You hear that sound? That’s the sound of a barrel being scrapped anytime Intervision (aka Severin Films) releases a Shot on Video DVD twofer release. This time around the main headliner is Dream Stalker, about a dead biker invading a woman’s dreams and killing people. The other feature is Death by Love, which has way more nudity than Dream Stalker, which makes it automatically the better of the two.
PLOT SUMMARY
DREAM STALKER
When a Sacramento supermodel is haunted by the super-mulleted corpse of her dead motocross-racer boyfriend, it will unleash an erratically ambitious nightmare of cheap lighting, bad sound, bizarre plotting, gratuitous nudity and grisly effects that Bleeding Skull says is guaranteed to make you feel like you’re trapped in a lo-fi psychedelic abyss of fun!
DEATH BY LOVE
Director Alan Grant is hard up for some sex, so he writes a terrible story about a man who hooks up with gorgeous ladies. Cue “horror” stuff. FIN.
REVIEW
I assume the budget for Dream Stalker was even further beyond micro-budget into the realm of favours and hand jobs. The film, if it can be called that, is poorly shot, poorly made, poorly acted and oddly enough, pretty good with special effects. It takes the concept of a Nightmare on Elm Street movie, throws in a dirt biking, long haired monster, who invades his girlfriend’s dreams and proceeds to murder anyone who gets in the way of them being together forever. Oh, and there is also a musical box/doll that harnesses his power… I think.
Dream Stalker is pretty much an incoherent mess, with shoddy production values all around. The film’s audio is so damn awful; you have to turn on the subtitles to make out the dialogue, which honestly, isn’t that great. Still, though, even with the trashy production values, the film has a certain charm to it. Maybe it’s the confusing scene transitions or the random plot threads that make no sense, but something makes Dream Stalker worth at least one watch. Bring booze.
As a bonus for this review, I present to you my notes I made as I watched this madness:
- Ugly ring
- Have to watch with subtitles as sound is so terrible
- Sudden three-year jump
- At least he is safe monster sex wise
- Coffin cement, what the fuck?
- Dream analysis
- Hip hop woods dance party
- Terrible scene cuts
- Random girl fight
- Bathroom one nudity away from porn
- Sexual moaning subtitle
If Dream Stalker wasn’t enough terrible STV goodness for you, you also get the bonus of watching Death by Love. Now, if you thought they were going to save the best for last, you were dead wrong. Death by Love is as awful as any STV horror film can be, but is saved by a good helping of nudity from some really beautiful looking ladies and one older dude, director Alan Grant, who can attract younger women like hookers attract herpes. Of course, if I was the director and had to write my role, I to would give me tons of sex scenes with beautiful women. The man’s a genius if you ask me.
The plot for Death by Love hinges on a few reveals, so I won’t “ruin” the film for you. The general gist is about women who are ending up dead after hooking up with famous sculptor Joel Falk (Grant). The police believe they know who the killer is and what his relationship ship is to Falk. Hint, it has to do with devil stuff… I think.
The only reason you should watch Death by Love is for the glorious nudity and hilariously shot sex scenes. No seriously, there is one scene where the girl is so high up on the guy’s waist, he can only be humping the air. Also, two words: cock sock.
Okay, the movies are terribly made, yet people did actually work on them, and Intervision takes the time to give the viewers some interviews with those same “hardworking” people. We have interviews with Mark Dias (Dream Stalker) and Dream Stalker Executive Producer Tom Naygrow, and a couple of Skype conversations with Death By Love stars Alan Grant, Yvonne Aric and Brad Bishop. Given the quality of the film, any special feature is a treat.
Dream Stalker and Death by Love is only going to attract certain people who love these ultra-low budget schlock’s, but Intervision understands that and markets the films to those individuals, and provides a nice helping of special features. I will never watch the movies again unless I get so drunk and want to torture others, but hey, if you happen to be a fan, you’ll enjoy this release.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Death By Love feature- Remembering Ricky: With Actor Mark Dias
- Dirtbike Dreams: With Executive Producer Tom Naygrow
- Alan Grant Remembers Death By Love Via Video Skype
- Yvonne Aric and Brad Bishop Remember Death By Love Via Video Skype