Dead & Rotting (2002 Video) User Reviews

An appropriate title.

[luhpjeff · 3/10 · 20 September 2010]

So I was looking for a decent horror. I see the cover of the film and I say to myself, "this looks promising". I pop the DVD in and watch the first few minutes of truck action. I start to fall asleep already. Not being one to leave something unfinished, I stuck through from No Trespassing to the end.

The premise of the movie was usable, it had great potential. What the director turned it into was a snoozefest of Serta proportions. If you get the chance to see this movie, pass. You'll likely end up sleeping through everything but the little chant they added which was about the only decent thing in the entire film.

The title doesn't lie. The entire script is dead and rotting.

Lame and not at all thrilling

[huggy_bear · 4/10 · 1 September 2003]

If not for the terrible acting, this could have been a decent horror movie. But, as it turns out, the actors here destroy this horror movie with, at best, local theater acting. Terrible!! I mean, did you see the great job Shugi did? Oh, and what about Pox, the cat/man, who drinks milk like a cat, but rides a bicycle? Absolutely stupid. And what is the worst part of the movie is when we get to see the old bag witch naked getting into a tub of shit. YUK!! Scenery was pretty though. By the highway sign near the middle of the film, I am guessing this was filmed somewhere around Canton, Ohio. Oh, the soundtrack was awful. You have to see this one to believe it.

Not bad for what it is

[dasneakerpimp · 5/10 · 18 September 2005]

I saw this movie on a compilation collection called "A night to dismember" that I purchased from Wal-Mart. I picked it up because it had "The Bonesetter", a film made by local schlock filmmaker, Brett Kelly, and I thought it would be good for a laugh and it was. All of the films were no budget productions and by that I mean anywhere from 500 to maybe 10,000 dollars. I bet a lot of people think that they could do something pretty good with 10,000 dollars and I say: Try. Put your money where your mouth is. A lot of "reviewers", and by that I mean people who go on the net and whine about things, say this movie is horrible. They say bad acting, bad camera work, bad lighting. You have no idea what you're talking about. Have any of you actually seen bad acting? I mean, truly horrible acting . Imagine the rejects from American Idol but instead of singing they are acting. For what this movie was, a couple of guys with an idea, a camera, and few thousand dollars, it was pretty damn good. the acting wasn't bad, not great but not bad either. The story wasn't bad either. The lighting did shift from time to time but it was marginal. I've seen movies that looked like they cost at least a few million that were a lot worse than this. And what's with all these people knocking digital projects? Ever heard of Robert Rodriguez? He said he'd never use film again. Micheal Mann? Collateral was digital and that was a damn good movie. 28 days later was shot with the Canon XL1S and that was pretty successful. So give credit where credit is due. I think David Barton did a good job and I would definitely like to see what he could do with an actual budget.

Rochon and the rotting

[Dr. Gore · 30 April 2005]

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*

I bought this video. The video box cover looked cheap and cheesy but I saw that Debbie Rochon was in it and decided to give it a whirl. Rochon is an angry witch. Some fools mess with her family and she wants revenge. So she decides to seduce the fools and get pregnant. Her ghoulish offspring will wreck havoc on the imbeciles. Much seducing and ghoul action follows.

"Dead and Rotting" is pretty bad. If Debbie Rochon wasn't in it, I would have shut the movie off at the midway mark. The first time we see her, she's topless in a bathtub. For the rest of the movie, she stays clothed even though she is regularly seducing men and having sex. This is shameful. When making a movie about a horny, vengeful witch, you should at least have the courtesy of showing one sex scene. Every "sex" scene in "Dead and Rotting" is post coitus. *Sigh* No more Rochon for us.

So if there's no Rochon action, what else is there? No surprise, there's nothing else. Ghouls bumble around and attack the guys. The gore is pathetic and the scares are non-existent. Only die hard Rochon fans need to see this one. Everyone else can avoid.

Avoid like std!!!

