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Dead Matter (film)

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The Dead Matter
Directed byEdward Douglas
Produced by
Written by
  • Tony Demci
  • Edward Douglass
Starring
Music by
CinematographyAlex Esber
Production
company
  • Midnight Syndicate Films
  • Precinct 13 Entertainment[1]
Distributed by
  • US: Hot Topic & Amazon (2010)[2]
  • Germany: Retitled as "Rage 2: The Dead Matter" BluRay-Disc.de & Amazon (2011)[3]
  • UK: OMG! Studios and Amazon (2012)[4]
  • Russia: Amazon[5]


Release date
  • July 30, 2010 (2010-07-30) (United States)
  • November 1, 2011 (2011-11-01) (Germany)
  • September 19, 2012 (2012-09-19) (UK)
  • March 6, 2014 (2014-03-06) (Russia)
Running time
89 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million[6]

Search Dead Matter (film) on Amazon.

The Dead Matter is a 2010 American horror and supernatural film starring Andrew Divoff, Jason Carter and Tom Savini. Directed by Edward Douglas from a screenplay written by Tony Demci and Douglas. Produced by award winning special effects masters turned producers Robert Kurtzman and Gary Jones[7], the film tells the story of a vampire relic with occult powers that falls into the hands of a grief-stricken young woman who will do anything to contact her dead brother.[8]

In 1996 music composer Edward Douglas, directed and scored a micro-budget version of ''The Dead Matter'', shot on S-VHS for under two-thousand US dollars.[9] After its release, he turned his attention to the formation and development of the Midnight Syndicate, which is an American musical duo which has been working primarily in the genre of gothic music based in Chardon, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The band refers to their CDs as "soundtracks for the imagination" or "soundtracks to imaginary films". Their songs are characterized by a blend of instrumental music and sound effects and are commonly used to provide atmosphere during the Halloween season, in haunted attractions, theme parks, and in the role-playing game industry. According to an article in Fangoria, the success of Midnight Syndicate's "soundtracks for imaginary films" caught the attention of horror filmmakers which led to film scoring opportunities. In 2008, the band scored and released the soundtrack to Robert Kurtzman's Rage (see The Rage: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). That collaboration with Kurtzman led to the creation of The Dead Matter (2010) movie (also scored by Douglas) and subsequent release of The Dead Matter: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.[10]

Plot[edit]

Zombies have taken over a small town in Germany, being held by Vellich (Andrew Divoff) who’s using an ancient magical relic scarab (artifact) which can control the dead. The scarab, known as the “Tear of Osiris”, is a mythical amulet worshiped by ancient Egyptians. It was believed to possess necromantic powers, also known as necromancy. Vellich who is vampire, is seeking to use it to control all of the dead. With Vellich about to get his wish, vampire hunters Ian McCallister (Jason Carter) and his friend Mark (Brian Van Camp), break in and steal the scarab from Vellich to stop him from controlling the Zombies.

A week later, McCallister and Mark have made their way to the United States, to a remote area in Ohio, however Vellich had followed them. While going to destroy the scarab at an ancient holy site, Vellich attacks Mark, drawing blood which starts to turn him into a zombie. With Vellich trying to control Mark through mind compulsion, he breaks his vampire spell and runs away while McCallister stabs Vellich with a cross. Vellich attacks McCallister and knocks him unconscious and discovers McCallister doesn’t have the scarab. Vellich soon finds Mark and kills him, however not before Mark hid the scarab from Vellich.

Soon after, a group had made their way to the ancient site. Gretchen (Sean Serino) decides she wants to hold a séance to contact her dead brother Sean (Kenyatta Foster) with the help of a Wiccan friend Jill (C.B. Spencer). Jill's boyfriend Frank (Christopher Robichaud) and Gretchen’s boyfriend Mike (Tom Nagel) unhappily go along with the plan. Frank then finds the scarab at the site and gives it to Gretchen.

Later that evening, Gretchen unwittingly activates the scarab during the séance and seemingly begins to wake the dead until Mike breaks the séance ring. The next day Mike encourages Gretchen to let her brother go, however she becomes obsessed with the scarabs power.

Vellich pays a visit to Sebed (Tom Savini), who is the leader of a group of vampires who are addicted to a drug-like synthetic blood which can transform vampires into junkies. Vellich warns Sebed that what he is doing is wrong. Gretchen begins to research the history of the scarab at the local library until she falls asleep and begins to nightmare about it. She wakes up and finds the scarab activated again and zombies following her. She gets away and returns home.

