Dead Man's Hand
If I live to be a one-hundred, I'll never truly get a grasp on my bizarre infatuation with low-budget horror-movies. I've never considered myself to be one of those guys that rants about high-budget movies while praising independent films. I don't think it makes any difference whatsoever what the budget it because money isn't a representation of creativity. There's stories that are well-written and stories that are badly written, and for the most part, whether it be high-budget or low-budget, horror movies are usually badly written. Charles Band has made a legacy for himself off of low-budget movies, and while I can't speak for all of his work, he has never done a movie that I would consider legitimately well-done. There are those that are unaware, so I'll provide something of an elaboration on who this person is.
Charles Band is a director that works primarily with his own company, Full Moon Features. He is most known for The Puppet Master franchise, as well as Killjoy, Subspecies, and Gingerdead Man. He isn't exactly Martin Scorsese, but there is something that keeps me watching his movies. They are always low-budget and filled with actors that are more than likely new to the craft, or condemned to work in these kinds of movies. There is one other noticeable characteristic about Full Moon's movies and it's that they never work within the range of their budget. A filmmaker that understands his own limitations would oftentimes work around things to keep it from coming across as incredibly cheap, whereas Full Moon prefers to relish in its own inefficiencies when it comes to green. For example, when somebody's arm is chopped off like in this movie, or when somebody's fingers are sliced like in the first Puppet Master, they don't bother hiding it or trying to make it look realistic. It feels over-the-top and light-heart.
Dead Man's Hand is no different from what I have grown accustom to with Full Moon Features albeit with nothing really available in-terms of depth. Whenever I bought this movie, I actually got a copy that called it The Haunted Casino, but because the Wikipedia and IMDB pages both read it as Dead Man's Hand, I decided to stick with it. The Haunted Casino basically summarizes what this movie is all about. There's a bunch of cookie-cutter characters with little back-story that arrive that a casino that one of the characters recently purchased. They soon come to the realization that it is haunted, and well, that's basically the movie. There is one-thing that is cool about this movie though, and it's two very familiar cast-members.
In the story, there are two ghosts looking to extract revenge on the protagonist and his friends. Roy Donahue is played by Sid Haig, known for his work as Captain Spaulding in House of 1,000 Corpses and Devil's Rejects, while Gil Wachetta is played by Michael Berryman, who was Pluto in The Hills Have Eyes. I won't let myself dwell on why they are reduced to Full Moon movies, because I am merely happy to see them. The movie, like a lot from the company, does this bizarre thing where it carries a vibe that feels rendered toward children. There is just something whimsical and light-heart about the pacing and feel the film, maybe it's because it reminds so much of one of those Goosebumps movies that I would always watch whenever I was a kid. Then, at the same time, they are all extremely vulgar and filled with profanity.
There are one or two especially entertaining moments, mostly because of the audacity of what you are watching. Whenever the villains abruptly show their ghostly-forms, it's hilarious, simply because how inexplicably cheap and generic that it looks. I suppose that you can go as far as to say that it is part of the charm that comes with the movies. You have to go into the movie realizing what you are watching, it doesn't much in the way of heartfelt performances, and the story has been done before. However, I watched most of the movie with a smile on my face, for good or bad, I was never bored.
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