[punkyrooster2003 · 1/10 · 12 May 2003]

*SPOILER*

Ok here it goes. 3 hicks small town. Legendary haunted house in small town, they visit haunted house, meet up with rat boy, rat boy is witches son. Rat boy jacks up one of the hicks truck. Hicks pay 2 punks to scare the rat boy, but end up killing him on accident. Rat boys mom wants revenge and gets it... 3 dead bodys 1 dead cat. blah blah blah. 1 punk and 1 hick survive.

Bottom barrel for Full Moon

[Ophthalamia · 1/10 · 18 May 2003]

I love Full Moon movies a great deal. I've been a fan of Charles Band's works in Empire and then Full Moon since the beginning. I've seen every single one, how could i not be a fan???

I have no idea why a no-budget horror movie like this got released by Full Moon. I honestly enjoy B-movies if they are good. Dead & Rotting was a true pain to sit through until the end. I got the impression this was made for under $10,000 and it looks like it too.

Where to begin? The entire look of the film just does not look ricorrect. I guess this was shot on digital camera, and i despise that cheap look. The acting was another bad thing, almost every performance was atrocious and shallow. Bad acting can work in some instances, however bad acting and a mediocre script will almost always fail. Well there's Troma films, but D&R isn't even similar to their low-budget comedic style. D&R's main problem is a script that is too slow with nothing new or inventive for the genre.

I give Dead & Rotting a 2 stars rating out of a possible 10 stars rating. I've seen worse horror movies before, but not very many.

oh my god, its bad

[chainsawcharlie · 1/10 · 3 May 2003]

i watched this and my god its bad, its so awful, probably made on a budget of an average weekly shop. with a title such as dead and rotting i was quite looking forward to viewing it, but alas, it was dreadful, too be honest it was that bad it was a masterpiece, i recommend anyone view it just to see what i mean.

A really bad flick

[Neal_D · 1/10 · 15 April 2002]

This film was a major disappointment! All the acting was superficial, even lame. Trent Haga was bad, Tom Hoover was bad, even Debbie Rochon put in a substandard performance. The story was O.K. about a woman who exacts vengeance on the men who harm her son.

Editing and photography looked like it was done by a 9 year old!

The only saving grace was seeing Debbie Rochon nude but for that you can see much better films like Terror Firmer or American Nightmare, which I thought was a great movie.

Pretty lousy

[FleshAndTheFiends · 2/10 · 10 August 2005]

Just posting a slight warning about this Full Moon release to all you zombie movie lovers. Although it somehow doesn't quite reach the depths of awfulness as such stink bombs as Zombie Lake and Oasis of the Zombies, this zero budget videotaped horror effort (shot somewhere in the bowels of rural Ohio) is definitely one to avoid. The story is silly (and full of VERY obvious lapses in logic and general coherence), the photography is terrible, the direction is bland and devoid of imagination and the make-up is pretty average. What's even worse? The acting! What an insultingly untalented group of 'thespians' they gathered up here!

Spooky and original

[troma_freek · 7/10 · 29 April 2019]

Three redneck pranksters who work at the same construction side "accidentally" kill cat of an old witch called Abigail. Turns out the cat was actually her son and now the hag is out for revenge. She transforms herself into an attractive young woman (played by legenddary scream-queen Debbie Rochon in one of her best roles outside of Tromeo & Juliette) and decides to teach them all a lesson by seducing and killing them after blowing magic powder in their faces. They're now kept alive with a potion that allows them to experience their own rotting. I honestly can't understand all the bad reviews and low ratings. Dead & Rotting is an enjoyable and original trashterpiece that mixes small town paranoia with spooky atmosphere and some nasty turns and twists.

You'll wish you were after wasting time on this film

[VirgoRed · 1/10 · 11 August 2002]

This is a boring, poorly directed, filmed and acted movie, with bad cameramen, awful dialogue and a worse special effects budget. The film quality is reminiscent of a bad translation of Blair Witch and/or a cheesy porn flick.

On the other hand, there is a featurette included on the DVD, Stitches, that is much better in acting and film quality. The actors and actresses in this film are much more worth the time and effort to sit through.

