Highly Overrated But Still Good

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Blistering performances.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

****SPOILERS****It was when the righteous and caring Dr. Gerald Swan, Jeremy Slate,did what was he thought was to be a good deed for all of humanity by blasting the crazed and diabolical Dr.Colin Ramzi, played by Danny Gochnauer in his first and last film or TV appearance,between the eyes when he tried to-like he did to all his victims -lobotomize him you would think we've heard and saw the last of the mad Dr. Ramzi & crew. That after Dr. Slate sealed him and his victims in the basement of the mental hospital that he worked in. But some 20 years later after a typical California earthquake the sealed door to the basement was ripped opened and the doctor and his Zombie victims were loose to inflict evil on the world at large.This all happened when pretty and confused Jean Doe, Cheryl Lawson, was caught wondering around town suffering from a serious case of amnesia and committed to the hospital that Dr. Slate ran to get her memory back. It soon turns out that Dr. Ramzi, with a bullet hole between his eyes,and his band of Zombies are now on the loose and out for blood as well as hearts livers and brains of the patients as well as staff of the hospital and nothing is going to stop them until they get their bellies full. This leads Jane Doe together with the cute and cuddly mental patient Bud Higgins, Michael Jacobs, to try to escape and warn the local authorities of what their facing in a full scale Zombie invasion of their community.****SPOILERS*** Far too extreme and disturbing for most movie goers to watch especially those with weak stomachs the "Death Pit" is short of story but loaded with gore and valiance that makes it successful in the long run with the blood & guts crowd. There's also the side story of the pretty Jean Doe,who gets to show us her boobies in a violent shower scene,connection to the hospital as well as the crazed Dr. Ramzi -who's considered the most brilliant person in the world of modern medicine by his former boss Dr. Slate-that will blow your as well as Jane Doe's mind. Just when Dr. Ramzi and his Zombies are about to take over the mental hospital as well as surrounding community fate lands a hand in stopping them cold with the only the one thing that could :A bottle as well as buckets-from the hospital water tower- of water blessed by an inmate in the hospital Sister Clair,Geha Getz,who knew what Dr. Ramzi was all about and what was necessary to stop him and his roving band of flesh eating and blood drinking Zonmbies.

I saw "The Dead Pit" first time some 15 years ago and since late at night on television. I couldn't remember the title until few years ago, and recently I manage to find it on DVD.Surprisingly magic is still there. Without getting too much into plot, movie is about doctor who performs illegal brain surgeries until his college kills him for moral reasons, sealing him into his "Dead Pit". Twenty years after, Jane Doe (girl who lost her memories) comes into the very same hospital. Soon after, earthquake crack the wall of "Dead Pit" and good old doctor comes back to life, unleashing his horde of undead.I don't know why many people complain about this movie, seems they are forgetting that this is '80 low budget movie (times when literally everything you thought of could be put on screen). It's a descent '80 zombie flick, bit unusual because of it's narrative style and nightmarish atmosphere it has. It was a first feature of now well known director Brett Leonard, who manage to capture otherworldly atmosphere in what is now considered cult classic. His obvious influences are Wes Craven and his Elm Street (director acknowledged this in audio commentary for Dead Pit DVD). Story gets bit spread here and there, but it never gets too confusing nor it tries to be more then it actually is - a low budget horror flick.Altho movie starts bit slow (but it has some nice scenes to keep you interested for the first half of the movie), it really comes to life in second half when all hell breaks lose and zombies start to rampage through asylum. Characters aren't deeply developed, but they are interesting enough to keep you watching at screen (good looking Cheryl Lawson helps in that department. Did I mention she walks around in her underwear most of the time?)SF goes from terrific to silly, but most of the time, they are looking quite good, especially when it comes to gore scenes. It's bloody and will satisfy every zombie fan, because FX here have all the necessary requirement for good zombie gorefest. Highlight of this little flick are cinematography, which was really well done and music score, which goes from moody to creepy. (Cheryl Lawson looks are also big highlight of this movie.)Bad: Some scenes are bit longer then they should be, some plot elements that aren't really needed and bit corny ending, and "innovative" way of killing zombies that might cause laugh for hardcore zombie fans.Overall, it's a descent flick, worth checking out if you are fan of horror movies and for some reason you haven't seen it already.

