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When I found out about this movie, my interest was peaked and I was thrilled to find out about what Midnight Syndicate would muster to put into this movie.

And now having seen it, it is with a heavy heart that I must say that in my opinion, then Midnight Syndicate should stick to what they do so well, and that is making music - not movies! This movie was bad, plagued by a shallow storyline, unenthusiastic acting performances and generally a lack of appeal. I am sure that Midnight Syndicate meant well and tried their best, but the end result was just not that impressive.

And more so, it was just downright tacky the way they were self-promoting themselves throughout the movie; such as the ring-tone on a phone was a classic Midnight Syndicate tune, and the mentioning of the band when someone was looking at vinyl albums. It was just too sleazy the way they were subtly trying to promote themselves through the means of the storyline.

The story was mediocre at best, though it was heavy with stereotypical things, and it didn't really work out all that great. If they had stuck to just one type of classic horror creatures instead of two, it would have worked out much better. Either go with zombies or vampires, both of them together just doesn't really work out all that great.

And what was up with the horrible fake wig plastered to Andrew Divoff's head? It looked God-awful, and I was laughing most of the time when he was on the screen because of it. So it was hard to take this movie seriously. And it was far from anywhere near the usual performances that Andrew Divoff delivers in movies. It was cool to see Tom Savini in the movie, though, and that much credit is due to the movie.

"The Dead Matter" is a shallow movie experience that is thick with self-promoting from Midnight Syndicate. And for a horror movie, then it turned out to be as far as it could be from being a horror movie. It sort of resembled a parody of horror at best.

The one thing, and the best thing, that the movie had working for it, was - without any surprise - the music score / soundtrack. As always with Midnight Syndicate, you get some really great atmospheric and ambient music that emphasizes on the horror and occult aspect.

A group of teenagers perform a séance in the woods only to unleash a less than benevolent spirit into the world, or was it a dream? People like to have dreams in this movie. Anyway, the man bad guy, a vampire, wants to get an amulet that controls the dead from a member of said aforementioned teens who wants to make her dead brother return to life.

I found this movie to be very boring and a tad reminiscent of the overall better "Warlock" Unsurprisingly the seemingly always typecast Andrew Divoff does nothing to dissuade those notions. Having seen it on Instant Redbox, and not going out of my way to view this movie, I still felt ripped off.

If your tired of Hollywood horror that do not deliver then this is a movie for you. It has blood, guts, zombies, vampires, glowing amulet, spells and so much more. If you love old school horror from the 80's then you need to buy this movie. A guilt -ridden young women desperate to contact her deceased brother discovers a powerful ancient relic that controls the dead. Her dark obsession drags her into the tangled world of two warring vampire lords each with his own sinister plans for the artifact, and a vampire hunter who will stop at nothing to destroy it. This Gothic dark-fantasy co-produced by Robert Kurtzman features a haunting score by Halloween horror music composers Midnight Syndicate. A mix of classic horror themes with modern twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

It's sad when the only good ratings a movie can get are from the filmmaker's family and friends. Well, here's the dead matter in a nutshell: The vampire (Andrew Divoff) wears a blonde lady's wig that looks like it's on backwards. The storyline is… oh wait, there is no story. The overweight zombies look worse than what you'd expect to see at a local haunted house run by high school kids. The music just drones on, but maybe it's better than nothing. The movie is described as a campy horror comedy, but there's nothing humorous at all about this film, except maybe the terrible acting. No boobs, very little blood and no interesting death scenes, nothing you haven't seen a million times already, and no hot chicks, just a few frumpy fat dudes. The actress that plays Gretchen is cute, but not in a "hot" way. And like I said, no boobs.

I can't even recommend this train wreck for a beer and B-movie night. It's just a huge waste of time.

Looked interesting and even had some potential talent on the listing. It should have been good but the script was completely awful. The directing and many of the scene setups weren't much better. Another movie bites the dust because the writer and director can't take the time to make it right. I'm not talking about spending money, just time and preparation, which often if not always do not require actors or other costs.