All in all, if you get free rentals through rewards or coupons, get this movie for the included DVD featurette. Otherwise, don't bother.

this movie is GREAT

[stromboe1 · 9/10 · 28 September 2006]

i rented this movie with some other one with my friends, and the other one sucked but dead and rotting i thought was awesome. It was really gross and the story was surprisingly well written. I thought it had a proper ending, and a pretty good beginning I like how the guys get sloppy seconds on the witch (and sloppy 3rds yuck) and she shoots out some bloody hair stuff and puts it on the bones to make the monsters. Although the monsters look like crap i don't think the bad special effects take away from the movie. Also the stoner's were very funny. I know this movie looks like it was made for 5 dollars but i really enjoyed it and if your high or just have a good sense of humor you will probably enjoy this movie.

This could have been...

[mippin · 6/10 · 1 December 2019]

This could have been really good with a budget and better actors but not really too bad. I don't know why people write all these negative reviews. Anyone who starts there review with worst movie ever shouldn't be allowed to write reviews because they haven't watched very many movies. Anyone with half a brain knows you don't watch B movies expecting greatness. Give it a shot it's not that bad.

I think i gonna cry!

[fredrikwestlund · 1/10 · 10 April 2002]

This movie is very low buget movie! The ghouls is not scary... almost funny looking! And Her victims (the witch)looks like a bush or something.. witch grass and tree´s on the head.. Dont see it... or do.. hehe The Witch isnt scary either! damn this movie suxx!

Horror film? haha

[Katatonia · 4 May 2002]

This has to be one of the worst "horror" films i have ever seen...and i've seen hundreds! I could name tons of "B-Horror Films" that are more professional and entertaining than this piece of garbage. First off, the plot is so stupid it's not even funny. Secondly, the acting is pathetic even for a super-low-budget movie. Thirdly, the "Monsters" in the film couldn't even scare a pre-schooler! I'd be more entertained sitting in silence than watching this again. Oh yeah, the film clocks in at 72 minutes in length...and that's 71 minutes too long!

This flick is Dead & Rotting

[drnrg31 · 3/10 · 8 September 2008]

I've seen some bed films. Scarecrow, Awaken The Dead etc.., but this is bad Bad bad! The only aspect and I can't specify this enough,about this movie that I enjoyed is Horror scream queen Debbie Rochon. I'm a huge fans of her movies, so she is amazing in almost everything she does.

She looks great and we get to see her naked, but I've seen her in 100 of other better films than this.

The rest of the cast is a crew of armatures that I can't even recall. From blue collar construction workers to street hoodlums. I'm almost positive the rest of the cast actually works at what they play their role. No acting skill whatsoever.

The plot you ask: Three dumb-asses try to scare each other by driving to the local witches house, they are chased away by Pox, the local geek/freak. When they confront him again in a bar they, kick his ass, which prompts the witch to put a spell on the 3 dumb-asses. Of course they wanna get back and in the process kill the witch's cat. You can imagine the rest as Debbie Rochon makes an appearance of the vengeful witch in a beautiful temptresses body. That's all the sneak peak you guys get, but if you are smart, you'll turn it off, because what follows is a 45 minuets of the worst excuse for revenge ever.

Pew, this flick is Dead & Rotting!

Horror Movies Shot On Digital Video Look Extremely Lame

[reverendtom · 3/10 · 26 March 2004]

I read a bunch of good reviews for this movie, so I rented it last night. I was extremely disappointed. I'm not a snob. The stupider, gorier more insane the better in my opinion. I love Troma and all manner of horror, low budget is usually my favorite. Not in this case. The film was shot on a crappy digital camera, and it sure as hell shows. Its just hard to watch a movie that physically looks so crappy. I mean, I thought the story was good, the actors were great and the special effects were cool, but the film itself just looked so lame. At times I thought I was watching a Shakespeare movie on PBS. I don't understand why a filmmaker would choose digital video after all the time and money spent on actors, locations, special effects, etc. Its the equivalent of a recording artist building a giant studio, fitted with all the hot gear and recording a great album, but using a Tascam cassette deck to capture all the sound. From now on, I am only renting movies if I know they are shot on film. Digital sucks. 3/10

Huh...what a pleasant surprise.

