Death by Dialogue

What a waste of time and celluloid. Production values were simply substandard even for a type movie. 1/3 in and I can barely stay focused, sub standard and sub par in every aspect.

"Death By Dialogue" is by no means a good slasher, in fact, it came out when the genre was going downhill.. Watch it just to have something to laugh about. I don't think someone can take this film seriously.

I won't even talk about the storyline as it's very BORING -not to say stupid-. The producers tried to make a bizarre sci-fi horror film but the result is a pooor slasher attempt. The highlight of the film is Ken Sagoes' major role in the film. I wonder why he didn't last long in the genre. The box features a demonic character surrounded by the 6 peak star... Definately a terrible film that didn't add something to the genre.

1/10

Cary (Lenny Delducca) and four of his friends (including A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3's Ken "Kincaid" Sagoes) go to visit his crippled Uncle I've, who lives on a sprawling ranch that used to be a movie location in the 1950s. Trouble starts when Shelly (Kelly Sullivan) finds an old script for a film titled VICTIM 67. The kids start getting offed and the script title and plot line keeps changing with each victim. So how did the script get possessed? Seems an ancient tribe the Uncle was friendly with in South America had put the soul of a nosy reporter they killed into an ancient urn and it got loose on a film set in the 1950s and entered a script. Makes perfect sense, right?

This little horror flick was from City Lights, the earlier company from PM Entertainment producers Joseph Merhi and Richard Pepin. It is like a lot of their early stuff, flatly shot but with enough technical sheen to put it above most horror muck. Director Tom DeWier is primarily a stuntman in Hollywood and gets a few cool stunt bits in here, including a girl being blown out of a barn mid-sex. The film's biggest attribute is its M.S.U. (Makin' Sh*t Up) quality like when one victim wanders into the woods only to see an 80s metal band jamming out before they make his head explode with a guitar to the cranium. Co-star Sagoes must have hated his agent, thinking, "This is the best you could do for me after ELM STREET 3?" Even worse, the filmmakers have him dress exactly the same as his earlier, popular character so audiences know he is "the kid who survived A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3" (as the VHS box proudly proclaims).

A group of teens go to some house on the country, inhabited by a professor of sorts and his female companion, located next to an abandoned movie set. They find an ancient screenplay that seems to re-write itself, pretty much dictating how the teens will meet their demise. Now, the concept of a screenplay or book re-writing itself to cause supernatural deaths to occur, would probably make up for a highly imaginative & compelling story in the hands of someone like, let's say, Clive Barker. But in the hands of two-time writer/director Thomas Dewier & one-time writer Susan Trabue this movie ended up being the cinematic equivalent of a giant elephant turd with big chunks of indefinable substances in it, the likes of which even a specialized forensics expert would have a hard time determining what on earth this elephant might have eaten the previous night.

The good thing is that "Death By Dialogue" would be a perfect match in an '80s feature double bill with "Nightmare Weekend" for a mind-boggling viewing experience. Both films are ridiculously inept, wildly bonkers, amusingly imaginative and completely devoid of any sense & logic. Further more, they use every excuse possible to present us a wide variety of stupidly insane & gory killings and a fair amount of female nudity. Oh, the glorious lost cinematic wonders from the '80s. While "Nightmare Weekend" might eat the cake for being the superior total-loss inane horror smörgåsbord it is, "Death By Dialogue" tries incredibly hard to be the second runner-up. When we're strictly talking kills here, we have: Burned to a total crisp. Blown straight into the air while having sex. An inexplicable head explosion. Being sucked into the ground and pop up again all melted. In addition, we also have a bad hard rock band suddenly appearing in the woods out of nowhere and a barbaric demon villain with a giant sword and two henchmen on motorcycles. I did say this movie doesn't make the least bit of sense, did I? It also stars Ken Sagoes as "The Kid Who Survived Nightmare On Elm Street 3". Yes, producers saw this as the sole selling point to promote this horrifying piece of drivel.

This spirited little low-budget horror film deserves more than it's reputation. I had the fortune of picking this film up (believe it or not) on DVD and needless to say I wasn't expecting much from a film called Death by Dialogue, with a possessed script and an 80's alt-rock band starring Ken Sagoes, who was one of my favorite characters from NOES.

The film does have some ultra cheesy moments but it's decently crazy and gory at times. Plus...nudity. I'd say if you find it on television or in the old releases at your local videostore, be a good-little slasherhound and pick it up and give it a view. As stupid as it is it's worth at least that much.