McCallister is now back at the ancient site looking for the scarab, while Sebed is using his drugs to hire his junkies to find out what Vellich is up to.

Back at Gretchen’s apartment, Mike and Gretchen are in bed together when Mark, who is now a full zombie, appears in their bedroom. Gretchen yells at him to leave. The scarab starts to glow and Mark starts to leave the apartment. That’s when Gretchen realized that she could control Mark through the scarab.

Unable to reach Jill, Gretchen and Mike take Mark to a local bar to find her. Frank doesn’t believe the story and tells Mark to come in to the bar and have a beer with him through the scarab while holding Gretchen’s hand. Soon after Mark walks in to the bar, sits down and starts drinking a beer. Frank doesn’t believe he’s real until Mike tells him to check for a pulse. After finding no pulse he realizes Mark is a zombie and tries to convince Gretchen to let him take Mark to the lab for testing. Gretchen refuses and takes Mark home.

Falling asleep at the apartment, Gretchen wakes up to find the scarab activated again. With food coming to life in her refrigerator and corpses coming to life in the morgue she tells it to stop, just as Vellich was sensing the scarab. Vellich was confronting Sebed’s vampire junky who was sent to find him. Vellich finds the drug on him, so he killed him. McCallister meanwhile is holding his own ritual to try and locate the scarab.

The next day, Frank stops by to run tests on Mark while Jill and Mike confront Gretchen about what she’s doing. Gretchen gets upset and leaves with Mark. Gretchen takes Mark out to get new clothes and spend the day with together like she used to do with Sean.

Mike eventually finds Gretchen sitting with Mark at Sean’s grave. Gretchen is begging Mark and the scarab to let her talk to Sean, however she gets no response. With Mark consoling Gretchen, Mark begins to chant “death is the answer” continuously. The scarab now activated again, both Vellich and McCallister sense the scarab while Gretchen is telling it to stop. Mark eventually stops and visits McCallister in a vision begging to be killed, which leads Mark to show McCallister where they are.

Returning to the apartment, Gretchen now agrees they need to send Mark back. Jill says it could be done with a disenchantment. While preparing to go to the séance, McCallister locates them in the apartment and sees his old friend Mark. McCallister warns them all that they are in danger.

Gretchen finds Sean in her bedroom, alive and well. Sean tells Gretchen that she called him back. Gretchen apologizes for causing his car accident which Sean says it was her fault. Confused Gretchen tries to step away, but Sean won’t let go. Jill walks in to the bedroom to find that it was actually Vellich and he was about to bite Gretchen and screams for help.

Vellich throws Jill and Mike across the room and continues to try and bite Gretchen. Mark enters the room and attacks Vellich, however Vellich attacks back. McCallister tries to stab Vellich through the heart and was about to hammer it through when Vellich used mind compulsion to control Mike. Mike then jumps on McCallister and Vellich gets away by turning into a cloud and fleeing.

Mark laying on the floor torn open by Vellich, McCallister tells Gretchen she needs to tell him to sleep, which she does. Mark is again dead. McCallister convinces Gretchen to give him the scarab, that it needs to be destroyed and she agreed.

Vellich also badly hurt, goes to see Sebed asking for a place to rest. Sebed seizes the opportunity to confront Vellich about the scarab, while withholding blood from Vellich. Sebed convinces Vellich to take his synthesized drug which Vellich appeared to do, however he again turned into a cloud and entered Sebed’s body. Vellich then killed Sebed from the inside. Sebed falling dead, the cloud exits him and re-forms into Vellich.

Back at Gretchen’s apartment Frank gets called in to work, while McCallister had returned to the ancient site to destroy the scarab. Gretchen falls asleep and has another nightmare in which Jill begins to chant “the answer is death” and the others kill Frank. Waking up, Gretchen tells the others they have to find Frank.

Now at the lab, Frank is helping the others get into their computers after they had been hacked. Frank discovers someone at the lab had been doing research into the scarab. McCallister meanwhile had started a ritual to destroy the scarab, which triggered a power failure at the lab. Gretchen becomes overwhelmed in pain. McCallister holds out the scarab out when it turns to dust. The others rip open Gretchen’s shirt to find the scarab embedded in her chest.

Angela is staring into Frank’s computer screen which had turned in to a purple cloud. She touches it and then runs out of the room. Ray goes after her to find her turning into a vampire. Returning to the lab room, Ray is confronted by Rebecca who is already a vampire. Gretchen collapses and Rebecca is confronted by Jill who’s holding a cross. Rebecca uses mind compulsion to control Frank, who hits Jill with a book. Meanwhile Angela attacks Ray and drains him of his blood.

