When I first received Justin Channell's debut feature, Raising The Stakes, I must admit I had some doubts. Being as it was made by a cast and crew of which almost every member was under the age of nineteen, I wasn't sure what to expect. Would it be a "backyard goof off with friends" waste of time? A riff on the current popular horror movies? Or just plain crap? Surprisingly, the movie proved to be a watchable horror-comedy that had two leads who shared good chemistry and Channell's knack for witty dialogue. So when the offer to see Die And Let Live came along, I couldn't say no.

The entire thing kicks off on quite the positive note as we see a security guard for Frumcorp Pharmaceuticals being attacked by a gang of zombies in the parking garage and in an elevator. It's probably the most serious, straight-ahead horror moment here and it sports okay mood and some decent headshot effects, but it sadly becomes quite goofy from there. Not that goofy is bad, it's just I would've like to have seen more moments like this in the rest of the movie.

From here we're introduced to best pals Benny (Joshua Lively) and Smalls (Zane Crosby) as they hang out at the local coffee shop shooting the breeze and criticizing anything and everything. But when Stephanie (Sarah Bauer) shows-up, Benny becomes love stricken. The only problem is that she's going out with Andrew (Jonas Dixon), who's a bit of a dick and is cheating on her.

In order to try and woo Stephanie, Benny and Smalls decide to set-up a little party at a nearby summer house. It all seems like the perfect time for love, beer, and general rowdiness - it's too bad, then, that the zombies we saw in the opening scene have shown-up in town with a taste for human flesh.

You've certainly got to hand it to Channell and the rest of the people involved with Die And Let Live. You can tell they were having a ton of fun making it and it shows. While the story is a tad bit thin and the soundtrack is too packed with indie bands who let them use their music for free, Lively and Crosby maintain the same vibe they did in Raising and this time they even help Channell co-write the script which results in even more outrageous and amusing dialogue snippets and wacky characters. You can tell that there was absolutely no intention here to be anything but goofy and it is in spades - but judging by Crosby's fairly well done make-up effects and the opening it's possible Channell and crew may be able to pull off a "real" horror flick sometime in the near future (and I, for one, would love to see it).

Lloyd Kaufman makes his usual no-budget flick cameo and Trent Haaga (one of my favourite indie actors) has a brief role as a Military captain, but the rest of the young, amateur cast does pretty well with the material. Of course, it's all Lively and Crosby's show, but nobody else here manages to embarrass themselves.

Overall, Die And Let Live is an agreeable horror-comedy. I did enjoy Raising a tiny bit more (perhaps because it had a better story flow) and they use the "screaming" joke a few too many times, but generally this is an entertaining effort that offers such silliness as a playground sequence and a Vietnam riff on Forrest Gump - so it can't be all that bad.

Visit the Official Website for more info. (Chris Hartley, 2/8/07 - DVD, 1/23/08)

Directed By: Justin Channell.
Written By: Justin Channell, Zane Crosby, Joshua Lively.

Starring: Joshua Lively, Zane Crosby, Sarah Bauer, Ashley Goddard.

Picture Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: For a digitally shot homemade flick this looks pretty damn good on DVD. The transfer handles everything nicely and while there's a little bit of jagginess when sharp-angled items appear on screen and a few moments of softness this looks much more professional than a lot of indie movies do.

Extras: Leading off the extras are trailers for six other Heretic releases (including Red Cockroaches and London Voodoo) before we get a thirteen-minute reel of outtakes and four deleted scenes that are mostly jokey dialogue and cut for good reason. Both of these features can be played either with or without commentary which is pretty cool considering I've never heard one over bloopers before.

Next up is a forty-minute "Behind-the-scenes" featurette which is mostly footage shot by co-star/effects guy Crosby. It does a pretty good job of showing us how filming went and shows a balance between the goofing off and seriousness of the young filmmakers behind the movie. We also get brief footage from the movie's premiere at Morgantown, WV and there's an easter egg hidden in the audio options which is bascially co-star Lively chowing down on some pizza.

Last up is a commentary track featuring co-writer/director Channell, Crosby, Lively, and various others involved in the production. It's a pretty lightweight track that slips into silliness more often than not (yes, someone does blow a raspberry into the microphone at one point) but it's a decent enough listen considering everyone in the room has barely graduated high school and are taking abou their second produced film.

Visit Heretic Films for more info.