Dead Shit - Part 1: The Talisman of Tikinaya [Kevin Strange / Hack Movies / no-budget horror comedy ] - Polly Staffle

Polly Staffle Rating: **

No-budget horror/comedy filmmaker Kevin Strange makes me laugh. His directorial debut “Dream Reaper” was one of the funnier films of 2006. This guy is going to make some really great movies.

His latest release “Dead Shit - Part 1: The Talisman of Tikinaya” just isn’t one of them. Strange knows better things are to come himself. Near the end of the film’s technical commentary track he says, “This is awful. I’m an awful filmmaker.” Though he is joking and his comments aren’t completely accurate, I feel it is Strange’s way of apologizing for the flaws of his sophomore effort.

“Wait, did you say it had a technical commentary track?” you might be asking. Yes, the film brought to us by Hack Movies has a technical commentary track. In fact, it has three audio commentary tracks and is crammed with over two hours of bonus features. The tracks are humorous, informative and quite amusing, so as a whole, I would recommend this DVD. The film itself feels like it’s a small piece of a bigger puzzle, which is probably true seeing as how it clocks in at 32 minutes. Strange, who has informed me his movie isn’t a short film, just not a long feature, has plans for numerous sequels featuring the two main characters Hogan (Strange) and Nixon (the always great Joshitsuo Montoya).

I am actually looking forward to other misadventures from these two knuckle-headed thug stoners. These slackers are part Jamie Kennedy’s B-Rad, part Chris Tucker, part Jason Mewes and a hell of a lot of fun. “Dead Shit” basically features these two unemployed dope-smoking urbanites getting attacked by zombies, doing some head chopping and arm ripping off action, before coming face to face with their evil next door neighbor.

The film opens well, the cinematography is great, so is the editing and the gore is a level or two above his previous release. Strange also plays up the sexuality card a bit more than he did in his first go-round. Instead of a bunch of solo jerk off scenes and a close up of a gay porno mag, we get Joshitsuo banging a zombie chick (Zae), another chick (Katie Deerest) performing oral sex and drinking toilet paper, Strange working his luscious lips around a fat blunt and a zombie deep throating a rake. No nudity, but he’s getting there. And don’t worry, unlike the masturbation scenes in “Dream Reaper,” the sexuality in “Dead Shit” is completely relevant to advancing the plot and not just gratuitous. You see, the zombies were reanimated by the duo’s next door neighbor Don Duepe (played by cinematographer Nick Head, looking like my drunk grandfather that never bathed) so that Nixon would have sex with the zombie chick. Don Duepe knew Nixon would shoot his load down her throat, thus fully bringing her back to life and turning her into a crazy killer zombie queen in a bad Halloween wig with a plastic weapon.

For those that were curious as to what the hell my problem was with this release, hopefully I answered that with the previous sentence. Basically, there is a lot of good here, but a screenplay isn’t one them. Perhaps the “Dream Reaper” script wasn’t quite William Goldman at his best (“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”). Well, “Dead Shit” isn’t even on par with a screenplay squirted on toilet paper in diarrhea by a washed up Joe Eszterhas (“Showgirls”). Sure, there might be a few good bits here and there, especially if Eszterhas overdosed on peanuts the night before, but at the end of the day, you’re still stuck with a big pile of crap.

And perhaps I am too harsh on Strange as I did find myself laughing a number of times. As I said, the opener is good. It’s almost reminiscent of “From Dusk Till Dawn” when Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney are nonchalantly arguing and casually walking to their car as the convenience store explodes in the background. It’s not quite that epic of an opener, but it has that same sort of spirit to it. There are also little dorky pop culture references here and there that I thought were pretty good. Hogan is a “World of Warcraft” gamer and owns the original theatrical version of “Star Wars” on laser disc. And of course the film is filled with Kevin Strange being, well, strangely funny in his Kevin Strange way.

What I didn’t like about the movie, however, was the excessive and poorly written dialogue that wedges a plot in, explains everything and wraps the movie up although nothing has really happened. It’s very much like a bunch of high school kids with a camera making a bad school project that they should get an F on, but everyone laughs when it is played for the class, so the teacher gives them an A. Then again, in that regard, it also reminded me of “The Departed” and that won best picture and director, so what the hell do I know?

I actually enjoyed the commentary tracks for “Dead Shit” more than the film’s audio. These are full of great filmmaking tips and lots of Strange. Kevin offers kudos to porn stars that take facial money shots due to his experience of being splashed in the face with fake blood during filming and also gives a how to session on oral sex for the ladies. We also learn that the talisman isn’t an expensive amulet, but simply a car air freshener that was on clearance for a quarter. The technical track ends with Strange and Head laughing hysterically and basically saying they have no clue what they are doing and offering the advice of attending film school if you want to make movies.

Normally I wouldn’t be that unforgiving on the script of a not so long feature that cost $25 to make according to one of the commentary tracks. But what hurts “Dead Shit” in this regard is that everything else about it is done pretty damn well. When you watch a movie like “Dream Reaper” there is no denying the fact that you are watching a movie that cost less than what your mom spent at Frederick’s of Hollywood last night. If it was on your TV when you flipped through channels, you’d probably think you had stumbled across a hidden camera in your neighbor’s house. I’m talking the quality of a colorized version of Rodney King’s beating video. “Dead Shit” on the other hand, looks like a movie. The Hack crew obviously upgraded their camera and Head seems to know what to do with it. We get different types of shots and angles. They’re all edited nicely together and the whole thing is even letterboxed. A few times I swear I was watching “The Departed,” but Leo never showed up, nobody was shot in the head and the audio needs a bit of work.

Here’s the thing, better production value also calls for a better script. On one of the commentary tracks, Strange talks about how the film went from conception to completion in the span of eight weeks. From a technical standpoint, I am blown away by that. From the writing standpoint, I’m not surprised a bit. There’s nothing wrong with adlibbing through movies. All the great actors do it. But usually what they are winging is character nuances. Not plot. Not story. That’s the foundation that needs to be solid before the cameras start rolling. If it’s not, then after the initial shooting, sit back and sort it out. Then go out and finish what you started. “Dead Shit” is a great beginning. Some things just need to be hammered out.

I repeat, Kevin Strange is going to make some great movies. He obviously has learned some things technically from his first time out. Hopefully he’ll pick up more lessons from this film. If he does, we’ll see a masterpiece from this guy soon enough.

- CCF, March 2007

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“DEAD SHIT” (2007)

Polly Staffle Rating: **

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