User reviews

Exactly what one would expect from a title like that, 'Death Bed: The Bed That Eats' focuses on a possessed bed at an outskirts cottage that dissolves and eventually consumes anyone unfortunate enough to sit or lie on it for extended periods. Considering the noticeably low budget, the special effects are surprisingly decent and the film comes with the odd artistic touch or two, such as a great shot of one victim's dripping blood extinguishing a candle beside the bed. The film also features a lot of uncanny elements throughout, not all of which necessarily gel well. More bizarre than anything the evil bed does (or anything its victims do to futilely stop themselves being eaten) is the poetic voice-over narration throughout, delivered by one of the bed's victims, trapped behind a painting in the room. His eloquent narration is not necessarily a detractor, but it is certainly very, very weird in a possessed inanimate object movie like this. The film's most significant drawback is the acting with the precredits couple in particular offering amateurish turns. If one can get over the second rate acting, strange voice-over narration and such oddities as the bed being spliced into old newsreel footage (!), this is an undeniably unique horror film, and one that - at the very least - manages to makes its possessed object seem sinister without the need to talk or move.

The premise- a demon falls in love with a maiden and assumes human form in order to make love to her. She dies as a result of this preternatural union, and the mournful demon cries tears of blood upon their carnal bed. The blood is absorbed, bestowing the bed with a predatory animate existence. Nestled within a ramshackle guesthouse, it lies in wait through the ages...a bloodthirsty canopy bed which consumes anyone unfortunate enough to rest upon it. A strange concept for a horror film, indeed, but the presentation is far, far stranger...

This no-budget oddity was composed with a very peculiar artistic finesse...not so much pretentious as self-consciously esoteric, it merges trash cinema sleaze with flourishes of oneiric surrealism(it's largely narrated by the spirit of 19th-century nouveau illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, helplessly imprisoned within a painting on a wall opposite the killer bed). This eccentric admixture doesn't really gel perfectly, but that is certainly not to imply that DEATH BED is a bad film, just that it's very bizarre and obvious of its restrictive budget...I personally consider it one of the most original and inventive amateur horror projects I have ever seen.

Opinions about this one will be all over the board, but there's no denying that DEATH BED is unique. I recommend it strongly to all fans of outré cinema. 7/10.

For context, I watched this with my best friend with the full expectation that it was going to be "so bad it's good." I mean, it's a movie about a bed that eats people! That's utterly ridiculous. The fact that it wasn't released for decades after production just made it more enticing.

But my GOD. Death Bed: The Bed That Eats is a pretentious arthouse film dressed up as horror. (There are many arty films I like, by the way, so this review is not a critique on films as art, just on Death Bed.) It's 77 minutes, but it feels many times that length. Watching it was a torture that physically affected me. I felt so frustrated and impatient and angry with it that my chest still feels tight thinking about it. Why?

Death Bed is a movie that believes it is intelligent highbrow art; it seeks out the lost souls among us who are so desperate to find meaning in life that they'll sink their teeth into something meaningless just because it is eccentric. It starts out like the bad horror movie you expect, following a couple as they inexplicably walk up to an abandoned house to have sex and a picnic. Due to some door-locking shenanigans, the bed draws the couple into its chambers. The bed cannot move, but it does laugh and moan, which is funny the first few times before your own psyche degrades as the minutes drag on. We are subject to watching multiple takes of the worst kisser in history (seriously, this guy sucks on the woman's chin with his flappy lower lip; it's actually nauseating) as the bed starts by eating the food they've brought to the picnic, and then it eats them. This is done by having its food sink into the sheets into a yellow vat of acid until foam bubbles up over the bedspread. Again--some of this is legitimately chuckle-worthy. The problem? This movie believes in cycles. You will see the same scene about a dozen times in excruciating, long-winded detail. It never changes. It never stops. What could have been an interesting (if ridiculous) concept is stretched so thin that it loses all value until it regresses into a void disrespectful of the viewer's time.

