Movie Review: The Dead Pit (1989)-Real Life Evil.
The Dead Pit from 1989 is a scary movie because it’s really creepy people in the movies. The director and actor’s identify with the evil source material and that’s what makes it good and scary. You felt the horror from the serial killer at the gas station when you both enter the door to get some cheetos, mountain dew, (more) beer and cigarettes and accidently look into his creepy eyes. Those hollow black orbs lock on you until you feel chills down your spine. People can sense danger from bad people. Well the whole movie’s like that and it’s full of creepo actors. And the director is like this too. But they're terrible and maybe some are stupid and horrible and should be done away with. But they did make the movie authentically creepy.
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There’s blood and lurid imagery and ghastly old hospitals, dead people and the ambiance is scary and authentic. Is the movie good? Not really. Would I watch it? Yeah maybe because it’s an artifact. Bad black and white movies are great as artifacts, you forget it’s a bad movie because it’s black and you consider it a historical experience. Having perspective on the film industry and history makes this possible. 1989 was some years ago now, this movie features weird 80's music and forgotten actors that you can check on IMDB. com and conclude that they were creeps. Hindsight is 20/20 they say and with the internet as a time travel capsule this is especially true. And it’s all catalogued and accesible on the net. All the scary movies and these people, lurid horror actors living their crazy murder lives, thinking people would never realize, are vulnerably exposed to those with a discernible eye, viewing their life history on the internet. Access to information enables people to piece together what a scary industry the horror movie world is. Of course, it helps to know that every human, especially actors, are capable of playing various roles or accessing various egos, like Jekyll and Hyde. Thats how they’ve been able to pass as halfway normal during the daytime. But then, like a light switch, they morph into the evil darkness at night.
The film itself is…well a mess, in multiple definitions of the word. Still, there’s a cute girl running around in her underwear, starting at the twenty-two minute mark if your counting. Check. There’s evil demon doctors. Grandpa’s mostly. Check. There's blood spatter, demonic music and a sense of forebody. Check. Well, if there’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pizza and cold smuggled beer, then let’s watch. But don't rewatch, if you're vulnerable to that sort of think because you might become a murderer. The murderer puts on some satanic ring prior to a demon assault, while in a blue lit supply closet at nightfall. Members of the satanic syndicate wear these rings as an identifier. It’s likely a scarab beetle, a symbol of the Egyptian underworld or a Death’s head ring, a representation of evil from Nazi Germany that shows an allegience to Satan. Ian Watkins wore them and so did the Terminator actor Robert Patrick. And countless others. I lost track of what was happening in this movie but I kept watching because it was creepy in such an authentic way. William Forsythe is involved, which is always a good time to lock the gate and grab your shotgun and a crucifix. I jest but not really. Stephen Spinella is a stone faced mafia crep that belong in a wax museum. Arrogant, dumb and demonic, a classic mobster from Italy. More murder ideation. He was also in the movie Ravenous, which is about cannabilism. This is an Italian horror theme that keeps repeating, which is the same as murder. Those Italians, sometimes you never know. Costas Mandaymor is in the movie Saw, more sadistic murder. Not even regular get it done murder, but bloody torture, chopped bodies and the eating human flesh, all thematically represented within these fine artists collected canon. Director Brett Leonard also directed Stephen King’s the Lawnmower Man featuring evil Jim Fahey (from Buffalo, New York!) a likely a Hell’s Angel. And Stephen is..well a monster most likely. How could he be, he’s Stephen King? But then again, who could create this body of satanic work and not be evil? Thers a dark side to every person and his is very dark. Too dark. I suspect.