Frank opens the blinds to cover Rebecca with daylight to kill her, however it doesn’t work. Frank learns that the lab really is producing the diet pill “Luxnul”, but the lab is being partially run by vampires. This is because the side effects of the pill are highly addictive to vampires and allows them to walk and survive in the daylight.

Preparing to bite Frank and turn him in to a vampire, Rebecca is confronted by Gretchen holding a cross. Gretchen, Jill and Frank escape. Rick returns with pizza, however is attacked and bitten by the girls. Calling McCallister, he tells them to meet at the ancient site while Rebecca and Angela walk out of the lab, freely in the sunlight. Angela is carrying Ray’s head and drinking blood out of it.

Meeting at the ancient site, McCallister is preparing a ritual to destroy the scarab that is now in Gretchen’s chest. However they are confronted by Rebecca and other vampires from the lab telling Gretchen that destroying the scarab will kill her. Gretchen and Mike try to run while Angela attacks McCallister, and Jill and Rebecca begin to fight. Mike is confronted by another vampire when Vellich appears and rips the head off of the vampire. Frank attacks Vellich, however Vellich breaks his neck and kills him too.

Vellich now goes after Gretchen to rip the scarab out of her chest when it zaps him. He soon realizes that the scarab has taken over Gretchen and she is in full control of it. She tells everyone to “stop” and realizes she has the power to not only control zombies, but she can also control vampires. She controls Vellich and tells him to pick up the cross and put it in his mouth, which he does until it kills him.

McCallister tells Gretchen she needs to move to the middle of the ancient grounds; however she refuses and is now controlling a dead Frank. She uses Frank to attack McCallister until Jill finds a gun and uses it to shoot Frank several times, including in the head which stops him. Gretchen however controls Jill’s own dead hair using it to strangle her.

With Gretchen having the full power of the scarab she uses it to raise the dead all around, including her dead brother Sean. Mike tries to get her to stop, however he is grabbed by Frank who brings him to Gretchen. The real Gretchen is still inside herself fighting to trying to stop the scarab from taking her over. It eventually works and she breaks the control of the scarab releasing the control over Frank and Jill’s hair.

McCallister grabs Frank and pulls him off of Mike, which allows Mike to put Gretchen in the circle. Jill then reads the spell to destroy the scarab, but it doesn’t work. The scarab takes over Gretchen again and rips Mike’s finger nails off of him. Jill puts her hand on the circle and reads the spell again which works this time creating a circle of light through the sky, however Gretchen had stepped out of the circle beforehand.

Still fighting, Gretchen again takes control of her body and apologizes to Mike. She controls enough of herself to allow her to step back into the circle of light. The light expands and disintegrates Vellich, Rebecca and Angela as all the awakening zombies collapse. Gretchen awakens to Mike crawling up to her in pain and Jill holding a dead Frank. McCallister stokes up a cigar to recognize his work is completed.

Director Edward Douglas can be seen in the closing seen checking his mail and seeing an ad for the weight loss pill (vampire drug) Luxnul.

Production[edit]

Prior to producing The Dead Matter, Kurtzman had established himself in the special effects arena, and later turned to directing and producing. His first project was From Dusk till Dawn, for which he wrote the original story, served as co-producer and created the special effects. In 2002 Kurtzman left K.N.B. EFX Group, the company he co-founded, and moved his family to his hometown of Crestline, Ohio, to start his own production company, Precinct 13 Entertainment.[11]

Having his production facilities relatively close to Douglas' Midnight Syndicate base near Cleveland, Ohio, Kurtzman and Douglas filmed The Dead Matter in multiple Ohio locations including Cleveland, Crestline, Mansfield and the Ohio State Reformatory. Filming took place between August 6, 2007 - September 1, 2007.[12] The Ohio State Reformatory (OSR), also known as the Mansfield Reformatory has been the set of multiple Hollywood films including Air Force One, Tango & Cash and The Shawshank Redemption. OSR is also well-known for its Victorian Gothic architectural styles and its own paranormal activity[13] which served as a well-suited dark backdrop for multiple scenes in the film.