...Yet, the movie continues. Three vapid characters are introduced, and the cycle begins anew. Who are they? It's vaguely explained in thought-narration (which is 90% of this movie's dialogue, by the way; characters will exposition-dump everything, even going so far as to explain the current happenings a handful of times as if the viewer is too stupid to catch on) that two of these women work together. Does it matter? No. Why are they coming to this abandoned mansion? I don't know. The women show up and the bed's hungry. So we're subject to over an hour of watching these women walk around and stare while listening to their "thoughts" telling us things we already know until someone's eaten. A good chunk of this time is spent in flashbacks as the man the bed is holding hostage in the wall (yes, really, I don't have the motivation to explain this, I'm already reviewing Death Bed for crying out loud) tries to figure out why the bed eats people and gives him trophies of its kills. We watch--over and over and over and over--people throughout history lying in the bed, having orgies in the bed, and sitting on the bed--then get sucked into it and slowly eaten by the acid. It's the same scene. We get to watch it over and over and over and over--and each death isn't quick. No, director George Barry thinks he has a masterpiece on his hands, so he lingers on each shot like a maggot on the already decomposing beaten horse. Each death has meaning because ART! so we will be subjected to each excruciating second, oftentimes while listening to the guy in the wall thought-speaking something that's already been established many, many (screams "MANY!") times.

The bed's possessed by a demon. There's a woman who has similar eyes (they're not similar at all, actually) to another currently at the house, so the bed fears her. "Why does it fear her? Why?" repeats the thought-speak, as tears roll down the viewer's face because they just don't care anymore after an hour of this hellscape. Deaths repeat. Thoughts repeat. Finally, the final act arrives as the brother of the woman the bed fears. He arrives, tries to save someone--it isn't clear who, really, since he sees only blood, no bodies, and his sister in the room and has no reason to suspect the bed--and loses his hands by reaching into the bed's belly (vat of acid). I kid you not, this guy looks at his skeletal hands with no expression. None. At all. The actor is as dead inside as the movie. There are lingering shots on this woman and her handless brother. One almost believes the end is mercifully near. Then the guy in the wall talks to the two survivors and says that now that the demon sleeps, they can prepare to kill it. How is the demon asleep now? Who knows. Why can the man in the wall suddenly speak to the people when he couldn't warn them before? Who knows. At this point, viewers stop asking questions because they are just holding out for the sweet relief of death.

The survivors gather the supplies necessary to perform the ritual, all of which come from its previous kills (so these kills were required, I assume). A woman rises from a coffin. She was clothed as a corpse, but now she's naked because ART. She walks over to where the bed teleported outside, has coitus with the handless brother, and BOOM! Bed is in flames. By the time the credits rolled, I was so exhausted and devoid of joy. I'm being completely honest when I say watching this felt like water torture. One drip (death/thought exposition/vapid character) at a time, this movie encourages you to go insane by sheer repetition of trifling drivel. This was one of the worst movie-watching experiences I've had in my life. My friend joked after it was finished, "Replay!" and I actually felt real panic. Until watching Death Bed, I didn't know a movie could make me physically ill. Now, the day after, I'm in recovery.

I'm writing this review not to be mean-spirited or simply hate on the movie, but as a public service. Please. Don't watch this unless you like pretentious arthouse films, and even then, do your research. Don't watch this because you think it'll be so bad it's good. It's not. After watching Death Bed, I feel insulted and demeaned.

Never has the words "hidden gem" been so accurate. Bad movie lovers might search all over for the next hidden obscurity, sometimes coming up short with stuff like Weasels rip my flesh, but other times, luck will prevail and you might end up with something like Death Bed, then hopefully realizing it's not a bad movie at all, it just has a bad title, and not even a bad title, but a humorous one that might throw you off, but Somehow Death Bed obviously still fits into the "bad" category, and there just ain't no way around that. With a vibe that's somber and empty, Death Bed is a true masterpiece of low-budget horror, reserved only for those fortunate enough to appreciate such a dark shadow of a vision.

Death Bed involves an incoherent, yet intriguing relationship between a demon in the bed and the sympathetic ghost trapped in the portrait, who only wishes he could spare someone from the awful fate of being devoured by the yellow suds. Although not all that scary, considering it's about a killer bed, Death Bed possesses the qualities that make for successful horror. A dark, desolate vibe, confusion, an eerie, subtle score and that dream quality that this masterpiece almost flaunts. Such a quality, or vibe usually seems unintentional. Not only is it intentional, but from what I've read, Death Bed is based on an actual dream, George Barry, the director, successfully transferred dream to film, only a genius could accomplish such a task.

