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34 out of 37 people found the following review useful:
words cannot convey just how bizarre this movie is..., 3 January 2004
Author: nostrilingus from fabulous Las Vega$!

The premise- A demon falls in love with a maiden and takes on human form in order to make love to her. She dies, and the saddened demon cries tears of blood upon their bed. The bed absorbs this blood and becomes a living predator...an antique canopy bed which consumes anyone unfortunate enough to rest upon it. A strange concept for a horror film, but the way it's presented is far, far stranger...

This no-budget oddity was made with a very peculiar artistic finesse...not so much pretentious as self-consciously esoteric, it combines the sleaze of 70s trash cinema with oddball ingredients of oneiric surrealism(it's largely narrated by a spirit held captive within a painting on a wall opposite the killer bed). These elements really don't work perfectly together, but that is certainly not to say that "Death Bed" is a BAD film...it is merely very bizarre and obvious of it's restrictive budget. I personally think it's one of the most original and inventive amateur horror films I have ever seen.

Opinions about this one will be all over the board, but there's no denying that "Death Bed- The Bed That Eats" is unique. I recommend it to all fans of the outré. 7/10

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29 out of 35 people found the following review useful:
You Already Know If you are going to Like it...., 29 May 2004
10/10
Author: Bloody-Thumb (bloodythumb@hotmail.com) from Cleve-land O-hi-O

It's really rather Simple. The Name of the Movie Is Death Bed, The Bed that Eats. If you are anything like me, You already know if you are going to like this movie. I stumbled across this gem at Best Buy the other day and picked it up for Ten Bucks. I got ten bucks worth of enjoyment out of the title, and the box alone.

I'm a huge fan of B movies. This is in my opinion one of the greatest B movies i've ever seen. Now, it's not for every one.

Granted, it's not even for most people. As a matter of fact, i suspect their are only going to be a handful of us who truly enjoy this movie.

For those of you who like B movies though, this film is a Diamond in the rough. It has a great premise, A bed... That eat's people. It doesn't walk, it doesn't move, it doesn't have a siren call to attract people. It pretty much relies on people wandering by and sitting on it.

I loved every inch of this movie and have already seen it three times in the scant weeks i've owned it.

Like I said, After reading the title of the film, You already know if you'll like it. If you laughed or smiled, Then give it a go. it's worth it.

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20 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Death Bed: The film from another universe, 17 August 2006
8/10
Author: rivethead808 from Session 9 (US)

I'm not sure what I can add that hasn't already been said in some of these other fine, and quite hilarious, comments, but Ill try.

So you know the plot: there is a bed possessed by a demon that "absorbs" and selectively disintegrates the bodies of whoever (or whatever) lays on it with its orange soda-filled body. We have the man, in some scenes looking uncannily like Robert Smith of The Cure, hanging out inside the wall commenting on the goings-on, and we have our various victims that just cant resist the comfort of this mystical bed.

This is no ordinary bed. No sirree Bob! Not only does it eat people, but it cleans up after itself, draws the covers back, and it even makes itself. Who wouldn't want a bed like that? It can even use its sheets as a rudimentary "lasso" to wrangle escaped victims back in (especially if they're taking up half the length of the film to try and escape).

Our "main" story (if you can call it that), is about these three girls who go out to this remote area to house-sit(??). I don't recall exactly, but it doesn't really matter though as there are plenty of things that defy convention that you just have to give in and accept. The dialogue in the film is like no other; the characters talk to each other seemingly by telepathy as their mouths never seem to move and there is a constant echo. One of our girls believes she isn't liked by the rest of "the gang" and makes sure to tell us all her feelings on this matter through an echoey voice-over, but we don't care; character development was thrown out the window a LONG time before in this film so why start now? There are scenes when the bed laughs, snores, crunches, and makes various other noises that we assume judging by our cast's non-reaction to said noises, cant be heard. This and the telepathy makes the issue of diegesis very difficult to ascertain...but thats OK....this is Death Bed: The Bed That Eats and it defies all logic so its OK. It makes for a lush dreamy quality to this most bizarre film If you buy (hehe buy...did I say "buy"?) this DVD, make sure to check out the introduction by the director. He explains that the filming of this "flick" started in 1972, didn't wrap up until 1977, he shopped it for a few years with no luck, and then fast forward 26 years to 2003 it gets released on DVD. Supposedly someone somewhere had a print of this in some other country and made bootleg after bootleg of it and it was quite by chance, on a message board no less, that our director found evidence that people knew, and gasp! cared, about his little-known film. Its from there that he decided to give it a shot and release it. I'm glad he did. Once you've even so much as heard the title to this film, you MUST see it. I for one am going to buy this and I'm going to preach its gospel around the world...starting with this comment

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26 out of 37 people found the following review useful:
What on earth..?, 27 November 2003
Author: TC Raymond (tcraymond) from In hiding

