s safe to assume they probably didn’t set out to please any crowds here, fair enough, but then they’ve drawn people to the film with false expectations only to throw them a curveball.  You can pull that bait and switch, if you deliver something greater than anyone would’ve expected.  But if you don’t, then you’ve just pissed off your entire audience.  Not the best move.

C. Well, that was unexpected.

Lately there’s been a ton of nostalgia-based throwbacks to the 80s across all that is considered “genre film” to the point that it has become stale. Most of these 80s throwbacks are connected to the works of John Carpenter or… well apparently that’s it. So, despite my bias going into another one, I can say there was a refreshing element in the fact that I Need You Dead! focuses on another important 80s subgenre, sleezy (ex. Troma). It is fun, gross, doesn’t take itself an ounce seriously, and, like Hawk and Rev (which we reviewed a few months back), it could be the perfect stupid fun to take us out of the seriousness of the world. For the first thirty minutes we are given that, and like Troma movies it is critic-proof, because how can you criticize something that is already intentionally ridiculous and “bad”?

However, the major issue with the film comes from the meta story, as we find out what we’ve been watching is a film within a film. So the rest of the feature becomes us viewing the filmmaker slowly going insane, trying to make this movie, juxtaposed with degrading scenes from the movie he’s making. Which I’ll give credit for its uniqueness, since every time he loses a crew member, the quality of the film within the film goes drastically down. It splits at the seams with originality and ambition on a low budget. But ultimately too much is thrown in to make this convoluted in an unintentional way (there are points that it’s purposefully convoluted). While the movie comes to the end you wish it just followed the movie within the movie about Dood and the crazy monster that is connected to him due to a bad drug. It could also go the route of the filmmaker trying to make his movie and losing his crew but then it feels like a lot of Dood’s story could be cut, especially the shock of giving us thirty minutes with his story, only to remove us from it. One of them had to take priority and a singular tone needed to be maintained. Instead we’re left unable to engage (emotionally or purely for entertainment purposes) with one story or the other.

I give credit for what it’s attempting and there are many moments within it that are outstanding, stupid fun, and create an overall great time. I Need You Dead! sadly needed to find some grounding and restructuring in order to accomplish what it set out to do.

J.  This movie is gonna annoy a lot of you, let’s get that out of the way right now.  One of the unfortunate things for me was that the opening right up to a few moments after the “birth” of the monster was amazing.  Then… it’s gonna lose a lot of people.  I understand the point the director was going for but the juxtaposition of a “fictional film” with “real life” intercuts gets to be, well… annoying, especially when the fictional film is about a guy named Dood, who has a head monster that verbally berates him and other outlandish shit and then we cut to this ultra serious “mental breakdown” movie in the “real world.”  Be aware, the film has a lot going for it and also that the Troma influence is there, at least for a while and then in the second half things get...  well, conflicting and not really in a way that’s going to please most of you.

Response to I need you Dead!

C. I Need You Dead! is an ambitious film that tries to defy genre and audience expectations. It succeeds but comes at the cost of alienating both fans and non-fans of Troma-like movies. Also, in a period when everyone seems to be doing some kind of 80s “throwback” to the point of nausea, it’s great to see a movie flip that stylistic choice on its head to make a commentary on the industry’s current nostalgia-obsession. It truly gives us hope that the younger generations will strive to move forward with the artform.

Is it too long? Flawed? Does it bite off more than it can chew in trying to tackle this concept? Yes. But for a debut feature the movie showcases a unique voice that I hope to see more from.

J. We’re pretty evenly in agreement but I did forget to mention another very specific thing that will annoy the hell out of you… this film is AN HOUR AND FORTY-SEVEN MINUTES LONG! Seriously… it needs at least twenty minutes shaved off of that and it wouldn’t be difficult to achieve either. However unnecessarily long, the film is ambitious and there are moments that are batshit nuts but it’s just not going to work for most.

K. While I give the filmmakers credit for making bold choices here, and though some sections show promise, overall I don’t think the film was cohesive. But for those looking for something different than your typical nostalgia trip or commercial fare, it may be worth a look.

Bloodhound’s average score: 2 ½ out of 5

Bloodhound Pix is made up of: Craig Draheim, Josh Lee, and Kyle Hintz

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