Dead & Breakfast (2004)

A night at a local bed and breakfast turns into a bloody supernatural fight to the death.

Director:

Matthew Leutwyler

Writers:

Matthew Leutwyler (story), Jun Tan (story)

Stars:

Jeremy Sisto, Erik Palladino, Bianca Lawson

5 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Sisto	...	Christian
Erik Palladino	...	David
Bianca Lawson	...	Kate
Oz Perkins	...	Johnny
Ever Carradine	...	Sara
Gina Philips	...	Melody
Zach Selwyn	...	Randall Keith Randall
Miranda Bailey	...	Lisa Belmont
Brent David Fraser	...	The Drifter
Diedrich Bader	...	Chef Henri
David Carradine	...	Mr. Wise
Jeffrey Dean Morgan	...	The Sheriff
Mark Kelly	...	Deputy Enus
Luiggi Debiasse	...	The Gardener
Ric Barbera	...	The Preacher

Storyline

A night at a local bed and breakfast turns into a bloody supernatural fight to the death.

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Plot Keywords:

bed and breakfast | urination | vegan | racial slur | death | 

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Taglines:

Heads will roll...

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Musical

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong horror violence/gore and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French American Sign Language

Release Date:

20 July 2006 (Singapore)

Also Known As:

Dead and Breakfast

Filming Locations:

Livermore, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anchor Bay Entertainment, Ambush Entertainment, Goal Line Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min 89 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Melody (Gina Philips) kills one of the zombies, the Sheriff (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) says, "Nice move, Buffy." Bianca Lawson, who plays Kate in the film, played Kendra on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). Jeffrey Dean Morgan guest-starred on the Buffy spin-off Angel (1999), as Sam Ryan.

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Goofs

In the Winnebago at the beginning, Christopher puts the pills back into the pez dispenser, but after, David grabs another red pill off the table, and they are all back.

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Quotes

Sara: It's like a bad horror movie!

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Connections

References Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983)

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Soundtracks

The Freshmen
Performed by The Verve Pipe
Written by Brian Vander Ark
Courtesy of Sid Flips Music o/b/o LMNO Pop Music / April EMI Music In.c (ASCAP)

User Reviews

No Toaster Strudel in the Face for this Horror "Comedy"

Horror comedies are usually much better on paper than on film, which Dead & Breakfast wholeheartedly proves. The first half is a mish-mash of self-consciously 'witty' dialogue and 'hilarious' situations as a group of yappy twenty-somethings throttle in a Winnebago towards Texas for a wedding. But an overnight detour leads them into a den of hillbilly zombies and handmade shotguns, and some semblance of fun, whether it's comedic or not.

With its unnecessary close-ups, terrible acting, and abhorrent hand-held camera use, Dead and Breakfast has all the charm of a first feature by a fanboy with too many ideas and too little experience. (Note that this is actually writer/director Matthew Leutwyler's third feature.) This isn't to say that the movie's bad – there's plenty of gore and creative death scenes to tickle your attention span for 88 minutes. But as a horror film it never finds its voice, and as a comedy, it tries far too hard to ever provoke a good chuckle out of me.

Early on, the lead is taken by Christian, a pill-popping but level-headed mediator played by the always wonderful Jeremy Sisto. But his premature nixing leaves the scattered cast without a den mother. Sara (Ever Carradine, who amazingly looks nothing like a Skolnick) should be leading the pack, but she spends the rest of the film bellowing, 'you've got to be kidding me!' as she wards off zombie attacks. Hardly a leading heroine. The rest of the cast – much better than the headshot-cast prats I see in studio horror pics these days - simply squabble amongst themselves about personal issues while under attack. Then there's the 'comedy': look, drunk guys aren't funny, rude French people aren't funny, and while slipping around in a puddle of gore is funny (see Shaun of the Dead's off-screen tumble by Simon Pegg), when the scene lasts upwards of 30 seconds, one feels pandered to. Even hillbilly zombies aren't funny – isn't that a little too on the nose?

You could do worse than Dead & Breakfast, but if you're looking for a genuine laugh with a good smattering of gore, check out another of Lions Gate's indie horror acquisition, Monster Man. And if you want a good zombie gorefest, stick with Dead Alive or Evil Dead II, which Dead & Breakfast aspires so painfully to be. Because there's nothing funny about desperation, is there?