On the night of August 20, 2007, filming of several scenes from the exterior of OSR featuring a large number of cast members and extras had to be delayed throughout the night and eventually cancelled due to torrential rainfall in the area along with flash flooding.[14] This was a concerning setback for a low-budget film.[6]

Music[edit]

The soundtrack album featured Edward Douglas' original score to the film, the darkwave song, Lost, by Gavin Goszka, two gothic rock tracks by Lazy Lane, and a heavy metal track by Hipnostic, all of which appeared in the film. Additionally, the soundtrack included a song inspired by the movie entitled The Dead Matter by the heavy metal band, Eternal Legacy[15] and three remixes of previously released Midnight Syndicate songs. One of the remixes, Noctem Aeternus (Masquerade Remix), was taken from the Destini Beard and Midnight Syndicate remix EP, The Dark Masquerade.[16] The Dead Matter - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Midnight Syndicate would go and win for Best Soundtrack at the 2011 Golden Cob Awards.[17]

Full Cast[edit]

Distribution & Marketing[edit]

In the early days of Midnight Syndicate, Douglas learned the hard way of the difficulties of getting albums distributed utilizing conventional methods. When Record labels and distributors rejected the band's first two CDs, Douglas turned to unconventional methods and began building his own distribution network by selling CDs out of his van with Composer Gavin Goszka and cold-calling hundreds of stores.[18][19] Douglas used those experiences for The Dead Matter and turned to Hot Topic stores to be the brick and mortar distributors of the film. Hot Topic released a special edition of The Dead Matter DVD which included two bonus CDs by Midnight Syndicate.[2] Additionally, the film was sold online at Amazon and the Midnight Syndicate website. Today Midnight Syndicate's CDs are self-distributed to thousands of retailers worldwide through Entity Productions, Inc. and its partners, making them one of the largest distributors of Halloween-themed music.[20][21] In addition to Dee Snider's Halloween-themed music act, Van Helsing's Curse,[22] Entity Productions also distributed the 2010 version of The Dead Matter movie.[23]

Release[edit]

Theatrical[edit]

The film debuted on October 3, 2009 at Tower City Cinemas in Cleveland, Ohio.[6] Additional showings occurred in horror film festivals around the United States over the next several years including Louisville, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta and at the 10th Annual Full Moon Independent Horror Film Festival in Nashville, TN May 13-15, 2011, where it won Best Film and Best Director.[24]

Home media[edit]

The Dead Matter was released in the United States on DVD at Hot Topic stores nationwide[2] on July 30, 2010, as well as on Amazon[25]. It was retitled as "Rage 2: The Dead Matter" and released on Blu-Ray & DVD media in Germany on November 1, 2011 distributed by BluRay-Disc.de & Amazon[3] It was later released on DVD in the UK on September 19, 2012, distributed by OMG! Studios and Amazon.[4] The UK version is Region 2 coded with an alternate cover. In 2014, the DVD made it to Russian distribution on March 6, 2014, also featuring a different take on the cover art.[5]

Reception[edit]

Critical Response[edit]

The Dead Matter scored a 41 on Rotten Tomatoes, however received high marks by critics of the B-Movie horror genre. Kevin Ranson with MovieCrypt.com noted, "you can’t help enjoy a movie that gets so much of the genre right (when so many get it wrong) while still managing to pull a few new rabbits of the old hat." Ranson continued, "The Dead Matter is a love letter to horror devotees as well as to Midnight Syndicate fans".[26] Stuart Conover of BuyZombie.com commented that the plot is "a little convoluted at times", however he further says that The Dead Matter deserves credit for, "taking every major aspect of the undead in horror today and twisting it all together to form a fun ride into an off the wall story." Conover finishes by saying The Dead Matter was, "a fun romp that feels like a throwback to classic horror films of days gone by".[27]

Hayes Hudson's House of Horror writer Scott Baker writes, "Let me start off the review by saying this is one visually beautiful film." Baker continues, "The sets and locations are right on, continuously helping to set the mood for each scene."[28] Karen Benardello from ShockYa.com noted that, "‘The Dead Matter’ starts off with an interesting concept, as it combines the two horror genres into one storyline." Beneardello added that Douglas, "was skillfully able to interweave a subtle moral into the story, which is unusual for a horror film."[29] Heather Drain of Cult Cuts Magazine cynically notes that, "Vampires and zombies are getting very played out, but having someone use these great mythic creatures for something a little out of the ordinary is needed."[30]

Michael Allen of 28 Days Later Analysis - The Voice of Horror says, "There are many elements in the picture which are appealing including: the use of many classic movie characters e.g. vampires, vampire hunters, zombies, the inclusion of curses, a rich visual display, and clever scenes e.g. a vampire attack shown primarily through a mirror." Allen concludes, "The list of quality elements continues and director Douglas shows his foundation in horror brilliantly in this first venture."[31]

