Deadly Spawn [Blu-ray] [2011] [US Import]

Product Information

Introduction with Ted A. Bohus (1:19, SD) welcomes the viewer to "The Deadly Spawn," while taking a few moments to display some merchandise for the film and goof around with an alien puppet.

The Deadly Spawn is the ultimate example of guerrilla filmmaking; it was shot on 16mm and contains so many flubs, dropouts, and herky jerky behind-the-scenes mayhem that one cannot help but fall for this perfect imperfect example of ultimate science fiction freakdom. Where we come across some serious issues is in the front soundstage, starting with the dynamic range. The higher frequencies noticeably clip and distort during much of the action, sounding like high-pitched squeals with hardly any distinct detail. This is made especially apparent when Spawn's cape expands and flies all around the room. It's far too bright and piercing, basically like someone turned up the volume on the special effects and called it a day. The low-end is also loud and heavy, but not at all articulate yet very boomy with several hints of noise. The only good moments are during the songs. Through all this, vocals are occasionally drowned out by the commotion, as in the scene when Spawn and Clown race to Wanda's house. For more about The Deadly Spawn and the The Deadly Spawn Blu-ray release, see the The Deadly Spawn Blu-ray Review published by Brian Orndorf on February 15, 2012 where this Blu-ray release scored 2.0 out of 5.

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Deadly Spawn is so sloppily encoded, there’s a massive flub at 1:15:06 where a complete digital breakdown occurs before the screen turns completely gray, breaking the boundaries of the 1.33:1 frame. There’s clearly been little attempt at clean-up on the source itself, the myriad of scratches left to their own devices, along with the strips of off-color fading. There is certainly worse out there. Take One is another interview, again from a local show, and running for 25-minutes, replete with the worst case of edge enhancement you’ll likely ever see. Visit with the Deadly Spawn is a vintage trip through the creature shop where the monster was made, which in reality is more of a spare bedroom. A series of trailers, sideshow, and comic book preview remain. [xrr rating=5/5 label=Extras] Producer Ted Bohus said that he conceived the idea for The Deadly Spawn in 1979, and that he was inspired by an article in National Geographic about seed pods that were recovered from the Arctic. [1] According to Bohus, he created an initial creature design that involved a man in a suit, but associate producer and effects director John Dods was unenthusiastic about that prospect. [1] Several days later, Dods returned with several alternatives, including the "Mother Spawn" that was eventually used in the film. [1]

Music Videos (SD) — Two crappy music videos with really crappy music: one called "Trip Like I Do" by Filter & The Crystal Method, and the other from Marilyn Manson & the Sneaker Pimps entitled "Long Hard Road Out of Hell." Plot: What’s it about? Video: How does it look? Audio: How does it sound? Supplements: What are the extras? Plot: What’s it about? Introducing audiences to the film is Bohus who manages to goof around with a puppet from the original shoot. With this as the opening, Elite Entertainment has provided the goods in supplemental material concerning The Deadly Spawn. There is an alternate opening, rehearsal scenes, goofy flubs, and deleted scenes. It’s amazing that these items still remain considering the long and amateur shoot. B&W VHS footage from the production's improvised rehearsals provide a few hammy actors and a lot of laughs. Local news footage adds depth to the screenplay and story and are included here to further show the rampant carnage that festers throughout the town on account of these no good wiener-looking aliens. Storyboard Comparisons (SD) — Five videos comparing drawings made in pre-production with the final CG effect. I suppose I should get to the plot at some point in this review, so here goes. Michael Jai White plays a mercenary turned Faustian-like superhero dubbed "Spawn" and meant to lead Hell's army into Armageddon. Leguizamo's overweight clown functions as a sort of guide, continually trying to influence White's path towards the dark side, like a little floating devil over his right shoulder. Of course, there's just enough humanity left within Spawn to create doubt and a hokey drama ensues where White is expected to show emotion over his family beneath the burn-victim prosthetics. Williamson comes in as the little angelic mentor floating over White's other shoulder, cajoling him to use his evil powers on the side of good. This eventually evolves into another videogame-like battle where lots of forsaking takes place and makes obvious hints at a sequel which never happened.

Is Deadly Spawn gratuitous? In the best way possible. The movie loves blood, at least as far as the budget allows it to. The alien creature, a denizen born from a stray meteorite, is a goofy, red teething monstrosity. Whatever flaws exist in the suit or the puppet driven heads are masked by the teeth… so many teeth.

Synopsis: Alien creatures invade a small town and a group of four teenagers, plus one little boy, try to escape from them . In fact, if memory serves right, much of the publicity attention went to John Leguizamo and his scary clown prosthetics. Of the entire movie, he's the only real highlight, which is actually rather sad since his performance and dialogue are genuinely awful. The one thing he does right in the part is making the character a frightening children's performer and proving that clowns really are Satan's foot soldiers from the lower depths of Hell. Aside from that, he spends most of his time spewing lame jokes about farts, rotten food, and doing out-of-place impersonations. Oh, and he supposedly plays a confusing role as the ringleader of the Apocalypse, which leads to the one and only sincere piece of humor to garner any laughs when he tells Martin Sheen with a straight face he only wants to bring the apocalypse now. Non-existence reason number two? DNR. Not a single frame goes by where digital manipulation doesn’t come into play. Faces and skin have a unmistakable flat, pasty, and plastic appearance. Close-ups reveal an unacceptable level of smearing, the slightest motion enough to send the disc into a tizzy. Little to no definition is allowed to seep in, and a handful of shots are on the level of a degraded VHS tape, sans the artifacts associated with the format. Casting and Gags (35:57, SD) supplies B&W VHS footage from the production's improvised rehearsals (Bohus is quite the ham), showing the cast as they figure out the script and peppy character interactions. Plenty of tomfoolery ensues.Actor and director Tim Sullivan got his start in film as a 15-year-old production assistant on The Deadly Spawn. [2] Dods was the brother of Sullivan's art teacher, and Sullivan earned the chance to work on the film as a result of that relationship. [2] Among other tasks, Sullivan assisted in the manipulation of the main spawn puppet, which was made of rubber and controlled from below by wires. [2] Filming [ edit ]