The story involves a mixed bag of good guys and bad guys
that end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, as an occult leader is
summoning the queen of hell. They must join together and fight their way out of
the evil situation. Despite the fact that this is primarily a grotesque horror
movie, there is a surprising amount of story and subplots that are weaved in. The
characters that have been created are interesting and the dialogue is
unexpectedly quite realistic, while still blending those elements of humor and outrageousness.
There are some fun horror movie references or Easter eggs that are thrown in
and should be spotted by most genre fans. An argument could be made that there
are some plot issues or holes, but it is forgivable considering the budgetary
constraints.
The acting is a mixed bag of what you typically come to
expect from a low budget indie horror production, with a few pleasant surprises
and fun performances. Ricky Farr plays the gang leader Tyrone Kane and is an
enjoyable mixture of Dolemite and the modern gangbanger. Antwoine Steele
portrays Ray Ray, Kane’s number one henchman who does his best to channel his
innermost Samuel L. Jackson from Pulp
Fiction. Jack McCord is the occult leader Cyrus Archer and he is a devious delight
that reminded me of Ernest Borgnine’s character in The Devil’s Rain. Eli DeGeer was excellent in her role as Denise,
whose character had a romantic subplot with Dallas. She exhibited an unbelievable
amount of emotional depth to her portrayal of the character, something that is
atypical for this type of picture. It was so good that it unfortunately made
Jeremy Edwards’s performance as Dallas seem a bit wooden. Dilynn Fawn Harvey
served as some scary eye candy as the Demon Queen.
The directing by Sheets is superb and he smartly does
everything that he can to make the picture appear to be higher than the $3,500
that they had for the actual production budget. Some additional funding came
into play during the post-production and advertisement, but what ends up on the
screen is pretty impressive. He makes use of anything that he can possibly get
his hands on, as we end up with multiple shooting locations, several cars, some
grand scenic shots, and a large cast. Sheets shows that he is an experienced
director and delivers some good close ups, decent camera placement, and some interesting
lighting sequences.
The practical special effects are ultimately what will make
this type of movie successful and they more than deliver. There are gallons
upon gallons of blood splattered and spewed across the screen, tons of violence,
gore, and several intricate and unique kill scenes. It also contains some crazy
looking creatures and more than enough weird and grossness to satiate horror
and gore fans.
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| Now this is some church entertainment! |
For such a small budget, Dreaming Purple Neon packs a
powerful punch in terms of violence, gore, and nudity. There is more than
enough of the above to please and entertain most horror fans.
