Dead Shack Blu Ray Review (Shudder)

Dead Shack is a 2017 horror comedy directed by Peter Ricq (Freaktown & Come Together). Roger (played by: Donavon Stinson from Dead Rising: Endgame, Reaper, Call Me Fitz, & Fantastic Four) decides to be cheap & gets the worst rental cabin possible for his vacation. He is joined by his alcoholic girlfriend Lisa (played by: Valerie Tian from Juno, Drillbit Taylor, Jennifer’s Body, & 21 Jump Street), his two kids Summer (played by: Lizzie Boys from When Calls the Heart, Angels in the Snow, Rufus-2, & Winter’s Dream), Colin (played by: Gabriel LaBelle from The Predator, Max 2: White House Hero, & iZombie), & their friend Jason (played by: Matthew Nelson-Mahood from A Knife & V.C. Andrews’ Heaven). The 3 kids get bored & decide to check out the local area. They spy on their Neighbor (played by: Lauren Holly from Dumb and Dumber, Beautiful Girls, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, & Turbulence) & accidentally witness her killing someone then feeding him to her zombies. They get her attention letting her know that they seen everything but turns out to be a huge mistake for the tourists! This sets off a chain of events & mysterious cannibalistic woman wants to cover up secret with no survivors. Can this group of people escape this crazy lady & her family of zombies before they become their next meal????

I didn’t know what to expect going into Dead Shack because honestly I didn’t hear much about it before getting it for review. I was very surprised & impressed after I was finished with this low budget feature. The zombie sub-genre has been either hit or miss lately. I’ve seen more bad than good so it was refreshing to see something like this. It’s probably the best zombie that I’ve seen in a long time! It had the perfect balance of horror & comedy in this. They knew exactly what audience that they were going for with this production. It had some real sharp dialogue & the small cast was great in this. Especially Lauren Holly who probably gave her best performance in her entire career in Dead Shack. She didn’t really seem like the villain type before this but she pulled it off with perfect execution. The look of her character is very memorable so that was a nice bonus for the crazy role. It had plenty of gore & the special effects were top notch in this. As far as independent horror goes, this is one of my favorites in recent years. It’s beyond entertaining & the replay value is strong here. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation & special features from Shudder! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks great on blu ray! The cinematography from Christopher Charles Kempinski (Riese, Death Do Us Part, & Cold Zone) really elevates this over most independent horror these days. I love the atmosphere here. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track provides very clean dialogue, enhances all the action, & the soundtrack/score has a nice boost to it. It also has English SDH & Spanish subtitles. It has trailers for Don’t Grow Up, Found Footage 3D, Marrowbone, Higher Power & Dead Shack. “Dead Shack: Behind the Scenes” is a little over 20 minutes. It has interviews with director Peter Ricq, producer Amber Ripley, actors Donavon Stinson, Valerie Tian, Lizzie Boys, Gabriel LaBelle, Matthew Nelson-Mahood, & Lauren Holly. Peter Ricq talks about how the project started. The others chat about how they got involved with the feature & their characters. They mention their favorite scenes & experiences on the film. Everyone talks about the zombies in Dead Shack. They mention the special effects & shows you inside look from the production. They talk about the horror genre & working on a independent production. It has all kinds of behind the scenes footage. It’s available everywhere, check it out ASAP!!!!