Deadwood Park (2007)

Director:

Eric Stanze

Writers:

Jessie Seitz (story)
Eric Stanze (screenplay)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

"When I looked for good, then evil came unto me; And when I waited for light, there came darkness." Job 30:26

Plot:

The small community of Eidolon Crossing once boasted a flourishing economy and great prosperity, fueled by Dogwood Park...

Plot Keywords:

Amusement Park | Corpse | Murder | Haunting | Bible

Cast

William Clifton	...	Jake Richardson
Lindsey Luscri	...	Olivia Cooper (as Lindsey Dee Luscri)
Bryan Lane	...	Sheriff Robert Cooper
Jason Allen Wolfe	...	Reverend Joseph Callahan
Ramona Midgett	...	Amy - 1943,1944
Dick Mintzlaff	...	Herbert
Joseph R. Engel	...	Frank
Daniel Byington	...	Stan Drizzio - 1955
Benjamin Gaa	...	Gary Ridamin - 1955
Matthew S. Sinopole	...	Ritchie Belagromay - 1955
Paul Wendell	...	Shawn - 1944
Jessica Boston	...	Justine - 1945
Jason Christ	...	Jake's Father - 1979
Julie Farrar	...	Jake's Mother - 1979
Emily Haack	...	Nurse Martel - 1944

Runtime:

USA:117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Filming Locations:

Beaufort, Missouri, USA

Company:

Wicked Pixel Cinema

Trivia:

The carousel music heard in the movie and over the end credits is a recording of an actual 1920's Wurlitzer Carousel Organ.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the 1955 flashback sequence the 2 park attendants are wearing laminated plastic ID badges. Laminated badges like these weren't developed until the late 1960's. See: United States Patents US3228129 and US3486257.

Movie Connections:

References Night of the Demons (1988)

Not a gem of any sort, but it could be much worse...

This is a very low budget, shot on video supernatural "mystery" about a man who returns to his hometown to solve the mystery of his twin's disappearance when he was a child. He teams up with a local girl interested in the small town's history (of unsolved child murders), and together they begin poking their noses into things the town (well, the sheriff) wants forgotten.

The only other reviewer recommended Deadwood Park to "serious fans of intelligent scary movies." He or she must be on crack. Or more likely associated with the production. Whichever the case, you tricked me into watching your movie, so congratulations.

The good: excellent locations, nice use of lanterns to light scenes, decent b/w WWII reenactments, interesting left turn ending that I actually enjoyed.

The bad: I can live with wooden acting (of which there is a good amount) but what kills this movie completely is the dog-slow coma-inducing ZZZZZZ pacing. Shots go on too long, and when the movie should be jumping ahead to the next scene, we get a billion cutaways to scenery. Mix this pace with the out-of-place flashbacks and it's snooze city. Plot hole: in the end of the movie the main character acts on information that we as viewers learned through a flashback but he has no way of knowing himself.

Calling this movie a mystery, as some have done, is a bit misleading. Until the answer to who (or what) killed the kids is revealed, there is no way for us as viewers to have figured it out.

It's obvious that the director has seen a few horror films. (Evil dead, The Changeling, etc.) I liked the last 15 minutes of the film, but this is not a good movie and you will regret renting it unless you were involved in its creation. I even doubt its value as a "so bad it's good" rental because until the end it's just dull.

Oh, and if you're looking for "intelligent horror" that's actually scary, check out the Korean film, A Tale of Two Sisters. Now that's a movie.