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DEATH FACTORY
Produced by David Sterling
Written and Directed by Brad Sykes
Photographed and Edited by Ben CooperRachel - Lisa Ray
Luisa - Karla Zamudio
Derek - Jeff Ryan
Alexa - Tiffany Shepis
Glen - Ron JeremyPop Quiz.
A small groups of kids are trapped in a warehouse where a genetically engineered monster hunts and kills one by one while they feign sexual antics. Name that movie.
SHRIEKER?
THE CRAWLING EYE?
THE DEAD HATE THE LIVING?
Any similarly plotted Full Moon title?
No, but there's a definite Full Moon formula vibe to Brad Sykes' DEATH FACTORY. So much in fact that I had to double check the video sleeve to make sure the disc was from Brain Damage and not The House that Charlie Built. DEATH FACTORY even has the same look and feel of the old EC comics that both Full Moon's CRYPTZ and WITCHOUSE 3 each possess.
This horror formula I mentioned isn't anything new. When you think about it, it's the same premise for classics such as EVIL DEAD, arguably the most influential horror film of the 1980's. One can view this recent crop of films as trying to re-capture the same energy as Sam Raimi's EVIL DEAD, and doing so with only a fraction of the time and budget spent.
The end results are generally lightweight, being what I refer to as "family friendly" horror. These are cookie cutter releases grounded in their familiarity. Viewers know what to expect right from the get-go. Who lives. Who dies. So on, and so on. "Family friendly" refers to the film's aversion to subversion, and desire to cater to the safer side of genre conventions.
What distinguishes these productions from one another and makes their titles readily recognizable is the villain. Some are too goofy for their own good, as it the case with THE CRAWLING EYE, and other's are never used to their full potential, as with SHRIEKER. DEATH FACTORY's Alexa falls into that second category. Even all uglied-up as Alexa with her razorblade teeth and metallic claws, Tiffany Shepis is a full-on hottie. It would have been nice to see Tiffany's more curvaceous elements played on more throughout the film, especially considering that most of the cast is slaughtered just after intercourse. The prospect of Alexa discovering her own sexuality could have added a nice touch of warped perversity, and some demented black comedy.
Being that this is the only title I've seen from Sykes, his directorial style doesn't seem as in-your-face and graphic as his contemporary SOV directors. While there are shots of extreme gore, Sykes never lingers. There's more to horror than just gore, namely story and character, and both are elements that Sykes tries desperately to fuse into his movie, but comes up short. Conversely, Nathan Shumate at Cold Fusion Reviews recently noted with regard to Sykes' short film anthology ZOMBIE CHRONICLES, that Sykes is one of the few director's making short films who understands that all stories need a beginning, middle, and end (ie, plot, structure, and a point). Now that I know Sykes can tell a story, I want to see something fully developed, and not so safe.
The screener DVD doesn't contain all the features promised on the sleeve, but it is a solid gauge of what the final product will entail. Viewers get a crisp looking print with a stark looking four-color visual scheme echoing the EC Comics inspired work of Full Moon's Danny Draven. The behind-the-scenes featurettes include cast and crew interviews, making of footage, and a blooper or two. The final product is supposed to have director commentary (which would have been nice to hear) as well as a Brain Damage trailer vault.