The Overlook Theatre: The Overlook Theatre Reviews: Dead Body

5 of 5 viewers "Liked" "Dead Body" (2015, USA)

Here's what the creatures had to say:

Math Mage - "A who-done-it with gore. Enjoyable if predictable." - 3.5 Stars

Lord Battle - "A smart and engauging indie-horror, Dead Body is a modern slasher that will be considered a thriller by most but the kills and character treatment could only be executed by cleaver horror fans making a cleaver horror film. I'd rate it higher but it's just a little too straight forward and in turn I don't know how often I'd revisit the film." - 3.5 Stars

Trash - "I’ve seen Dead Body four times in my travels around the country trading booze for rides: in New York (New York Horror Film Fest), Texas (Texas Frightmare), Philadelphia (Philadelphia Unnamed Film Fest), and in the Bay Area at the Overlook Theatre (duh). When a little movie made on money raised on Kickstarter is shown in so many esteemed venues, you figure it’s gotta be great — and it is! Dead Body is a gory murder mystery teen slasher movie, in the woods, of course! I love both murder and teens in the woods in equal measure. Modern day slashers are trying to be slashers and are therefore super aware of slashers, to the point at which they usually become a parody of slasher movies, and the most wonderful thing about Dead Body is that it doesn’t. The filmmakers seem to know horror, but the difference is in intent. It doesn’t appear they are trying to make something niche, something nostalgic, something like something they thought was fun or cool. Dead Body is just telling its story, rather theatrically at times, about a group of kids and a murder game, and that sincerity makes it more true to an 80's slasher flick than any homage to the genre could ever be. And on that comment about being theatrical, I mean characters give speeches and debate each other regarding their innocence. There’re a few moments here and there where it suffers a little from its budget and tiny crew, but it suffers way less than you would expect from a first film made by first time filmmakers. Also the director is a lady named Bobbin, that’s rad!" - 4 Stars

Huntress - "With a cast of new faces and diverse character archetypes, Dead Body had no trouble getting me invested. Everything from the pacing to how characters interacted with each other worked for me. Even the humor was fitting. The game they all play was a great plot mechanic, (even though they abandon the rules almost immediately) but also felt like a way to keep the audience involved. This was definitely a fun watch, and a well made indie film. " - 4 Stars

Dabbles - "This was a really good slasher, especially because of the "Clue" aspect added to the thrill. The acting is a little over acted but it's tolerable. I would buy the bluray." - 4 Stars

The Overlook Theatre Final Rating*

(Below is for after you've seen the film)

If playing the actual game Dead Body (described in the film or the trailer above) at a party sounded like fun to you, checkout Werewolf. Werewolf is a similar style game that really just lacks the Hide-and-Seek aspect of Dead Body.

Below is the "Night" portion of the game and a brief example of how it should play out.

The Night

At night, the moderator tells all the players "Close your eyes." Everyone begins slapping their knees (or table) to cover up any noises of the night.

The moderator says "Werewolves, open your eyes." The werewolves do so, and look around to recognize each other. The moderator should also note who the werewolves are.

The moderator says "Werewolves, pick someone to kill." The werewolves silently agree on one villager (It's critical that they remain silent). The other players are sitting there with their eyes closed, and the werewolves don't want to give themselves away. Sign language is appropriate, or just pointing, nodding, raising eyebrows, and so on.

When the werewolves have agreed on a victim, and the moderator understands who they picked, the moderator says "Werewolves, close your eyes."

Now, the moderator awakens the Doctor and says, "Doctor, who would you like to heal?" The Doctor selects someone they'd like to heal. The person chosen (which could be the Doctor himself) will survive if the werewolves had chosen to kill them. If someone was killed, and then saved by the Doctor, the moderator will let the village know by saying, "Someone has been saved", at the beginning of day time.

The moderator says "Seer, open your eyes. Seer, pick someone to ask about." The seer opens their eyes and silently points at another player. (Again, it is critical that this be entirely silent -- because the seer doesn't want to reveal his identity to the werewolves.)

The moderator silently signs thumbs-up if the seer pointed at a werewolf, and thumbs-down if the seer pointed at an innocent villager. The moderator then says "Seer, close your eyes."

The moderator says "Everybody open your eyes; it's daytime. And let's the villager know who has been killed. That person is immediately dead and out of the game. They do not reveal their identity.