PopHorror Let's Get Scared
DR GIFT is a unique movie, in that it’s a haunted house flick and a slasher film, as well as a film that features a fair amount of comedy to go with its gruesome gore. How does it all work together? In my opinion? Fairly well.
Read on for my thoughts on DR GIFT.
DR GIFT Synopsis
In the haunted corridors of the Lockhouse asylum, a psychotic doctor conducts gruesome experiments on his patients. 70 years later the asylum opens as a bed and breakfast, and the door to hell is opened along with it.
DR GIFT was directed by Abel Berry (Midnight Devils) and Jennifer Michelle Stone (Midnight Devils) from a script they wrote with Logan A. Hamby (The Holding).
The film stars Tatiana Sokolova (Bloodthirst), Beau D. Boykin (Strix), John Meacham (Bridge of the Doomed), Michelle Hill (Bloodthirst), John Henderson (Demons at Dawn), Danielle Harris (Halloween 4), Denny Nolan (Night of the Tommyknockers), Maritza Brikisak (The Lurking Man), Rudy Ledbetter (New Fears Eve) , Greg Tally (Devil’s Knight), Michael Lawrence (Strix), Ross Caudill Jr. (Axe2Grind), Lisa Hinds (The Haunted Studio), Jan Duncan Weir (Man Vs Bigfoot), Cicley Alexander (Night of the Tommyknockers), Jeramis McFadden (Bloodthirst), Michael Della Pia (Arena Wars) and Angie Quinn (Pinup Zombies).
My Thoughts
DR GIFT is a movie that really shouldn’t work; A haunted house/slasher/horror comedy. Surprisingly, it works quite well. The comedy occurs quite naturally through the characters and doesn’t feel forced. The relationships and characters themselves are just naturally funny. This helps lull the audience into a false sense of security before the bodies start dropping and things get bloody. The deaths, for the most part, are pretty gruesome. Watch and witness ripped-out tongues, half of a head cut off, and a man having all his limbs severed before being disemboweled and decapitated and having his body eaten.
The killer and the ghosts are pretty creepy. The performances are pretty great. Some of my favorite performances include Rudy Ledbetter and Greg Tally as two hilarious chefs and Tatiana Sokolova’s Nadia, who has one of the best lines in the film, which I won’t spoil. Danielle Harris is quite good, though her screen time is rather limited, it’s definitely memorable. If I had one minor quibble it would be that I would have liked to see more of the past and see more of the doctor’s experiments and for a few things to be explained a little more.
Final Thoughts
DR GIFT is a haunted house/supernatural slasher with a wonderful cast playing interesting characters. It features gruesome kills and some genuinely funny comedy. I highly recommend it,