But this doesn't make sense. It has a ton of 10 star and 8 star ratings??? ... and yet a ton of 1 and 2 star. Hmm something is not right here. Look at that , so many of the high ratings were given by reviewers that only reviewed a single movie: this one! Nice to have a big family and circle of friends. And I hate bogus ratings.

This is Edward Douglas first attempt to direct a flick. He surely knows his stuff because he is normally an music technician for a few horror flicks. By doing so he also knew the people inside the genre. By that we see Andrew Divoff (wishmaster) as a leading role and Tom Savini in a special role. The special effects were done by Robert Kurtzman, also known in the genre.

It's a weird flick to watch because we have all elements in it that you can think about, zombies, vampires, ouija boards, supernatural effects...It's even sometimes a bit funny to see, a vampire being attacked by a zombie. It's really not your average horror flick. But the effects used are really well done and that makes it watchable. Strangely, Andrew Divoff couldn't convince me. Due the names in it it wasn't really my thing nevertheless I enjoyed it on the , for me, funny parts if you know what I mean.

Gore 2/5 Nudity 0/5 Story 3/5 Effects 3/5 Comedy 2/5

McCallister and Mark, a vampire/zombie fighting duo are after Vellich, the ancient vampire leader, who has a scarab artifact in his control that allows him to have power over the undead and the forces of darkness. McCallister and Mark temporarily take possession of the amulet and are on their way to a mystical place in the Ohio woods where the unholy relic can only be destroyed. However, Vellich will try to get there first to prevent this and take back the amulet. While both parties fight it out at the magical location, they lose the scarab.

Enter Gretchen and her friends the following evening, who decide to hold a séance in the woods at the same mystical place, to help her communicate with her dead brother. The group finds the artifact at the magical site and Gretchen takes it home with her. She soon befriends a zombie that comes to her apartment and she feels that her new found amulet and walking dead friend can help bring her deceased brother back. However, McCallister and Vellich both want to reclaim the relic and Gretchen's friends are concerned that she has set them all on the road to utter doom.

The Dead Matter is a well executed movie with good directing and editing. Special attention is placed on the film's technical areas for smooth viewing throughout. The story is also quite involved, so the viewer will have to really pay attention to take in the different characters and sub plots that are going on to understand their connections.

Midnight Syndicate, known for their Halloween and haunting, horror music CD's provides the soundtrack for The Dead Matter. The movie had some good eerie music in it, particularly the main title and end credits theme. Edward Douglas, the president and co-composer of Midnight Syndicate, steps into the film director's chair for The Dead Matter. He does a nice job using the camera to tell his story visually with good choices for shots.

British actor Jason Carter delivers some fine acting and is well cast as a Van Helsing type vampire hunter named McCallister, who is after the scarab and tries to save Gretchen and her friends from the forces of evil. He is very intense in the role and his sharp features, European accent and old style clothing really embellish his performance as McCallister. Our main indication that McCallister really lives in the present day world is that he carries a cell phone with him.

Horror genre favorite Tom Savini, the special make-up effects artist behind such scare classics as Friday The 13th, Dawn Of The Dead and Creepshow, has a small role in the film as Sebed, a modernized rival vampire leader to Vellich, and his old style blood sucking ways. Savini fans will enjoy seeing him acting in the movie. And fellow special make-up effects man Robert Kurtzman (formerly of KNB EFX Group) is one of the producers of the movie. Robert Kurtzman's Creature Crew provides the special make-up and visual effects for The Dead Matter.

There are some creepy looking night exterior shots of the walking dead coming up the road and through the fields. In a few scenes, there is also homage to classic horror movies like Night Of The Living Dead, A Nightmare On Elm Street and others that fans of the genre should pick up on.

An interesting scene that was chilling takes place when Gretchen and her boyfriend Mike try to get the zombie to help her communicate with her dead brother in the cemetery. Aligned with a jolting music cue, the zombie suddenly starts repeating in a strange sounding voice, "Death is the answer...death is the answer…death is the answer…death is the answer!"

One particular humorous scene in the film occurs when friend Jill arrives at Gretchen's apartment and wants to speak with her but the zombie then walks over them. Jill eyes the zombie and turns to Gretchen, "We need to talk…alone." Gretchen looks at the zombie and then smiles at Jill and says, "Okay." They both then step away farther into the room.

