PLAY DEAD (1983) Blu-ray/DVD Combo
Director: Peter Wittman
Vinegar Syndrome

"It may be the last thing you ever do," PLAY DEAD when Vinegar Syndrome unleashes Satan's dog on Blu-ray/DVD combo.

Wealthy Hester (Yvonne de Carlo, SILENT SCREAM) never forgave her sister for stealing away her boyfriend and marrying him. She cannot even allow her sister to rest in peace after she commits suicide following her husband's death in an accident. Hester, however, has a seeming change of heart when practically-minded nephew Stephen (David Ellzey, CHILD'S PLAY 3) visits and asks her to patch things up with niece Audrey (Stephanie Dunnam, SILENT RAGE), gifting her a well-bred Rottweiler named Greta. Little does Audrey know that Satanist Hester is using the powers of the occult to possess the dog who causes freak accidents that start taking the lives of her friends and family, incidents that do not look accidental to investigating detective Otis (Glenn Kezer, THE WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON) who suspects that Audrey's lengthy period looking after her mentally-ill mother has left her unhinged and that she is eliminating anyone that may stand between her and the fortune she stands to inherit from her spinster aunt.

A Texas-lensed regional oddity – the inappropriately loungy score was the work of S.F. Brownrigg composer Robert Farrar (DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT), cinematographer Robert Bethard had previously lensed MARK OF THE WITCH, Charles B. Pierce's THE NORSEMEN, and RETURN TO BOGGY CREEK, and the film's art direction was the work of Robert A. Burns (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE) – PLAY DEAD is a competently-made take on the 1970s killer dog genre, more so THE OMEN than THE PACK. A slumming de Carlo – who previously tangled with possessed dogs in the more embarrassing SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS and was on the other end of a murderous family plot in VULTURES – cannot help but seem dignified filmed separately from the truly laughable sequences of the dog engineering various deaths with surprising dexterity for a canine, while Dunnam makes for a sympathetic heroine. Director Peter Whittan's prior film experience was as co-writer and producer of the Canadian role-playing game slasher oddity SKULLDUGGERY.

Filmed in 1981 but not released in the U.K. until 1983 (on pre-cert VHS) and the U.S. until 1985 on VHS from Academy Entertainment, PLAY DEAD was easiest to see on DVD from Troma from the same aged tape master on its own or as part of a Brentwood-distributed TOXIE'S TRIPLE TERROR volume with the Pepin-Merhi productions DEATH BY DIALOGUE and EPITAPH. Derived from a 2K scan of the original 35mm interpositive, Vinegar Syndrome's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen presentation milks the elements for all their worth, benefiting from the film's basic technical competence with an increase in grain only in the credits opticals and other instances of post-production optical slow motion. The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono track delivers cleanly and clearly dialogue, dubbed in barks, and the score which sometimes sound a decade older than the film. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.

Extras include a short video Interview with director Peter Wittman (5:48) who remembers little about the film but recalls living in Canada and that his wife wanted to move to America, where they made industrial shorts in Texas before wanting to make a feature. More informative is the audio interview with actress Dunnam (25:26) who recalls the film being one of her early horror roles with SILENT RAGE, admiring de Carlo who stayed in character and kept to herself during the production, and finding a copy of the film on tape years later before lending it to the actor who played her brother. The interviewer provides some information on the film that Dunnam finds amusing like the original concept involving a killer poodle before Whittan discovered that no poodles were capable to being trained to do what was required in the film. Dunnam also discusses still being a working actress and the volume of work she has found in Atlanta. The disc also includes the film's theatrical trailer (2:05) and comes with are reversible cover featuring the SATAN'S DOG artwork. The first 2,000 units ordered directly from Vinegar Syndrome include a special limited edition embossed slipcover designed by Earl Kessler Jr. (Eric Cotenas)

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