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
2010 Golden Cob Awards Best Leading Actor in B Movies Jim O'Rear Won [32]
2011 Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards Best Independent Film The Dead Matter Runner-up [33]
Late Night Horror Film Festival Best Score Edward Douglas Won [34]
Best Cast Performance The Dead Matter Won [34]
Best Visual Fx Robert Kurtzman's Creature Corps Won [34]
Golden Cob Awards Best B Movie Soundtrack Midnight Syndicate Won [17]
Best Emerging Filmmaker Edward Douglas Nominated [17]
Nashville's Full Moon Horror Festival Best Film The Dead Matter Won [24]
Best Director Edward Douglas Won [24]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Turner Classic Movies Film Details Retrieved 2022-05-28
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hot topic: 'The Dead Matter' available. The Columbus Dispatch. July 30, 2010. Retrieved 2022-05-11
  3. 3.0 3.1 BluRay-Disc.de German Distribution Retrieved 2022-05-28
  4. 4.0 4.1 OMG! Studios UK Distribution Retrieved 2022-05-28
  5. 5.0 5.1 Russian Release Russian Release Retrieved 2022-05-28
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Washington, Julie (October 3, 2009) Horror movie produced in Ohio, 'The Dead Matter,' to premiere in Cleveland. Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2022-05-11
  7. Turek, Ryan (January 13, 2010) Indie Watch: Kurtzman, Savini & More for Dead Matter. Commingsoon.net. Retrieved 2022-05-11
  8. The Dead Matter AboutRetrieved 2022-05-28
  9. Darryl Mayeski, "The Dead Matter", Screem Magazine (Wilkes Barre, PA), Issue 17, Pg. 37
  10. Michael Gingold, "The Dead Matter: From Midnight music to a movie", Fangoria (New York, NY), Issue 295, August 2010, Pg. 6
  11. TRINITY OF TERRORS Guest Profile: Robert Kurtzman
  12. The Dead Matter Filming locations. IMDb. Retrieved 2022-05-11
  13. Paranormal Research Society - The Ohio State (Mansfield) Reformatory
  14. Reardon, Kelly (August 19, 2016) 2007 Flash floods in north central Ohio: Today in Ohio weather history. Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2022-05-11
  15. Eternal Legacy Band Releases Retrieved 2022-05-28
  16. DVD Review "The Dead Matter" Gregory Burkart, Fearnet, July 27, 2010
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 Golden Cob Awards Midnight Syndicate Retrieved 2022-05-28
  18. Scream Kings Jason Bracelin, Scene Magazine (Cleveland, OH), May 25, 2005, Pg. 10-13.
  19. Jennifer McKevitt, "Art of Darkness", News Herald (Mentor, OH), October 29, 2006, Sec. E, Pg.E1. Retrieved 2022-05-11
  20. John Horton, "Scary Music Writers Accomplish Their Ghouls", The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), October 17, 2006, Sec. A, Pg. A1.
  21. Carl E. Feather, "A little night music", Star Beacon (Ashtabula, OH), October 30, 2006, Sec. B, Pg. B1.
  22. "Shop". Midnightsyndicate.com. Retrieved 2022-05-11
  23. Mark Koestner, "Dawn of his Dead", News Herald (Mentor, OH), July 30, 2010, Pg. C10.
  24. 24.0 24.1 24.2 Nashville's Full Moon Horror Festival The Dead Matter Retrieved 2022-05-28
  25. Amazon Distribution Amazon Sales Retrieved 2022-05-28
  26. Ranson, Kevin (July 28, 2010) Review: The Dead Matter. MovieCrypt.com Retrieved 2022-05-11
  27. Conover, Stuart (October 11, 2010) The Dead Matter Review BuyZombie.com. Retrieved 2022-05-11
  28. Baker, Scott (October 1, 2010) DVD Review: THE DEAD MATTER (2010). Retrieved 2022-05-11
  29. Benardello, Karen (October 13, 2010) The Dead Matter Movie Review. ShockYa.com. Retrieved 2022-05-11
  30. Drain, Heather. The Dead Matter Cult Cuts Magazine. Retrieved 2022-05-11
  31. Allen, Michael. [1] 28DLA - The Voice of Horror. Retrieved 2022-05-27
  32. Geek Tyrant Golden Cob Awards Retrieved 2022-05-28
  33. Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards The Dead Matter Retrieved 2022-05-28
  34. 34.0 34.1 34.2 Late Night Horror Film Festival The Dead Matter Retrieved 2022-05-28

External links[edit]


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