The Dead Pit (1989)

 I was watching a YouTuber's podcast and he posited the idea of a subgenre called Surrealist. Yes, I guess it could be a catch-all for all those Fulci bizarro flicks, scifi horror oddities, outre, off-kilter, not quite real, dream-and-nightmare logic, occult, otherworldly, supernatural, and uncompromisingly hard-to-pin-down films so unwilling to cooperate in terms of following the more rational, clear path of storytelling. I think The Dead Pit (1989) certainly does that. All the way to the end, this film simply won't agree to follow any sort of proper logic. There's no interest in cow-towing to us if we want the story to make sense. If that were so, Jane Doe would wake up from her nightmare in a comfortable bed, with her father rushing into her room to make sure she's okay. That would be a compromise.

Instead Jane Doe puts on her father's ring and her eyes glow red as his did when he "reawakened" from his "dead pit", sealed behind a door that is opened by an earthquake. Dr. Swan insinuates later that Jane caused the earthquake, her presence at the very hospital her father -- at this time, an amnesiac with no memory of who she is, the trauma of her father gradually unearthed behind a blocked wall her mind put up as "protection" -- once lobotomized mentally ill patients for brain experiments. It seems those experiments or something that seemed to reanimate Dr. Ramzi gives rise to all his victims as they emerge from the green-glowing pit pallid-skinned, drenched in dry blood all over, with open heads and violent intentions. 

Never does the film give any serious explanation as to how Ramzi returns from the dead 20 years later, the gunshot wound from Dr. Swan's pistol a reminder of what put him down the first time before rising from his pit. A peculiar method of destroying Ramzi's zombies is use of a blessed holy water. Now I'm not sure why the water would be blessed since patient, Clair (Geha Getz), is only a nun in her own mind, flogging at tables and offering Hail Mary's to patients with her eyes so lost in madness she's barely aware of anything else except her talks with the Lord. Nonetheless, it would seem God has decided to bless her water, even going so far as to bless a big water tank outside so that demolition expert (and current patient because of his inability to control his desire to blow shit up after returning from "the war"), Stephen Gregory Foster. 

Not sure why Ramzi's face is deteriorating once he reveals himself in person to Jane. Why does Ramzi have such long finger nails? Why do his eyes glow red? Why would his ring transfer the evil in him to Jane? Why does the dead pit glow green? Why do the lobotomy undead feel the need to remove brains and lift them high, cupped in their hands, as if offering them to the gods? Why does Jane dream of Ramzi in his ghoulish state or see him around the grounds when no one else can...unless they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? Ultimately, I think using Surrealist as a subgenre title could be seen as giving lots of filmmakers an excuse when their work disregards coherent narratives or logical routes towards a conclusion that tidies up any inconsistencies. Instead, Brett Leonard's The Dead Pit goes where it wants, with the lobotomized undead melting into puddles of grue when impacted by Clair's water (or "blessed sources" of water) and Dr. Swan's opened head and exposed brain a source of Dr. Ramzi's amusement as he stabs pins in their to toy around with the guy's emotions!

Just as bizarre is how those in the hospital just seem chill with Jane Doe's scantily clad attire, tight panties and above-the-waist cut shirts clutching close to her breasts. The skimpy wardrobe, what little there is, definitely gives us plenty of Lawson to see. I think it isn't until the last thirty minutes that she finally is given clothes to cover up with. In fact, even a scene where a wicked nurse uses a hose that blasts open her shirt plays out in Lawson's nightmare. For a majority of the film, Lawson has to remain hysterical. It was a part that demanded a lot of Lawson. I'll give this 3/5.

I bet you I watched the cut version as a teenager. I'm sure the exposed brains weren't available on VHS. If they were, I would be shocked because the effects are so realistic and explicit. I'm glad the recent prints have added them back because the effects are superb. And the zombies of the film, including a demonic Gocknauer, are visually quite sinister and unnerving. The hospital setting is just perfect for such a bleak atmosphere.

