DREAMING PURPLE NEON
Dreaming Purple Neon (2016)
Dir: Todd Sheets. Cast: Jeremy Edwards, Eli DeGeer, Millie Milan, Grant Conrad, Jack McCord, Nick Randol, Antwoine Steel, Ricky Farr.
Review by Mario Dominick
Todd Sheets has seen quite the resurgence in the last few years with his return to directing in the underground horror/gore scene. House of Forbidden Secrets was a fun, outrageous, and gory romp with camp value and a great cast of genre veterans. With the new release of his recent effort Dreaming Purple Neon from Unearthed Films, he is re-igniting the indie horror spirit and getting back to his roots as a director of major influence within the B-movie scene.
Dreaming Purple Neon is what you could call the ultimate anti-drug B-horror movie. It features classic grindhouse elements, gore, nudity, and themes of witchcraft and once the chaotic carnage kicks into high gear, it keeps the insanity going from start to finish. A young black secretary is on the run from the drug dealers she works for. Scared after seeing them murder someone who stiffed them, she runs off with a bag of the dope and a couple guns she was told to hold for them. She goes to a dental office to hide the weapons and bag of narcotics and find someone to go to the police with her. Meanwhile, beneath the dental office turns out to be a dark dungeon where a satanic drug lord has created a new drug called Purple Neon and the two dealers after the young secretary appear to be distributing it for him. The drug is a sort of demon juice made in a satanic lab with bizarre rituals and human sacrifices performed to perfect its power over the human mind and body. Chaos erupts when a hostage situation involving the dealers going after their drugs and weapons takes place in the dentist’s office and demons escape from the basement and feed on people turning them into demon-possessed cannibals. A bloody. satanic slaughter fest ensues and the heroes of the story must fight off the demons.
Dreaming Purple Neon is perhaps Todd Sheets’ best film to date! It features the over-the-top, outrageous gore that his films are known for (this one delivers in gut spilling, fetus mutilation, torture, genital drilling, decapitations, scalpings, axe murders, etc.) and it features crazy, outlandish demon make-ups and prosthetics, and some cool grindhouse touches as well.
Todd has truly gone to the next level as a director. His shot-on-video efforts from the 1990s (like Zombie Bloodbath, Violent New Breed, The Shivers, etc.) remain important staples of indie horror and his efforts in the digital era have truly taken him above and beyond and have cemented him as a force to be reckoned with in today’s DIY filmmaking scene. I look forward to the release of Bonehill Road!
If you love underground horror, then you owe it to yourself to get Dreaming Purple Neon on DVD from Unearthed Films today!
www.unearthedfilms.com
www.zombiebloodbath.com