The Dead Pit 1989 (*VHS "R") – Directed by Brett Leonard An evil doctor that experiments on his mentally ill patients is entombed in the basement of an abandoned wing. 20 years later, an amnesia patient known only as Jane Doe (Cheryl Lawson), arrives. An earthquake breaks the seal releasing the doctor to continue his dirty work. The dead patients also rise to wreck havoc.The biggest complaint I heard from other reviewers was about Lawson's acting ability, which I do not think is that bad considering this is her first feature. She is not Scream Queen material though and would be better suited for a Lifetime movie. (She won acting awards for this role and has since had a long career as a stunt woman). And why is she running around in her underwear? Not only would this be considered unethical treatment for patients, but since when are bikini panties standard issue? She would be wearing granny undies. One size fits all… This movie suspiciously looks a lot like Nightmare on Elm Street, which was released 5 years prior to this. Our Jane Doe looks identical to Elm Street's heroine Nancy Thompson. And the scenes where she is running in a dreamlike state evading the evil man in her dreams… But what really made me take notice was the scene where she is following her recently deceased friend only to be lead to Freddy, uhhh….I mean the evil doctor.This venture was a bit disappointing for director Leonard (Lawnmower Man, Feed) especially considering he co-wrote the script. There are a few script problems that should have been tweaked during script rewrites. Why do the doctors and nurses speak to patients like best friends? If there is limited funding for this mental institute, then why do they admit someone with amnesia and other minor illnesses? How likely is it that not one, but two patients are snooping around and solving mysteries? The biggest problem is that I guessed the surprise ending early on in the film.And while the film touches on controversial subjects like performing illegal lobotomies on patients, but never digs deep enough to leave a lasting impression on the viewer. There were a few scenes cut from the R rated version I watched such as an open brain surgery. Hopefully these scenes will be added in the upcoming DVD release.What stands out in the film are the top notch special effects provided by Ed Martinez. The zombies were the most exciting part of the movie although they come late at the 67 minute mark. You know the fun starts once the zombies emerge from the dead pit bald, rotting, and slimy. The patients later learn that a little bit of holy water goes a long way and we are treated to many melting faces.My favorite scene was toward the end when the "good" doctor (played by the late Jeremy Slate) walks down a hall hearing this disgusting gurgling, choking noise. When he enters the bathroom, it is covered with blood and the nurse walks towards him looking not so hot at the moment.Overall, I think they didn't try hard enough in the first part of the movie. With 2 writers on board, they should have been able to make a clever script with cool dialogue. They have a mental institution, a nun, amnesia, zombies, etc and they still struggled to make it interesting. Maybe they could have shown the orderlies and nurses being abusive towards the patients to make the first half of the film more dramatic and the zombies killing them in the second half bittersweet. Or why not add more religious themes since they had the nun patient blessing holy water? And if they insist on making Jane run around in panties, then why not sleaze it up to make it more fun? There were several different directions this film could have gone, but seemed to just tiptoe around the subjects instead of tackling them head on.Favorite Quote: None. The dialogue was lackluster. And shamefully, it wasn't even goofy enough to make me laugh.Extras: *This was the VHS version with no extras other than a few trailers at the beginning. (It won "The Best Video Box of the Year" by Entertainment magazine when it was first released). A special DVD release is in the process now with SFX artist Ed Martinez providing commentary and SFX extras. Commentary has already been recorded with director Brett Leonard, producer Gimel Everett, and the late actor Jeremy Slate. See the Ed Martinez Interview with HorrorYearbook for details.To hear about the upcoming The Dead Pit DVD release and the unfortunate passing of actor Jeremy Slate, read distributor Code Red's Blog here: http://www.codereddvd.com/nublog/.Bottom Line: A must see for Leonard fans interested in his filmography. Has some noteworthy scenes, but fails to be controversial or very scary.Rating: 7/10 Molly Celaschi www.HorrorYearbook.com

I certainly consider myself a fan of eighties horror, zombie flicks and low budget films; and so I figured that put me in good stead to see The Dead Pit; a low budget eighties zombie film - but alas, due to a complete lack of originality and overall poor execution, this film is more boring than your average cult schlock flick. As if the overlong and turgid running time isn't enough to put you off; the fact that the film is completely humourless in the face of it's low budget heritage, and the way that it takes an eternity for a very, very simple plot idea to finally deliver anything at all that even may be worth remembering, might. The film presents a very dismal and morbid atmosphere from the beginning, and the mental hospital in which the film takes place in is well used; but the big positive elements end there. The plot takes influence from better films; chiefly, Stuart Gordon's masterpiece 'Re-Animator' and sees a doctor discover that a surgeon at his place of work is conducting experiments on the dead. 20 years after shooting him and walling him up in the basement, an amnesia patient finds herself in the hospital and claims that her memory has been surgically removed...Places like mental hospitals and prisons often don't make very god locations for low budget horror films, in spite of the benefits gained from atmosphere, simply because it gives the often talentless writers an excuse to pack their film with over the top and silly characters, rather than writing so that everything fits. In fairness, this film stays away from that well - but unfortunately the time saved on staying away from too many silly characters is mostly spent on the drab central character. Cheryl Lawson is no good in the lead role because her acting is awful, and she's not good looking enough to provide eye candy for the audience. The only decent cast members are the undead; which look fairly decent (certainly a lot better than a lot of other low budget crap), but aren't well used as the mindless creatures find themselves with a few too many brains to convince the audience that they actually have been dead. Director Brett Leonard can be given plaudits for sticking quite a few fairly nasty gore scenes in his film, which see things like eyeball violence and impromptu organ removal; but not much else. Given the plot, the location shoots and the gore - this could have been a winner, but it isn't.