Frank (Christopher Robichaud), one of the friends in the group, is a scientist and IT specialist at Trilec Labs, which specializes in diet pill formulas. He is fascinated with the zombie and wants to study it and run scientific tests on it, despite his friend's objections. Frank's character provides most of the film's comic relief and black humor.

The feature film was made in Ohio and hats off to the filmmakers for shooting the movie on Super 16mm motion picture film, a great format for low budget filmmaking and horror in particular. The Dead Matter is a fun movie to watch with a new storytelling take on the traditional vampire and zombie films.

Tom Savini is the most noteworthy name in The Dead Matter, a new film promoted as 'From the producers of From Dusk Till Dawn'.

The Dead Matter that throws vampires, zombies, horror, comedy and the Gothic occult at its audience in hopes that enough sticks to warrant a cult-status following.

The Dead Matter throws vampires, zombies, horror, comedy and Gothic fantasy at its audience in a film that is promoted as being 'from the producers of From Dusk Till Dawn'. Tom Savini is the most noteworthy name in a film about a young woman named Gretchen (Sean Serino) who is desperate to connect with her dead brother and discovers an ancient amulet that has the power to control the dead.

The amulet is of particular interest to Vellich (Andrew Divoff of Wishmaster fame) – an ancient vampire who has yet to read fashion magazines informing him that 1980's hair is long out of style – and Sebed (Tom Savini of From Dusk Till Dawn) who are at odds in a feud that has spanned for eons.

Complicating matters for Vellich and Sebed is a vampire hunter named McCallister (Jason Carter) who will eventually team up with Gretchen and her three friends Mike, Jill and Frank in an attempt to keep the impending evil at bay. A confrontation of both parties will be the climax of the film's final chapters and will house a few surprises and some slightly above average make-up and special effects to keep The Dead Matter with the enjoyable range of the entertainment meter.

The Dead Matter reminded us a lot of the old 1980 second tier horror films such as Warlock and Wishmaster. Its production values are good enough to keep us involved and the film knows well enough not to take itself too seriously which only adds to the enjoyment factor.

Our particular liking was the storyline that dealt with a zombie that appears in Gretchen's bedroom and is controlled by commands by the beholder of the amulet. The zombie's attempts at drinking beer or eating snacks at the dinner table drive the humor at just the moment that The Dead Matter required an infusion of fresh air (zombie's are referred to as "Post-Mortem Americans" in the film's most noteworthy bit of humor).

Directed and edited by Edward Douglas, The Dead Matter also features a musical score by Midnight Syndicate (which Ed Douglas founded in 1996) and the music is definitely notable and predominates throughout the film's 89-minute running time. It often adds to the mood and accompanying CD of tracks is well worth the additional purchase.

Far from perfect, but far from an independent throw-away, The Dead Matter was a pleasant surprise – like a movie your eyes catch on a sleepless night and you can't turn away from.

www.killerreviews.com

What we have in this film is a seance, a book of grimoires, an ancient amulet, zombies, vampires and a vampire hunter that creates a really fun independent film that is sometimes humorous and other times creepy. Let's not forget that Tom Savini is in this film AND the movie has some of the very best Gothic music on film you will ever hear by Midnight Syndicate. If you don't take the film seriously, and just lighten up to kick back to an hour and a half of fun entertainment then you might really enjoy this movie. I really don't believe the film deserves this low of a rating it's getting.

I obtained this film in DVD format and it came with Midnight Syndicate's soundtrack for this movie plus it has their Halloween Collection CD! I would highly recommend the The Dead Matter: 3-Disc Deluxe Edition if you are wanting this film in your personal collection.

