An Occult-Horror-Comedy About Vampires, Werewolves and Zombies!!

It is a well-known fact that I am a reviewer who has a fondness for low-budget horror movies and I can tolerate movies that have cheesy special effects as long as it matches a clever grim humor around a film’s premise. I also love comic books and mature graphic novels as long as they have little marketing gimmicks behind them. Well, seems like “Dylan Dog: Dead of Night” meets most of the requirements of a cheesy B-movie flick and it sure does feel more polished than what I had originally expected. Loosely based on the Italian horror comic book “Dylan Dog”, director Kevin Munroe makes an American interpretation of the comic that has gotten a small cult following. (This is the type of film I usually review so here I am) This film was released in Italy in March of this year and has now been released to the American audience April 29, 2011.

Dylan Dog (Brandon Routh, Superman Returns) is a private eye who these days usually take on cases of cheating spouses, missing persons and such. Dylan used to be the mortal guardian to all things paranormal who had retired some years ago and is now keeping a low-profile driving an old Volkswagen “Beetle”. When Elizabeth Ryan (Anita Briem) finds her father murdered, she calls upon Dylan to help find the killer. The case appears more tied to the supernatural and Dylan is forced to come out of retirement. There is a war brewing between vampires, zombies and werewolves as an ancient artifact may hold the key to the awakening of a power called “Belial” and Dylan’s buddy Marcus (Sam Huntington, Almost Human) is taken as the first casualty as he is attacked by a zombie on steroids and turned into a zombie in the early stages…

                        

                        

There are quite a number of things I liked in “Dylan Dog”. The film is an original genre take on the mythos of vampires, werewolves and zombies. All three sides of the occult and the undead are given a personality and this fantasy world where they roam in hiding have its own set of rules. Humans are called “Breathers” and they are seen as a threat to their existence. Monster hunters are seen as ‘monsters’ because they seem to massacre the non-humans. (there is a small racial undertone) The vampires headed up by Vargas (Taye Diggs) are creatures called “True Bloods” who have their own society and they sell their blood to those willing to pay the price. The werewolves led by Gabriel (Peter Stormare) are beings who can control their transformation, they mind their own business and their clans own the majority of meat distributors. The zombies have levels of decomposition, and they are low key. They like to eat maggots, worms to keep peace with the humans. They have no leaders but they do have support groups, work in some morgues and a ‘body shop’ who help them cope with their issues as to being ‘undead’. (you will laugh as to how they stay incognito and what they serve in a zombie diner!)

                         

                        

                          

The devices used to define the creatures of the night are very clever and it gives the film its structure. The direction makes some grim humor around those elements quite effectively, some are slapstick while some are pretty dark in tone. I really enjoyed the way the writing by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer seemed to make such creature society interact with one another. The film is wrapped around a murder mystery and the search for an ancient artifact; think of it as something that chases the supernatural, the answers and the society becomes revealed the longer you become invested in the storyline. Much of the details are revealed with Routh’s voiceover, which gives it a smart ala-”Nightstalker” approach. The dark creatures are ancient races, so Dylan uses cheap and old-school tools to investigate (this includes wooden and silver bullets). They are simple and yet they are effective; they serve their purpose, it does have a different take that proved refreshing to the horror fan.

                   

                   

                  

The effects exude that low-budget feel. It uses red ink, rubber suits and make up to create the creature designs. They looked cheap but some looked too cheap that I wondered how it made it to the film’s final cut. I guess they were made to be part of the film’s charm. The action was decent for a film of its budget and someone...a hot chick definitely got some sweet moves on her. The cast was good in their own way, Briem is sexy as the damsel in distress and she does connect with Routh and Huntington. The supporting cast (that also includes wrestler Kurt Angle) is also likeable enough that I found their exchanges significant to the development of the film. I knew after his role as the super-powered Vegan in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World", Routh may go cult cinema and this seals that speculation. Routh may feel a tad miscast, but he does connect marvelously with Huntington (who nearly steals the show); their relationship and antics may well be one of the film’s major selling points.

“Dylan Dog” is a film that feels rather small. It works and helps its intentions as a low-budget horror occult action-comedy and mostly, films like this are seen with low competence (much of its decisions are made as to how much funds they have) and it is just a labor of love of the source material. It works, and although I felt that Routh was a miscast, I can accept it. There is just a limited scope to the comic book’s premise and the film does make do with what it could. You have to take into account how a film like “Dylan Dog” was made and I cannot complain about its low-budget feel.

                       

I guess I cannot truly give “Dylan Dog: Dead of Night” a high recommendation, it is light fare and while I cannot criticize it for being a little cheap, it still feels a little too light. However,it is a lot better than I expected and I applaud the efforts behind it. It would be a tough sell to mainstream viewers but cult cinema fans will eat it up. I like the way the film got into several fun aspects of the creature society and the investigation gave me more reason to like it. I just wished that they had more money to play with its concept, but hey, it is a good film that maximizes its resources.

Recommended! for cult cinema fans and a RENTAL for everybody else [3+ Out of 5 stars]