[BrettErikJohnson · 5/10 · 24 May 2003]

The fact that so many people seem to hate this movie only strengthens my theory that a majority of horror fans want only two things. The first is lots and lots of blood, violence and gore. Some people have a real bloodlust. The other thing they are looking for is plenty of hot naked chicks.

In my humble opinion, I think Nathan Shumate did an insightful review of this film on the Cold Fusion website. The budget limitations of "Dead & Rotting" have virtually no effect on its final appearance. Even with more money, I think that whatever David Barton came up with would have appeared quite similar to what this one looked like.

The pleasant surprise was the high level of acting. I always thought there was some unwritten law that you had to cast wooden and completely untalented college kids in low budget horror movies. That's not the case here. Barbara Katz-Norrod did a stunning job as the witch and I don't think that Debbie Rochon has ever been better in her whole career. All three male leads also appeared to be quite at ease in front of the camera.

That's not to say there aren't problems. I don't want to give anything away, but "Dead & Rotting" went into a freefall for the last fifteen minutes or so. I was tremendously disappointed at how conventional and predictable the ending was. The movie had seemed a lot fresher before it fell back on horror movie cliches to resolve the main conflict.

As an overall movie, "Dead & Rotting" is rather entertaining and I would go so far as to call it a hidden gem as far as low budget horror goes. General Movie Rating: 5/10 Low Budget Horror Rating: 8/10

Is there really a witch living in the woods!?

[michaelRokeefe · 5/10 · 6 November 2005]

You may think that DEAD & ROTTING is a stinker...surprise. For a very, very low budget flick, its not so bad. Thanks to Debbie Rochon for tweaking interest. A trio of rednecks pay a couple of looking for trouble youths to torment Abigail(Barbara Katz-Norrod)and her deep backwoods son Pox(Christopher Suciu). Is it rumor or fact that Abigail is the wicked witch living in the woods. When Pox is murdered, the wrath of Abigail is dealt. The three drinking buddies become victims of a curse...dead and rotting. My favorite scene is watching a naked Katz-Norrod sinking into an antique bath tub to rise up as her younger self(Rochon). Also in the cast: Stephen O'Mahoney, Tom Hoover, Trent Haaga and Jeff Dylan Graham. DEAD & ROTTING runs about 72 minutes and is written and directed by David P. Barton. Straight to video is not necessarily a curse.

One of the better Tempe videos

[nogodnomasters · 5/10 · 22 March 2018]

This is one of the better Tempe videos. Three young men get into a tussle with a witch and her son. Things escalate to a point to where ghouls are involved. The surviving man gets help from a stripper named Rose, who is also a part time witch.

The acting, plot, dialogue and sound track are far better than most of the Tempe videos out there. If you can't stomach this low budget attempt, don't bother with other Tempe films.

Parental Guide: Contains Nudity.

Dead Yet Watching

[barnthebarn · 6/10 · 3 September 2008]

Original and entertaining joint venture between Full Moon and Tempe. I'm not a fan of the raw Tempe style but this is among the better Tempe films - all of which were joints with the far superior Full Moon.

Well acted, written and directed with script highlights including the 'dead & rotting chant'. When the local Witch (obviously no cliché here as she is an old 'hag') becomes a young, nubile Debbie Rochon the film takes a new direction with Rochon sizzling her way through the naughty boys aiming for a spectacular revenge. Fairly tame overall this is a light hearted and humorous foray in to fantasy Witchcraft. DVD (Tempe Special Edition) has a number of special features including one of (oh so many) J.R. Bookwalter Cine-Camera produced short films (oh so terrible) which is a 'spoof' of TV series 'Hill Street Blues' as well as a making of and a few trailers (for films you should probably avoid) and interviews. Debbie Roch-On...