6/10

Andrew Divoff stars as Vellich, he has to have that relic and will do anything to get it. Watching this film, I realized how much I missed him in the Wishmaster films. He truly makes this film a blast to watch. If you take away the vampire and zombie parts, this felt like Wishmaster 3 should have felt. This is true indie movie gold. What a fun film from start to finish, this film is just a treat to the genre. You get the bad wig worn by Divoff which made him look like a 70′s stoner with a weird touch of Col Sanders. You have Tom Savini, who plays Sebed, a vampire lord that really gives Divoff some of his best moments in this film. To watch those two icons act with each other is almost the equivalent of watching Robert Plant sing with Paul McCartney. There is a scene in the film where Gretchen opens the fridge and the food becomes reanimated. To watch the chicken act the way it did, was such a nod to Evil Dead, without feeling like it ripped it off. You also get a beer drinking zombie, hey zombies get thirsty also you know. The special effects were done by Robert Kurtzman, who a few of you may have heard of once or twice maybe? And get this, you get a Jessica Cameron cameo. Some of you guys may have heard that name before as well.

This is old school horror meets new school ideology with a twist. The script was fun, it was dark humor and it was smartly written. The characters felt fresh, as did the situations. And the nod to Fulci The Beyond. Kudos for having the guts to attempt it, and not only that, but succeeding where you know Fulci is in his grave clapping the effort. If you are going to rent this to be scared, you may be watching the wrong film. This film is not a scary horror film, it is a fun one. And such a breath of fresh air, that all horror movies can still be effective but yet has heart and humor. This film gives you a fair amount of gore and blood goodness. This is clearly a nod to us old school fans, and it is such a fresh breath of air in the lungs of people who suffer thru so much junk to get to good films like this. This is a must watch, and will enjoy film.

The extras on the DVD are very amazingly fun. There are two Midnight Syndicate music videos, three finalists' music videos from the Midnight Syndicate 13th Anniversary video contest, gag reels, audio commentary by Ed Douglas, Robert Kurtzman, and Gary Jones, a feature called Maximum Dead Matter that allows you to watch a scene in one corner of the screen while simultaneously watching the actual filming of the scene in another window, interviews with cast and crew members, locations, and concept art. Also included in this triple disc combo is 2 soundtracks.

All in all, this is so much fang for your buck

Ooeey Gooeey Cheesy Goodness. Please SYFY, you MUST show this movie on a Saturday Night time slot. Gather your friends for a Beer and Pizza party and get ready to laugh your butts off! Scary? Parts. Comedic? Indeed. Hot Chicks? Yeah..especially the one ogling Tom Savini. GRRrr. Boobtastic. So, get off your couch surfing behind and watch this film full of 80's satire humor and some bad ass Vamps and Post-Mortem Americans! Did I mention the creepy minds of Midnight Syndicate scored this film and the ultra goth Edward Douglas directed? Well, Duh! Of course he did..what other kind of a mind could ever bring back exactly what we have been missing in the horror genre? Thank you Mr. Douglas. I owe you a coke.

I could barely sit through the mandatory 30 Minutestes of this drivel, but still I have to give it high marks. First star goes to the fact that the movie is called DEAD MATTER and it opens with a town under siege by well made up zombies. In the middle of the Zombie Apacolypse are two Sabre Wielding Zombie Slayers. The Sabre wielding Zombie Slayers turn into Wooden Stake impaling Vampire hunters as they are in pursuit of a magic Amulete. Although one vampire over-lord has a cheap wig and horrible fangs, the actor who plays him already has a couple of Horror movie franchise under his belt already. He kills humans turning them into Zombies, technically ghouls to do his bidding. the other vampire overlord a veteran of the remake of Night of the living dead (which explains why the Zombies were so well done) drugs his fellow vamps to do his bidding. However the actress playing the women in distress is so horrible she brings the movie down.

In the annals of horror cinema, the 1980s hold a special place, with a slew of campy, over-the-top B-movies that embraced the genre's tropes with tongue-in-cheek humor. The Dead Matter is a loving homage to those classic films, delivering a fun, self-aware romp that will delight fans of the genre.

What really makes "The Dead Matter" work is its sense of nostalgia. The film is a love letter to the 80's horror movies that defined a generation, and it captures the look, feel, and tone of those films perfectly. From the synth-heavy soundtrack by the Iconic Horror duo, Midnight Syndicate, to the cold, bleak visuals, The Dead Matter is a time capsule that will transport you back to the golden age of B-horror.

If you're a fan of 80's horror movies, or if you're just looking for a fun and campy fright fest, The Dead Matter is the perfect film for you. It's a nostalgic slice of cinematic cheese that will leave you grinning from ear to ear.