Dr.
Drew could have told them it would end badly, but even he would be surprised by
the chaos wrought. A horny man-child convinces his girlfriend, his best bud,
and his gf to join him for a four-some in the private room of a sketchy sex
club. Sounds like a plan, right? Unfortunately, a demonic piece of furniture
ruins all the fun in Jeff Maher’s Bed of
the Dead (trailer
here),
which screens during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.
Its
Ren’s birthday so put on your party hat or whatever. After taking in a burlesque
show with Sandy, Fred and Nancy, he wants to celebrate in a private room. It rather
aptly looks like something out of a Hammer Horror film, but it has a bed big
enough to accommodate them all.
Right,
so about that bed. When the other three admit they just aren’t feeling it, they
try to simply crash-out, but the bed has other ideas. It starts sending them
twisted visions, killing them off one by one. Presumably, it gets the entire
quartet, plus a spare in the hallway, because Canada’s most disgraced cop has five
charred bodies on his hands. He quickly learns the room has a tragic history—and
then things get really complicated in term of both narrative and genre. There
just might be someone for him to save after all.
Given
the premise and setting, it is remarkable how little sexification went into Bed. Apparently, Maher and
co-screenwriter Cody Calahan preferred to focus on plot and characterization.
Go figure. As a result, Bed is solidly
above genre average on both counts. Arguably, it becomes as much science
fiction or urban fantasy as it is horror down the stretch, but that unexpected
turn is a good thing.
Alysa
King gives Sandy, the possible final girl real dimension and emotional cred.
Colin Price also grows into the hardboiled role of Det. Virgil quite nicely,
while Dennis Andres has a Vince Vaughn thing going on as Ren that works in
context.
