The Dead and Breakfast
Written, directed and produced by Douglas G. Agosti & Lance Otto Smith, I wanted to like THE DEAD AND BREAKFAST based on the video box alone. Unfortunately this half-hour short offers shlocky fun at best, though a love for exploitative horror is obvious.
Douglas Agosti stars (in both roles) in this tale of two brothers who have made their fortunes over the internet as respectively, a used auto parts dealer and a bed and breakfast owner who is the internet beef jerky king. There isn't a plot as much as we're given a peek into the brothers' operations and their symbiotic use and disposal of innocent travelers and their vehicles. Lured off the road and into their less than hospitable clutches by a phony detour sign and made to stop due to some nails scattered in the road, THE DEAD AND BREAKFAST comes off as a crude, pale MOTEL HELL companion piece. Despite a game effort, the acting and dialogue are a bit below what you'd like to see even for this level of low budget fare. Kudos to Kim Lewinski's (any relation to Monica?) performance as a stranded motorist who gives both of the brothers much more than they bargained for before finally succumbing to a beef jerky future. Agosti is way over the top as the jerky king brother, but is clearly enjoying himself in both roles. And I have to admit that the men portraying the trio of menacing motorcyclists near the film's conclusion should probably hold onto their day jobs despite their character's ability to hold their own brutal version of The People's Court.
Music by Brian Strong and Rick Zeitham lends an adequate backwoods twang to the proceedings. The film's blood and guts are o.k. and I'm almost ashamed to admit my disappointment in the lack of lurid sexiness or nudity despite the SILENCE OF THE LAMBS type tease we get early in the film. And the outtakes during the end credits…well, that may best be left for the end of Jackie Chan movies. But that's okay though---it gives us more to look forward to in the next After Shock Productions effort.