Your flesh turns putrid and your clothes start spotting.

[Hey_Sweden · 5/10 · 3 October 2021]

"Dead & Rotting" is routine low-budget regional horror, and this viewer isn't about to exactly argue that it's anything really resembling a "good" film. But he actually had some fun with it, because he never took it particularly seriously. The characters are inane, but the movie has atmosphere and a story that amounts to "good" dumb fun. I got into it enough to overlook its flaws.

A trio of yokel practical jokers - Hollis (Stephen O'Mahoney), J. B. (Tom Hoover), and Eric (Trent Haaga, also the movies' producer) - incur the wrath of a backwoods witch (Barbara Katz-Norrod), especially when they involve two brainless stoners (Jeff Dylan Graham, Jamie Star) who will do anything for money. The witch gets her revenge in a hilariously roundabout way, involving three ghouls who wield scythes.

If you're a fan of B movie perennial Debbie Rochon, you'll have some satisfaction, since she looks as great as ever and does seem to be enjoying playing her character. The rest of the characters may be insipid, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the performances were all that bad.

One big problem is that the lighting in the horror sequences is poor enough that we don't get to enjoy the creature effects all that well, and the gore is almost non-existent. Not very satisfying when the filmmakers go to such trouble to set up violent moments. At least there's some creepiness when we see what becomes of the victims. That recurring chant, however, gets old quick.

One highlight is animalistic redneck Pox (Christopher Suciu), who goes to a bar, orders a plate of milk, and proceeds to lap it up like a cat.

Executive produced by Charles Band.

Five out of 10.

SPOOKY FILM-- SOLID & ORIGINAL VERY LOW BUDGET FLICK

[film gal · 8/10 · 27 April 2002]

DEAD AND ROTTING is a very low-budget but it rises above that budget. It has a great SPOOKY atmosphere and wait until you see the bizarro birthing scene with the young witch. It's not exactly a HORROR film, but it has some pretty creepy scenes. I'm not saying it compares in every way to a $50 million 13 GHOSTS (2002) but you can definately appreciate the work behind it and see that the film makers were attempting something beyond normal "B" movies. This was probably made for the soda budget of "13 GHOSTS" (2002).

The lead performances are pretty solid, particularly Debbie Rochon's (TERRA FIRMER, WITCHOUSE 3). Good make-up effects. I would have liked a little more gore but the effects still work well. The sound and music are very well done. The video box art looks kinda cheesy but don't let that fool you. The thing on the box isn't even in the movie but a lot of cooler stuff is.

Do you know what happens when you're dead and rotting?

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 24 July 2008]

Movie starts off really strange with the witch's son eating cat food. Three local rednecks decided to pick on him with disastrous consequences.

The craggy old witch gets into a tub of witches brew and out comes Debbie Rochon. Oh man, that alone is worth the price of admission.

She proceeds to seduce the three boys. We are cheated out seeing that. Only our imaginations at being bedded by Debbie are at work.

Mission accomplished, it's time for magic to work. Payback time! The ghouls are ready. One by one, they will get their just desserts. One has to say that two rolls with Debbie might just be worth what she has in store.

Absolutely hilarious.

[Russell62 · 5/10 · 25 August 2007]

My wife and I take turns to select the DVD for our weeknight viewing. It was my turn, and the crap looking cover and the title were enough to convince me this would be a turkey. I wasn't wrong there!

Anyone who comes here looking for a classic horror movie will be sadly disappointed. This is absolute garbage, the acting, if we should even dignify it with such a term, is mostly diabolical, the story seems to have been written on the back of a beermat, and even the quality of the film is often grainy and indistinct. To put it in a nutshell, I laughed my head off! It is a comedy, pure and simply, a side-splitting no-budget collection of bits ripped off from every other B movie you can imagine. Please, whoever you are, see this movie! My wife, who usually is not that impressed with my choices of DVD, had to pause the thing a couple of times, as she was laughing too hard to breathe.