If you were a kid cruising the shelves of the video store throughout the horror section, I'm sure you came across the interactive video box of Brett Leonard's THE DEAD PIT, with the ghoul rising from a pit, a button you could push that made the fiend's eyes glow..those days were so cool because distributors put effort in their releases, finding innovative ways to market their products for the home video crowd. I never rented the movie at the time, but thanks to the fine folks at Code Red I was finally able to sit and watch THE DEAD PIT, provided uncut and in a proper transfer.

The story-line is beyond bonkers and bizarre regarding this evil neurosurgeon(..based on the haunted recollections of director Leonard who based this guy on a neurosurgeon who was his mother's doctor(..his mom had brain cancer))who was shot point blank in the forehead by his colleague, Dr. Gerald Swan(Jeremy Slate)because of his diabolical transorbital lobotomies on asylum patients. Swan boards up the secret area where these procedures took place(..featuring a pit where the bodies of the dead patients were stored)along with the neurosurgeon's body and moves on with his life, burying the past away..that is until a new patient is brought to his institution twenty years later, an amnesiac, "Jane Doe"(Cheryl Lawson)who might just have some kind of connection with the dead neurosurgeon. An earthquake of heavy magnitude opens the boarded secret room and the neurosurgeon rises from his pit to gather up new victims, nurses and patients of Swan's, while also terrorizing Jane in the process. Jane befriends a relatively sane patient, Chris Meyers(Stephen Gregory Foster), in the institution as punishment for his activities as a dangerous bomb expert! Funny how this unique ability will come in handy at a later point in the film! While the killer neurosurgeon ghoul moves across the grounds at night collecting his new victims, Swan attempts to unlock the repressed memories of Jane to establish just who she is, and how she might relate to Ramzi(Danny Gocknauer), explaining to us why this menacing bastard haunts her so.

I think THE DEAD PIT achieves in certain areas, while it suffers in others..despite an incoherent plot and many gaping holes, Brett Leonard's debut feature has very impressive make-up / prosthetic effects, with stunning camera work(..photographed by Marty Collins), & striking use of color and light(..blue and green, in particular). When it becomes a certified zombie film with past patients of Ramzi's rising from the green-glowing pit, blood-soaked, many featuring open wounds, THE DEAD PIT is sure to win the hearts of undead genre fans everywhere. These zombies are the things of nightmares and the way they are shot, using back light which introduces them often in the form of shadowed silhouettes, accompanied by misty fog, marching towards potential victims, is quite visually arresting. The interesting marriage of asylum and zombie genres enhances THE DEAD PIT, I believe, and the setting of a former mental institution, Agnews Developmental Center(..certain areas falling apart while the more sound buildings produce just as much disturbing ambiance)provides a really spooky aesthetic that should be pleasing to the eyes of horror fans. Cheryl Lawson, as Jane Doe, services the movie as major eye candy, a short T-shirt and panties her wardrobe for most of the screen time. Some phenomenally gruesome gore(..it's a testament to the f/x wizards to achieve such work under the tight budgetary constraints) includes heads opened revealing brains(..including one nifty sequence where Ramzi uses needles to purposely cause certain sensations to a victim, inserting them into an exposed brain, while also jamming picks into faces, causing immediate lobotomy right on the spot, surprising certain victims who were caught off-guard by the demented psychopath). There are also some really cool melting effects(..always a major plus to me)featuring faces deteriorating into skeletal remains. Ramzi's glowing red eyes are a bit too much, perhaps eliciting unintentional laughs instead of fright, and throughout the forehead bullet hole remains an eyesore / distraction. And, the inclusion of "blessed holy water" as a means to possibly defeat Ramzi, is a bit goofy, particularly when the one blessing it is a patient pretending to be a nun! Still, as a low budget shocker, I think THE DEAD PIT is a success and has much to offer horror fans who can drown out the film's many deficiencies, appreciating the atmosphere and wicked visceral aspects. -- August 8, 2009, IMDb