Old mansions make for good quality horror, as do portraits. Not sure what to make of the killer bed with its killer yellow liquid. A bizarre dream, indeed. Also, this isn't quite the brand of B-horror I was expecting, considering the cheesy title and all. Before viewing this Gothic gem, I expected something more like Class Reunion Massacre. Now thats a bad movie, if you've seen it, you know what I'm saying. After considering all of the above, I feel like Death Bed deserves eight stars, but the mysterious charm of this one lingers long after the arrival of the internet era, which counts for something. 6/10

This is a very odd movie. From what I gather, a demon becomes infatuated with a woman and somehow magically conjures up a bed for him to satisfy his carnal desires with her. But the woman dies and that causes some blood to fall upon the bed and suddenly come to life--with a desire to devour any human who sleeps upon it. I guess it's what beds that are conjured by demons do. Anyway, in order to eat a person the bed secrets some type of yellow fluid (which I suppose is an acid of some sort) and essentially engulfs the person. However, there are a couple of people who apparently intrigue the bed so much that it behaves very differently toward them. For starters, there is an artist who painted a portrait of it and because of that he has been trapped behind the painting overlooking the bed. His comments are then given freely during the movie to clue the viewer in to what is going on. Trust me, they are definitely needed. Likewise, there is a woman who has eyes that resemble the woman the demon lusted after and as a result the bed is initially scared of her and bleeds inside whenever she is around. At least initially. Now, if the plot wasn't weird enough, the characters are pretty dumb too as they don't seem to say-or think-very much. They basically see a bed in the middle of nowhere and want to sleep on it. Naturally, they get eaten and in some cases flowers grow on the ground outside of the building where the bed is located. I'm not sure why but perhaps it has something to do with Newtonian physics. Or maybe not. In any case, like I said earlier, this is a weird movie and because of that I recommend it only for those who either like bad films for some odd reason or have plenty of beer (or other type of alcoholic beverages) on hand. Failing either of these conditions you might want to skip this particular film all together. Below average.

Directed by George Barry. Starring Demene Hall, Rosa Luxemburg, Julie Ritter, Dave Marsh, William Russ, Ed Oldani, Dessa Stone, (voice) Patrick Spence-Thomas.

The title is about the only good thing in this mind-numbingly bizarre, pretentious rubbish; how could a movie about a bed that eats people be so deathly dull? Despite the frequent sound of munching and crunching on the soundtrack, the killer bed (possessed by a demon, of course) simply secretes an insulation foam-type substance and dissolves its victims in a vat of acid (inside the mattress?) that looks like elementary school orange drink. The first time it does this, mildly amusing; as is a bit where the bed consumes a bottle of Pepto Bismol. But it does this again, and again, and again, and again, with an immortal artist trapped behind a painting providing droning, aimless narration. Characters with no personalities wander in and out of the "story," technical details are (naturally) risible, and the deadening tone is pseudo-profound flatulence. If you're looking for cheesy, grisly fun from a movie about a bed with a ravenous appetite for human flesh, stay far, far away, because the writer/director isn't interested in entertainment value--he clearly thought he was creating a work of art (he wasn't). Went unreleased for almost three decades (for good reason); has inspired something of a cult following, but so did Jim Jones.

3/100

The title brings to mind everything that made 70's-ploitation a thing of wonder. Yet, viewers are to find instead an oddly artistic film with what must be one of the most strangest ideas for a film in all the annals cinema.

Here goes: a demon falls in love with a girl, but she perishes and his sadness infects a bed which then becomes indestructible and develops an insatiable appetite for for pretty much everything, flesh in particular. The soul of one of it's victims now haunts a painting and comments on the carnage the bed reeks. Weird enough for ya? Sloppy, cheap and very amateurish, the film is really hanging at the bottom rung of the budget/talent food chain. The acting is mostly nonexistent (except for the trapped soul, who is pretty good), the sound quality is rough and the picture is faded. Also, the editing needs some serious attention as the pacing for the film is all kinds of wrong.

And yet, the film kept me watching all the way to the end. It wasn't the trashy 70's goods that held on to me (of which, there are actually very little), it was the controlled strangeness of the picture. Unlike many odd-concept/low-budget affairs, the film starts and stays weird, but keeps itself contained; it comes off more artistic than it does simply exploitive.

Technical limitations aside, the movie is interesting, if not all that entertaining. A less budget restricted remake would be nice, but try to take it for what it is.

6/10

If you watch "Death Bed: The Bed That Eats", you certainly are not expecting Shakespeare nor a film that will be featured on the Criterion Channel! No, you would only expect schlock....and schlocky it certainly is! And, because of that, I judge this one much differently than a film that tries to be good. The maker of this one, George Barry, obviously wasn't intending on anything other than a silly mess of a film...and he really succeeds in this sense.

