Rating: 
Summary: Horror fans, meet the ultimate Scream Queen: Misty Mundae
Review: Screaming Dead is the first film release from Shock-O-Rama Cinema, the fresh, newly-relaunched horror-focused offshoot of ei Independent Cinema (most famous for its Seduction Cinema line of films). Anticipation and expectations were high among those of us in the know, namely the legions of Misty Mundae fans. The emphasis here is on the horror aspects of the film and not the erotic elements which have fueled ei's rise to prominence as an independent film company. One of the greatest things about this film is its potential to introduce more mainstream horror fans to the work of ei Independent Cinema; more importantly, it will introduce a new set of fans to the glory that is Misty Mundae. With her girl-next-door image, unquantifiable charm, down-to-earth radiance, and incredible talent, Misty Mundae has emerged over the last six years as the hottest, most adored B movie goddess in the business. Misty is famous, of course, for her long string of erotic films under the Surrender Cinema label, but this talented actress is now getting the chance to spread her wings and show audiences just how talented an actress she is. Devoted Misty fans should take note that you won't find Misty frolicking around in erotic scenes with her female costars this time around - there's some nudity, of course, and one scene with some definite tease quality, but don't go in thinking this is another erotic Misty Mundae film. The film itself probably deserves four stars, largely due to a rather hokey ending, but there are a number of wonderful extras included on the DVD, and the whole film is just so darned Misty-licious that I'm giving it five stars. Screaming Dead is a ghost story with a focus on the exploitation of women; it is in some ways a throwback to the vintage horror films of the 1970s and 1980s. Renowned photographer Roger Neale (my nominee for irredeemable sadist of the year) has found the ideal location for his next photo shoot - an abandoned mental institution. Legend has it that a fellow named Rossiter tortured untold numbers of young people in a secret basement, and this thought makes the unabashed sadist in Neale feel all tingly inside. All he needs are three young female models to exploit for his own perverted needs. This guy is so famous that he doesn't even pay his models, and we see his highly unusual interview technique early on as Bridget (Misty Mundae) is forced to sit naked and blindfolded while Neale tells her what he demands from a model (which can be summed up as "I own you"). Once he gets the girls to the location, Neale enforces his increasingly dominant will on them, going well beyond merely treating them like prisoners. On hand to cramp Neal's style is Sam Rogan, the real estate company's representative, and he turns out to be the girls' only hope for escaping the week-long photo shoot alive. The place really is haunted, you see, and Neale's perverted obsessions are just the fuel needed to feed the fire of old man Rossiter's eternal sadism. Joseph Farrell turns in an incredibly convincing performance as Roger Neale - few characters in the history of cinema have been as despicable, hateful, and sadistic; if ever a man needed to be taken behind the woodshed, it's this guy. Rob Monkiewicz is very effective in the role of Sam Rogan, and all of the young female actresses are great, as well (although Rachael Robbins' delivery sometimes feels a little forced). Naturally, Misty Mundae is superb and more than lives up to her scream queen credentials. Keeping in mind that Screaming Dead is a low-budget independent release, the special effects are actually quite good overall. A few of them look fake, and there was one editing snafu that jumped out at me, but by and large the movie boasts some pretty impressive special effects for a film of this nature. Will Screaming Dead scare you? Probably not. It does, however, offer loads of building suspense, a decent amount of gore, and the tried and true, crowd-pleasing use of assorted torture instruments on nubile flesh. The depth of the viewer's dislike for Roger Neale serves the film in very good stead. Anyone who mistreats a character played by Misty Mundae more than gets my dander up, and this guy is frighteningly good at being bad. The ending, as I mentioned, is not built to please, but overall, Screaming Dead is really quite a good horror film. As for those extras on the DVD, you get a featurette on the making of the film, a documentary on the true history of the Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey (where the film was shot), interviews with director Brett Piper and several cast members (including Misty), footage of the premiere showing of Screaming Dead at Fangoria's 2004 "Weekend of Horror" in New York City, a photo gallery of shots from the film, a nice little collectible booklet about the film, and trailers for the promising upcoming releases from Shock-a-Rama Cinema (all but one of which feature Misty). Best of all, though, you get From Skin to Scream, a documentary on the meteoric rise to stardom of Misty Mundae. Folks, it's all about Misty - that's the bottom line here. On a final note, let me address one issue surrounding the DVD release. The first 4440 copies of the DVD mistakenly contained an insert telling fans how they could get the unrated version of Screaming Dead (they should have contained a postcard offering the buyer a free poster). There is no unrated version of the film; those who happen to get such a postcard with their DVD certainly need to be aware of this fact.