Released on video in the UK on the obscure Portland Films label circa 1982, George Barry's mysterious, enigmatic 'Death Bed' is one of the most perverse, obtuse and difficult to rationalize features I've ever seen. Is it somebody's attempt at art? Is it cheesy exploitation? Is it a bad trip? Is it some kind of celluloid mutation that was never intended to be? It's all these things and more. It's nigh on impossible to describe this film in a linear manner, but if you can imagine a silent melodrama from the early 20th century gene-spliced with over-ripe seventies teen horror (with dashes of extreme surrealism, grand guignol, bargain-basement Dario Argento, Monty Python, EC comics and just about anything else that takes your fancy added to taste) and brought to the boil under the loose command of some rank amateurs who obviously thought the film could - and would - make itself, then...no, sorry, you're still not even close. If this film didn't exist, you'd have to invent it. Hopefully at three in the morning whilst extremely drunk and coming down off a very bad trip. After six solid days without sleep.

None of this means it's any good. Quite the opposite - it's a chore to sit through, and the (mercifully brief) plotless duration gives the film an interminable quality that adds to the sense of escalating weirdness. But if you are tempted to watch it, take comfort in the knowledge that you are about to see something that literally defies belief. If some films come "out of left field", then Death Bed came out of an undiscovered galaxy, landed in the middle of the Mojave desert, went insane in the extreme temperatures and hobbled into town with a dodo and a couple of stegosauruses in tow.

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14 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Strange., 15 May 2005
6/10
Author: ZombieKilla81 from Hawaii, USA

The title brings to mind everything that made 70's-ploitation a thing of wonder. Yet, viewers are to find instead an oddly artistic film with what must be one of the most strangest ideas for a film in all the annals cinema.

Here goes: a demon falls in love with a girl, but she perishes and his sadness infects a bed which then becomes indestructible and develops an insatiable appetite for for pretty much everything, flesh in particular. The soul of one of it's victims now haunts a painting and comments on the carnage the bed reeks. Weird enough for ya? Sloppy, cheap and very amateurish, the film is really hanging at the bottom rung of the budget/talent food chain. The acting is mostly nonexistent (except for the trapped soul, who is pretty good), the sound quality is rough and the picture is faded. Also, the editing needs some serious attention as the pacing for the film is all kinds of wrong.

And yet, the film kept me watching all the way to the end. It wasn't the trashy 70's goods that held on to me (of which, there are actually very little), it was the controlled strangeness of the picture. Unlike many odd-concept/low-budget affairs, the film starts and stays weird, but keeps itself contained; it comes off more artistic than it does simply exploitive.

Technical limitations aside, the movie is interesting, if not all that entertaining. A less budget restricted remake would be nice, but try to take it for what it is.

6/10

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7 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
It's So Dreeeeeamy!, 20 February 2006
8/10
Author: stmichaeldet (stmichaeldet@yahoo.com) from Detroit, MI, USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Hmmmm. I'm kinda at a loss here. I mean, I know I liked Death Bed, I know I'll be spreading the gospel of Death Bed to all my friends and acquaintances, and if you're reading this, I urge you to see Death Bed, but I can't really say why. Perhaps that's the secret of its charm.

Plot? Well, sort of. There's this bed that eats people (and fried chicken, apples, flowers, suitcases, and any other darn thing that gets near it) by sucking them inside its digestive-fluid filled mattress. Amongst its near-limitless powers, Bed has the ability to keep the spirit of Aubrey Beardsley trapped behind a picture to observe and narrate the events of the film. Various people then wind up at Bed's abandoned mansion (Bed's habit of eating anything that moves gave the place an unsavory reputation), and lay down to have sex, or take a nap, or because they don't feel well, and get eaten, sometimes having trippy dreams first. And in the end we have the explosive final confrontation between Beardsley, Bed's mom (you had to be there), and Bed.

Seems rather straightforward, when I put it like that, doesn't it - well, except for the Aubrey Beardsley part. But something feels constantly off-kilter, and the story seems to glide sleepily from one scene to the next, even when indulging in cheap laughs or strange gore effects. Imagine Bunel crossed with Bergman, then left to soak in a big vat of Herschell Gordon Lewis. The tone of the story shifts from horror, to fairy tale, to comedy, to existential meditation, without breaking stride - an incredible achievement for a no-budget student film shot in the Detroit area.

All in all, an astounding little film that, quite probably, no review can ever completely do justice. See it for yourself.

