Deadbeat at Dawn (1988)

One last job separates the leader of the Ravens gang from an early retirement. When he finds his girlfriend beaten to death by members of a rival gang, he seeks revenge, knowing that he may be dead by dawn. Will more blood bring her back?

Director:

Jim Van Bebber

Writer:

Jim Van Bebber

Stars:

Paul Harper, Jim Van Bebber, Megan Murphy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Harper	...	Danny
Jim Van Bebber	...	Goose
Megan Murphy	...	Christy
Ric Walker	...	Keith
Marc Pitman	...	Bone Crusher
Maureen Allisse	...	Iris (as Maureen Gentner)
Tom Burns
Steve King
Dave Parker	...	Drive-thru attendant
Bill Stover	...	Stubby
Carol Lee
Mark Gillespie
Tom Harris	...	Man in Bar
John Bradley
Lili Hendler

Storyline

After one too many encounters with The Spiders (a rival gang), The Ravens' leader's girlfriend tells him to quit the gang or it's Splitsville. He does so, but the leader of The Spiders is hellbent on revenge and arranges the murder of the girlfriend. That ticks off the boyfriend, who wreaks havoc with the two gangs, who have joined forces in order to pull off a security truck heist.

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Plot Keywords:

death of protagonist | gore | attempted suicide | exploitation | trashy | 

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Taglines:

He quit the gangs. They killed his girl. He became... Deadbeat at Dawn.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot over the course of 4 years.

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Goofs

In final scene he is bleeding onto the sidewalk in three directions, then the sidewalk is bloodless.

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Quotes

Danny: [after being slapped] If you ever do that again, I'm gonna pull your eyeballs outta your head and eat 'em.

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Alternate Versions

The Synapse DVD omits the brief scene where Goose attempts to side-kick a man while he is drunk in the bar, only to fall down and then get up to escape. On the DVD, he merely falls down and leaves.

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Connections

Referenced in In the Belly of the Beast (2001)

User Reviews

Jack Daniels and Bush Beer

While watching Deadbeat @ Dawn I was having a pretty difficult time trying to put a finger on what my feelings were about this film until Keith from the Ravens (I think that's who it was) took a swig of Jack Daniels and chased it w/ a mouth full of Bush beer. I laughed gagging (not the first and definitely not the last time while watching) because that was exactly the taste that this movie was leaving in my mouth : bitter/sour and cheap but a pretty wicked buzz after awhile. Producer/writer/director/actor/editor/stunt choreographer/ special makeup effects artist Jim Van Bebber pulls off some fairly excessive stylized screen violence w/ a minuscule budget but the weakly scripted directionless performances stretches it thin. It's amateur shines through in many scenes containing dialogue and lose editing (especially in the first half) throwing off the pacing; making a fairly short film seem long in the tooth. In the end it feels like Troma w/out any zaniness…Well a little zaniness. Ninja stars and golf club beatings are pretty zany.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 May 1999 (UK)

Also Known As:

Deadbeat at Dawn

Filming Locations:

Dayton, Ohio, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Smodeus Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1