The film is about an evil bed that somehow manages to keep eating people. now you'd THINK they'd notice folks were disappearing...but no! So, again and again, folks keep sleeping in the bed and are eaten by a weird yellow foam...accompanied with ridiculous chomping sounds! The 'victims' also look as if they are swimming in tinted ginger ale as they are being eaten!! I could say more about the plot...but why bother?!

The bottom line is that lots of amateurs seemed to have fun making this grade-z film...and on this level, it's good for a few laughs. I give it a 3 because a few bits are funny (the Pepto Bismol bit was cute) and the film did, oddly make me smile a few times. Also, be forewarned...there is some nudity in this one, so you might not wanna watch it with the kids, your mother or Father O'Reilly!

I'm not sure what I can add that hasn't already been said in some of these other fine, and quite hilarious, comments, but Ill try.

So you know the plot: there is a bed possessed by a demon that "absorbs" and selectively disintegrates the bodies of whoever (or whatever) lays on it with its orange soda-filled body. We have the man, in some scenes looking uncannily like Robert Smith of The Cure, hanging out inside the wall commenting on the goings-on, and we have our various victims that just cant resist the comfort of this mystical bed.

This is no ordinary bed. No sirree Bob! Not only does it eat people, but it cleans up after itself, draws the covers back, and it even makes itself. Who wouldn't want a bed like that? It can even use its sheets as a rudimentary "lasso" to wrangle escaped victims back in (especially if they're taking up half the length of the film to try and escape).

Our "main" story (if you can call it that), is about these three girls who go out to this remote area to house-sit(??). I don't recall exactly, but it doesn't really matter though as there are plenty of things that defy convention that you just have to give in and accept. The dialogue in the film is like no other; the characters talk to each other seemingly by telepathy as their mouths never seem to move and there is a constant echo. One of our girls believes she isn't liked by the rest of "the gang" and makes sure to tell us all her feelings on this matter through an echoey voice-over, but we don't care; character development was thrown out the window a LONG time before in this film so why start now? There are scenes when the bed laughs, snores, crunches, and makes various other noises that we assume judging by our cast's non-reaction to said noises, cant be heard. This and the telepathy makes the issue of diegesis very difficult to ascertain...but thats OK....this is Death Bed: The Bed That Eats and it defies all logic so its OK. It makes for a lush dreamy quality to this most bizarre film If you buy (hehe buy...did I say "buy"?) this DVD, make sure to check out the introduction by the director. He explains that the filming of this "flick" started in 1972, didn't wrap up until 1977, he shopped it for a few years with no luck, and then fast forward 26 years to 2003 it gets released on DVD. Supposedly someone somewhere had a print of this in some other country and made bootleg after bootleg of it and it was quite by chance, on a message board no less, that our director found evidence that people knew, and gasp! cared, about his little-known film. Its from there that he decided to give it a shot and release it. I'm glad he did. Once you've even so much as heard the title to this film, you MUST see it. I for one am going to buy this and I'm going to preach its gospel around the world...starting with this comment

It's really rather Simple. The Name of the Movie Is Death Bed, The Bed that Eats. If you are anything like me, You already know if you are going to like this movie. I stumbled across this gem at Best Buy the other day and picked it up for Ten Bucks. I got ten bucks worth of enjoyment out of the title, and the box alone.

I'm a huge fan of B movies. This is in my opinion one of the greatest B movies i've ever seen. Now, it's not for every one.

Granted, it's not even for most people. As a matter of fact, i suspect their are only going to be a handful of us who truly enjoy this movie.

For those of you who like B movies though, this film is a Diamond in the rough. It has a great premise, A bed... That eat's people. It doesn't walk, it doesn't move, it doesn't have a siren call to attract people. It pretty much relies on people wandering by and sitting on it.

I loved every inch of this movie and have already seen it three times in the scant weeks i've owned it.

Like I said, After reading the title of the film, You already know if you'll like it. If you laughed or smiled, Then give it a go. it's worth it.

Death Bed: The Bed That Eats is without a doubt one of the weirdest horror films I have ever seen. It's not just the plot that astounds with its sheer surrealistic nuttiness, but also the execution: the avant-garde direction, the strange music, the kooky performances, the random editing, and the echoey voice-over from the spirit of an artist trapped behind a painting, all of which go to make this a real one-of-a-kind off-the-wall movie.

