DEAD BODY MAN 2: SEPARATION ANXIETY (DVD)

Eddie Benevich, the star of 4th Floor Pictures’ film “Dead Body Man 2”, is an amazing comedic talent that basically carried “Dead Body Man” to being a real film, and single-handedly saves “Dead Body Man 2” from falling into bad indie film oblivion. “Dead Body Man 2” picks up right where the first one left off- in the middle of strange events regarding Willie, a schizophrenic serial killer with a penchant for having sex with chickens and dead bodies, and his conjoined twin, Willie Jr., who was wrenched violently from Willies side in Willie’s desperate attempts to free himself from his brother’s twisted hold.

Willie isn’t like other serial killers; he believes he’s doing God’s Will. In fact, he knows he is, because God often shows up in the strangest laces to say hello, and to order Willie to do more killing. While Willie is watching porn, for instance, happens to be one of God’s favorite places. Actress Pamela Sutch (who also did some of the camera work on the film) makes a great porn actress/voice of God, as she interrupts Willie’s enjoyment of a porn film and demands he begin killing “sinners” again. And Willie, though at first reluctant, eventually caves in and begins another bloody, gross, and often grotesquely disturbing killing spree. Who does Willie kill? Mostly sluts, w****s, homos, skanks, and others who fall into his path. Oh, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have sex with them, either before or after they’re dead. In fact, necrophilia and chicken f*****g play predominant roles in the plot of “Dead Body Man 2”. There are also jokes, and visuals, of defecation, masturbation, and all kinds of foul, foul, yet highly amusing, mockery of all that is decent and morally right.

The combination of director Ryan Cavalline and the charismatic Eddie Benevich is a spectacular one in terms of independent horror films; as gross and yet smart as anything by Low Budget Pictures, but slightly more under the influence of drugs. 4th Floor Pictures produces less exciting, and frankly, poorer, films when Benevich is not the main focus. Last year’s “Day of the Ax” didn’t come close to being as entertaining as “Dead Body Man” 1 or 2, a film in which Benevich had no speaking scenes and wore a mask. Thanks solely to the ability of Benevich to completely absorb himself in any scene, however ridiculous or degrading, with a whole-heartedness and a certain strange genius, Cavalline pulls this one off. Though the plot is less coherent than the first film, and even admits to some serious continuity and editing flaws, there are certainly some directorial choices that scream “F**k Plot and F**k Convention” at the viewer; some scenes, from a Venereal Disease information film made in the 1950’s, and some clever cartoon sequences with seriously troubled subject matter, only add to the downright careless messages of the movie.

Speaking of messages, there has never been a film so un-deliberately meaningful as “Dead Body Man 2”. The title alone betrays the concept that Willie is desperately seeking relationships with people around him, and is unable to fulfill them because he keeps killing everyone at God’s command. It’s rather tragic, if you think about it. The fact that 4th Floor Pictures simply doesn’t care about what the viewer thinks AT ALL allows them to pursue the idea in a very nonchalant and funny way.

It’d be great to see 4th Floor Pictures remake the “Dead Body Man” films with a slightly larger budget and a more cohesive and engaging plot. Hopefully they’ll keep all the offensive s**t in; that’s the thing they seem to be able to pull off in a fun way, while other low budget horror film production companies can only aspire to slightly shock and momentarily captivate a gore-enthused audience; 4th Floor Pictures is actually able to make audiences laugh, while vomiting on the inside.