Rating:
Summary: Horror fans, meet the ultimate Scream Queen: Misty Mundae
Review: Screaming Dead is the first film release from Shock-O-Rama Cinema, the fresh, newly-relaunched horror-focused offshoot of ei Independent Cinema (most famous for its Seduction Cinema line of films). Anticipation and expectations were high among those of us in the know, namely the legions of Misty Mundae fans. The emphasis here is on the horror aspects of the film and not the erotic elements which have fueled ei's rise to prominence as an independent film company. One of the greatest things about this film is its potential to introduce more mainstream horror fans to the work of ei Independent Cinema; more importantly, it will introduce a new set of fans to the glory that is Misty Mundae. With her girl-next-door image, unquantifiable charm, down-to-earth radiance, and incredible talent, Misty Mundae has emerged over the last six years as the hottest, most adored B movie goddess in the business. Misty is famous, of course, for her long string of erotic films under the Surrender Cinema label, but this talented actress is now getting the chance to spread her wings and show audiences just how talented an actress she is. Devoted Misty fans should take note that you won't find Misty frolicking around in erotic scenes with her female costars this time around - there's some nudity, of course, and one scene with some definite tease quality, but don't go in thinking this is another erotic Misty Mundae film. The film itself probably deserves four stars, largely due to a rather hokey ending, but there are a number of wonderful extras included on the DVD, and the whole film is just so darned Misty-licious that I'm giving it five stars. Screaming Dead is a ghost story with a focus on the exploitation of women; it is in some ways a throwback to the vintage horror films of the 1970s and 1980s. Renowned photographer Roger Neale (my nominee for irredeemable sadist of the year) has found the ideal location for his next photo shoot - an abandoned mental institution. Legend has it that a fellow named Rossiter tortured untold numbers of young people in a secret basement, and this thought makes the unabashed sadist in Neale feel all tingly inside. All he needs are three young female models to exploit for his own perverted needs. This guy is so famous that he doesn't even pay his models, and we see his highly unusual interview technique early on as Bridget (Misty Mundae) is forced to sit naked and blindfolded while Neale tells her what he demands from a model (which can be summed up as "I own you"). Once he gets the girls to the location, Neale enforces his increasingly dominant will on them, going well beyond merely treating them like prisoners. On hand to cramp Neal's style is Sam Rogan, the real estate company's representative, and he turns out to be the girls' only hope for escaping the week-long photo shoot alive. The place really is haunted, you see, and Neale's perverted obsessions are just the fuel needed to feed the fire of old man Rossiter's eternal sadism. Joseph Farrell turns in an incredibly convincing performance as Roger Neale - few characters in the history of cinema have been as despicable, hateful, and sadistic; if ever a man needed to be taken behind the woodshed, it's this guy. Rob Monkiewicz is very effective in the role of Sam Rogan, and all of the young female actresses are great, as well (although Rachael Robbins' delivery sometimes feels a little forced). Naturally, Misty Mundae is superb and more than lives up to her scream queen credentials. Keeping in mind that Screaming Dead is a low-budget independent release, the special effects are actually quite good overall. A few of them look fake, and there was one editing snafu that jumped out at me, but by and large the movie boasts some pretty impressive special effects for a film of this nature. Will Screaming Dead scare you? Probably not. It does, however, offer loads of building suspense, a decent amount of gore, and the tried and true, crowd-pleasing use of assorted torture instruments on nubile flesh. The depth of the viewer's dislike for Roger Neale serves the film in very good stead. Anyone who mistreats a character played by Misty Mundae more than gets my dander up, and this guy is frighteningly good at being bad. The ending, as I mentioned, is not built to please, but overall, Screaming Dead is really quite a good horror film. As for those extras on the DVD, you get a featurette on the making of the film, a documentary on the true history of the Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey (where the film was shot), interviews with director Brett Piper and several cast members (including Misty), footage of the premiere showing of Screaming Dead at Fangoria's 2004 "Weekend of Horror" in New York City, a photo gallery of shots from the film, a nice little collectible booklet about the film, and trailers for the promising upcoming releases from Shock-a-Rama Cinema (all but one of which feature Misty). Best of all, though, you get From Skin to Scream, a documentary on the meteoric rise to stardom of Misty Mundae. Folks, it's all about Misty - that's the bottom line here. On a final note, let me address one issue surrounding the DVD release. The first 4440 copies of the DVD mistakenly contained an insert telling fans how they could get the unrated version of Screaming Dead (they should have contained a postcard offering the buyer a free poster). There is no unrated version of the film; those who happen to get such a postcard with their DVD certainly need to be aware of this fact.
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