Told in four chapters - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Just Desserts - the film revolves around a bed that devours anyone and anything that comes in contact with it. The bed - created by a tree demon in the form of a breeze - came to life when the woman the demon wished to seduce suddenly died. Over the years the bed, which occupies an abandoned house, has claimed many victims, dissolving their bodies in the acid that sloshes around under its sheets. One of these victims was the aforementioned artist, who, imprisoned behind his own work of art for 70 years, bears witness to each and every death.

When three young women arrive at the house, the bed begins to feed again, starting with cutie Suzan (Julie Ritter, who gets nekkid before being eaten), followed by Diane (Demene Hall), who might have escaped if it hadn't been for those pesky prehensile bed sheets. The third girl, Sharon (Rosa Luxemburg), is spared, because her eyes remind the bed of the demon's dead maiden.

Crazy moments include the bed consuming an apple and regurgitating the core, Suzan dreaming of eating bugs, the bed devouring an orgy, and an eyeball rolling around the sheets, but for my money the most memorable scene is when Sharon's brother stupidly tries to stab the bed and finds himself wrist deep in acid, the bed dissolving the flesh, leaving him with skeletal hands that start to break apart as the cartilage wastes away.

With bonkers stuff like that, I happily recommend the film to fans of bizarre cinema, even if, truth be told, it isn't really all that good.

Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (1977)

** (out of 4)

Hear me out. A bed that is possessed by a demon eats anyone who gets on it.

Yes, that's pretty much the story of this film, which was written and directed by George Barry. This one filmed turned out to be the only film Barry ever did and it's certainly unlike anything else out there. I've read several reviews about this film including a few in books that discussed the worst movies ever made. I also read about it in Stephen Thrower's Nightmare USA where it was given a different point of view. Personally speaking, I can see why some would call it one of the worst movies ever made but at the same time you have to admit that the film is original and it does contain some fresh ideas.

DEATH BED: THE BED THAT EATS is a very strange and surreal movie. There's a certain European feel that hangs over it and there's no question that it has a certain atmosphere that is hard to explain. The entire idea of a movie about a bed that eats people is ridiculous but at the same time how many times do you watch a horror movie and then bash it for being the same old thing that we've seen countless times? You really can't say that about this movie because it is original and there's nothing else like it.

Obviously when you're dealing with a movie about an eating bed, there's not too much that can be done in regards to a story. There's very little plot here and the majority of the running time are just short vignettes that have a variety of people show up at this castle, sit on the bed and get pulled in. The special effects certainly aren't anything great with the "bubbles" coming up and then we get a cut-away of the people inside the bed. The visual images of "inside the bed" are decent for what they are.

The performances are pretty much what you'd expect out of a low-budget exploitation movie. There's some decent blood throughout as well as some nudity so the director at least knew how to build up the movie. I'm not sure if it was accidental or not but I did find stuff here to enjoy. It's certainly a very weird movie but I thought it was at least mildly entertaining.

This is truly a ridiculous movie. It was so strange that after I saw it, I truly wished my bed would devour me.

I, like most other people, saw this movie after hearing of it from Patton Oswalt. Oddly enough, it was easier to find than I thought it would be. Though, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I found it used.

The plot is summed upped masterfully within the title. It's a bed that eats. Nothing more, nothing less. There is an effort to throw in a story line but not a very good one.

A demon's blood ended up on a bed and, as a result, it becomes possessed. It devours anything that happens upon it by absorbing and then dissolving it in what appears to be orange Fanta. There is an artist who fell victim to the bed, but was sick and ends up behind a painting in the room it inhabits. The narrative is told entirely through him.

This movie fails horribly at everything, even at being bad. Still, it's not without its own brand of charm.

I'm about halfway thru the Bad Movie Bible, and have come across just a few to skip....and this is definitely one of them. Don't bother, no redeeming scenes worth the watch

It was a particular killer podcast (wink wink nod nod) that brought my attention to the George Barry 1977 lost horror film, Death Bed: The Bed That Eats. I had never heard of the film previous and any mention in conversation over beds that cause death, I would immediately recall Johnny Depp's fate in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

My curiosity was peaked with the premise. It sounded as ridiculous as Rubber (2010) possibly as outlandish as El Topo (1970), so it was a quick and easy purchase as I turned to Amazon to add to my collection.

