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Overall Rating : 8/10
Directed By : James Anthony Bickert
Jett Bryant
Madeline Brumby
Paul McComiskey
Olivia LaCroix
Supplied By : Big World Pictures
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : July. 10, 2012
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| PLOT Bikers, Boobs, Blood & Bigfoot! A vicious gang of murdering and raping bikers, The Impalers, invade a home after a bloody shoot out at a strip club. Humiliation, rape, and murder follow, but there is something in the basement and in the woods... Sasquatch! | ||||
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| THE REVIEW In Director James Anthony Bickert's Grindhouse homage, DEAR GOD NO!, "The Impalers" are a ruthless motorcycle gang. Lead by their menacing leader, Jett, "The Impalers" have made their way across the state of Georgia, raping and killing just about anyone in their sights. After their latest bloodbath at a local bar, Jett and the other "Impalers' seek to escape the carnage and the law. They end up following a young couple to a cabin home out in the woods. The home belongs to Dr. Marco and his shy, sheltered daughter Edna. Dr. Marco is quite the eccentric type, who has been routinely running various wild and wacky experiments - with his latest discovery being a virus that can either cause dementia, or mutate. "The Impalers" soon host a hostage situation consisting of both rape and murder, but just when they think that this is just another day at the "office", a couple of Dr. Marco's grisly experiments show up to make the party any even bloodier one! I know what you're thinking, "another Grindhouse homage?" Well, ok, that's what I was thinking when I first heard about DEAR GOD NO! My second thought was, at least it's not another Zombie/Vampire/Werewolf flick.". But honestly, the more that I heard about DEAR GOD NO!, the more interested in it I became, I mean, I love bikers and subsequent films about bikers, such as Corman's THE WILD ANGELS, and I love 70's era drive-in, and gore, so what wasn't to love about this possibly cool, and kickass film? To my luck, and thankfully, I was recently contacted by the powers at BIG WORLD PICTURES, who asked if I would be interested in reviewing DEAR GOD NO! So that's the story, and so here we are. Shot on Super 16mm film, DEAR GOD NO, has the ruggedness of a '70s biker flick and the excessive gore of a TROMA film, only TROMA wishes that their films were this entertaining! Almost instantly, DEAR GOD NO! puts it all out on the table. Within the first few minutes we have everything from dead nuns, boobs, beavers, and exposed entrails. The tradition continues on later in the film with Ricard Nixon masked, gun-toting naked strippers. And if you think that's all, it isn't, as DEAR GOD NO! also plays host to mad scientists, diabolical scientific plots, baby killing, demented mamas, and even bigfoots. The plot content of DEAR GOD NO! is absolutely crazy, but somehow, and in some way, Director James Bickert manages to make a cocktail of all of these things, and essentially make things work. The film is just plain fun. There's comedy, witty dialogue and gore along with madness that is completely over-the-top. I was really pleased with how DEAR GOD NO was treated in post production. Many of these drive in throwback films put too much emphasis on the "aging" aspect of it. These filmmakers want their films to appear old, and so they go in and desaturate color, add scratches, pops, etc. In my opinion, they often times tend to over do this, thus giving the film a more faux look than the "authentic" feel that is desired. In the case of DEAR GOD NO!, yes, there is some of that going on during the film, yet it is used sparingly enough so that it at least feels more natural. I'd say that DEAR GOD NO! is one of the more authentic feeling homages appearance-wise. I am also a fan of the film look, so the natural grain seen here was just an additional plus for me. Like the film's gory action, the acting is also pretty over-the-top. The acting here was all about the comedy and "B-Movie essence", and with this in mind, I thought everyone was pretty much great. Jett Bryant, who is like a cross between Charles Manson, and Zakk Wylde, is great as "Jett", the ruthless leader of "The Impaler" gang. Also here, is a member of the Atlanta-based punk band THE LUCHAGORS(I have their album, by the way), in Shane Morton, who portrayals Randall, the obnoxious, sort of second-in-command. Each character in the gang has their own little persona, and collectively, I compare them to a gang of thugs that are seen in a DEATH WISH installment - only tougher(of course), In other notable roles are Paul McComiskey as the crazy Dr. Marco, and Madeline Brumby as his at one time, quiet and reserved daughter, Edna. McComiskey portrays his role a little off, and i'm guessing this was intentional. There are times where he sort of fumbles a few words here and there, and for a film like this, that works within an off beat nature. Brumby on the other hand is one of the film's many highlights. She plays it sort of creepy at first, as the shy and sheltered girl, before the proverbial chains are broken, so to speak. It's a great thing, as she's beautiful, not to mention, she donates even more to the film's overall boob count, in a big way. As a Grindhouse homage, in my personal opinion, DEAR GOD NO is pretty impressive. Not only does it take on the look and feel of the drive-in, it also delivers the type of cheesy and silly fun that you'd expect from a film of that era. Who's to say that a film with burly bikers, nuns and bigfoots can't work? In some odd way, this unlikely combination works in this case, and as a result, it is unbelievably fun! |
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| GORE
METER 7/10 Various slit throats, gunshot wounds, and stabbings. Along with disembowelments, decapitations, bodies ripped apart, and more! | ||||
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 6/10 An original old-school rock score that fit the film nicely.. I enjoyed it. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM When I first saw the poster for DEAR GOD NO!, which happens to have been designed by the brilliant, THE DUDE DESIGNS, it just screamed "good time". And a good time, is exactly what DEAR GOD NO! is. It's a biker flick, and a Creature Feature, all in one, and is just an all-around, awesome B-Movie experience. Exploitation and Creature Feature enthusiasts are sure to love DEAR GOD NO!, just as I did. The Limited Edition DVD along with the film, features behind-the scenes footage/premiere footage, as well as a photo gallery, 2 commentaries and 2 film festival promos(There are also a few Easter eggs to be found on the disc, as well). It is definitely worth checking out, if you haven't already! | ||||
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