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10 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
One hell of a bizarre horror flick., 9 March 2006
8/10
Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland

"Death Bed:The Bed That Eats" is a supremely bizarre horror film that truly has to be seen to be believed.There is an ancient four-poster bed that just loves to eat humans and it does so anytime it can lure anyone to lie upon it.There is also a long-dead artist,imprisoned behind one of his paintings,who provides a voice-over narration.George Barry's the first and only one film offers some truly surreal moments such as the bed absorbing its victims in a mysterious sea of yellow foam and liquid.The atmosphere is dreamy and there is only a little bit of gore,unfortunately the premise is rather silly and the acting is amateurish.Still as fan of unusual cinema I enjoyed this low-budget oddity.Give it a chance.8 out of 10.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Obscure masterpiece, 18 February 2011
9/10
Author: Tromafreak from Tallahassee, Florida

Never has the words "hidden gem" been so accurate. Bad movie lovers might search all over for the next hidden obscurity, sometimes coming up short with stuff like Weasels rip my flesh, but other times, luck will prevail and you might end up with something like Death Bed, then hopefully realizing it's not a bad movie at all, it just has a bad title, and not even a bad title, but a humorous one that might throw you off, but Somehow Death Bed obviously still fits into the "bad" category, and there just ain't no way around that. With a vibe that's somber and empty, Death Bed is a true masterpiece of low-budget horror, reserved only for those fortunate enough to appreciate such a dark shadow of a vision.

Death Bed involves an incoherent, yet intriguing relationship between a demon in the bed and the sympathetic ghost trapped in the portrait, who only wishes he could spare someone from the awful fate of being devoured by the yellow suds. Although not all that scary, considering it's about a killer bed, Death Bed possesses the qualities that make for successful horror. A dark, desolate vibe, confusion, an eerie, subtle score and that dream quality that this masterpiece almost flaunts. Such a quality, or vibe usually seems unintentional. Not only is it intentional, but from what I've read, Death Bed is based on an actual dream, George Barry, the director, successfully transferred dream to film, only a genius could accomplish such a task.

Old mansions make for good quality horror, as do portraits. Not sure what to make of the killer bed with its killer yellow liquid. A bizarre dream, indeed. Also, this isn't quite the brand of B-horror I was expecting, considering the cheesy title and all. Before viewing this Gothic gem, I expected something more like Class Reunion Massacre. Now thats a bad movie, if you've seen it, you know what I'm saying. After considering all of the above, I feel like Death Bed deserves eight stars, but the mysterious charm of this one lingers long after the arrival of the internet era, which counts for something. 9/10

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5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
beyond ridiculous- sheer madness, 19 October 2009
9/10
Author: hungerartist (aoswald333@yahoo.com) from kapaa, hi

I do love B- horror films. I however, am generally not a huge fan of "so stupid it's funny" films. I HAD to rate this so highly simply because Death Bed: the bed that eats, is so one of a kind, and so original. there are plenty of question marks, plenty of plot holes, and the WTF factor is cranked up to 11, but i was really not bored for a second. I really couldn't call it creepy at any point, Every minute i was saying to myself "what the hell is this bed/film going to do next!" I watched this with a friend that is in no way a fan of horror or B- movies, and even she was pretty into it. the effects were actually very inventive and the colors, and atmosphere were quite good. it keeps a very consistent and even tone throughout most of the film, (albeit an incredibly ludicrous consistency) and the acting wasn't TERRIBLE. I can see from the point that there are certain inconsistencies in the actions of the bed that make the suspension of belief damn near impossible, but the film itself was such a unique and bizarre concept, that that fact didn't really bother me. seriously, for me, this film hit that realm of one i will not only never forget, but i guarantee i will find myself thinking back on certain scenes in the future. does anyone else know of any other films in the inanimate objects that eat people genre? totally fantastic.

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5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Oh My Freaking God, 6 September 2009
7/10
Author: lovecraft231 from United States

A large bed possessed by a demon eats people, among other things. I'm not making this up.

Completed in 1977 and not officially released until it came to DVD in 2003, "Death Bed: The Bed That Eats" is a movie whose plot is impossible to describe. You most likely know of it thanks to Patton Oswalt's excellent bit about it, as well as Stephen Throwers essential book "Nightmare USA." While watching it, you wonder the following

-Who is George Berry, and what drugs did he smoke/inject/snort before writing and directing this movie?

-Is this a horror comedy? A combination of a horror flick and an art movie? A weird prank being pulled on the audience?

-What the hell am I watching?

"Death Bed" really defies any explanation. I know, that term is overused, but it couldn't be truer than it is here. This truly beggars description. It is a horror comedy, as well as art film/horror hybrid. But the whole thing is so surreal, it must be seen. The score sounds like the electronic bits from an old Candlemass album, the acting is terrible and disconnected from everything, the direction is surprisingly competent, and the movie at times feels like a Jesus Franco movie-that is, if his movies were intentionally funny.

In the end, there really is no proper way to describe this movie. Lord knows I've tried, but really, few movies are as odd, unique, or mind boggling as this is. See it...but you've been warned. This is also the only movie George Berry has ever done. He definitely left his mark on the exploitation genre with this, I'll tell you that much.

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