Death Bed is simply that. The plot surrounds a bed that eats. Our interest is mainly in the humans to which it consumes, but apples, bottles of wine and even a Pepto Bismol container are all part of the bed's diet throughout the 77-minute running time. It eats through an acidic sudsy substance that overtakes objects laid upon it's mattress.

The bed is fittingly located in a remote area of the countryside and we learn of its history and its thoughts (?) through the narration of a spirit that is imprisoned within a painting kept in the same room as the killer furniture piece.

Mostly, the bed feasts upon travelers, and more specifically during the mid-chapters, on three vacationing women searching for a bed for the night.

We could not ascertain whether writer/director/producer George Barry was looking to make a serious film or if he instead had designs on cinematic glory. But considering the film's overall tones and serious approach to the ridiculous premise, we would suggest the intention was sincere. And with adult moments that included various scenes incorporating female nudity, our case is that much furthered.

Our appreciation for Death Bed: The Bed That Eats might be more of a surprise than the film's plot points. We appreciated the movie for what it attempted and we enjoyed the crunching and munching Mr. King Size did on his adventures. Screened in 2013, we could hardly take it seriously. But it was with a satiric eye opened that we were kept entertained and we understood the cult epic that was unfolding in line with Eraserhead and Pink Flamingos.

Yes, even at under 80-minutes the idea runs its course and outstays its welcome. And yes, there were holes larger than pillowcases that brought out the WTF in us while screening.

Still, the title of the film doesn't hide what George Barry was trying to create. Our world might not be better having watched it, but we are glad we now have a new conversation piece at parties that is designed to garner attention.

www.killerreviews.com

...less time wasted viewing and it is still easy to follow...this movie must really drag on at regular speed, subtitles help...there are some good chuckles...worth the view in my humble opinion :)

A large bed possessed by a demon eats people, among other things. I'm not making this up.

Completed in 1977 and not officially released until it came to DVD in 2003, "Death Bed: The Bed That Eats" is a movie whose plot is impossible to describe. You most likely know of it thanks to Patton Oswalt's excellent bit about it, as well as Stephen Throwers essential book "Nightmare USA." While watching it, you wonder the following

-Who is George Berry, and what drugs did he smoke/inject/snort before writing and directing this movie?

-Is this a horror comedy? A combination of a horror flick and an art movie? A weird prank being pulled on the audience?

-What the hell am I watching?

"Death Bed" really defies any explanation. I know, that term is overused, but it couldn't be truer than it is here. This truly beggars description. It is a horror comedy, as well as art film/horror hybrid. But the whole thing is so surreal, it must be seen. The score sounds like the electronic bits from an old Candlemass album, the acting is terrible and disconnected from everything, the direction is surprisingly competent, and the movie at times feels like a Jesus Franco movie-that is, if his movies were intentionally funny.

In the end, there really is no proper way to describe this movie. Lord knows I've tried, but really, few movies are as odd, unique, or mind boggling as this is. See it...but you've been warned. This is also the only movie George Berry has ever done. He definitely left his mark on the exploitation genre with this, I'll tell you that much.

I had read online reviews praising this obscure outing as a combination of gory horror, quirky black comedy and borderline art-house; the film has elements of all three, to be sure, but they are at the service of such a supremely silly premise (the title immediately gives the game away) – and amateurish production to boot – that its long-term neglect due to a lack of proper distribution – basically until Cult Epics picked it up for DVD release a full 30 years after its inception! – was no great loss to cinema or even the genre(s). The bed was apparently created for the purpose of accommodating a demon's dalliance with a woman; anyway, a dying man who had made use of the four-poster and even painted it ends up trapped in the wall behind the canvas(!) and provides intermittent commentary to the 'action'. Several people (from teenagers-on-a-fling to gangsters-in-hiding) supply fodder to the perennially-hungry bed; latest on the menu are a trio of girls – one of whom, however, recalls its mistress of long ago and, consequently, the bed seemingly fears her! Seeing various objects – from cigars to pieces of fried chicken – and people getting swallowed up (the belly of the bed is depicted as a vat of honey-colored liquid) makes the film mildly amusing at times (especially when a young man's hands are reduced to their skeletal formation, which he seems to take rather too easily in his stride!), but also awfully repetitious…so that, at even a brief 77 minutes, the whole pointless exercise feels strained and downright desperate.