Big Al's Place: Essentially Deadbeat

In A Nutshell

Years after his release from Alcatraz, bedeviled by hallucinations fueled by untreated, late-stage syphilis, Al Capone wanders the overgrown grounds of his Miami Beach estate, ruminating with ghosts. Tomorrow will bring his forty-eighth birthday and one week later he will be dead. Between then and now sprawls an epic life, from the wild streets of turn-of-the-century Brooklyn, to a bloody Saint Valentine’s Day that shocked the world; here is the glamorous ascent and shocking decline of America's true king of crime.

Some History

Jim VanBebber's 2004 feature, The Manson Family, was hailed as, "Crucial," by Peter Travers in Rolling Stone's four-star review. It inspired Roger Ebert to proclaim, "...it has an undeniable power and effect...it exists in a category of one film - this film." The film's successful theatrical release brought further critical acclaim and Manson then went on to thrive on home video, including as the centerpiece of Visions of Hell: The Films of Jim VanBebber, a mid-career retrospective DVD box set released in 2008.

Capone first met VanBebber at Wright State University when both men were enrolled in the Motion Pictures Production program headed up by Academy Award nominated documentary filmmakers Jim Klein and Julia Reichert. When, in junior year, the class was divided into small groups with the purpose of producing a short film, VanBebber, with partners Marcello Games and cinematographer Mike King, decided to shoot a full length feature. That film, 1988's Deadbeat at Dawn went on to earn true cult status, playing to crowds on 42nd Street and on many waning drive-in screens before landing on cable's The Movie Channel where it debuted on Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater, hosted by Joe Bob Briggs, who had singled out Deadbeat in his nationally syndicated four-star review.

With funds derived from the sale of Deadbeat, King, Games and VanBebber began their follow up production, The Manson Family, which brings us full circle

6/25/10

Essentially Deadbeat

A tip of the hat to the Cool Ass Cinema blog which recently included our own Jim Van Bebber's Deadbeat at Dawn in it's Most Controversial, Disturbing & Essential Exploitation/Grindhouse Movies list. Here's the entry:

DEADBEAT AT DAWN (1988)
Directed by Jim Van Bebber

Director, star, writer and pretty much everything else, Jim Van Bebber

Goose, the leader of the Raven's, a street gang involved in a turf war against the Spiders, decides to hang up his violent ways to live a normal life with his girlfriend. However, in his absence, the two gangs form an alliance and don't take kindly to Goose quitting for a more stable existence. Savagely butchering his girlfriend and leaving him for dead, Goose goes out for violent and bloody revenge.

Jim Van Bebber is a one man war machine in this, his first feature film. Not only does he both star and direct, but he also wrote, edited, did the special effects and also did stunts and fight choreography! DEADBEAT AT DAWN (1988) is a jaw droppingly amazing, ultra violent, comic bookish two buck shoestring wonder. Hopelessly cheesy at time, the chuckles (the conversation with Goose and his drug addicted dad is priceless!) set off the grim nastiness very nicely. Van Bebber (THE MANSON FAMILY) has an enormous amount of talent and it boggles the mind he has yet to be snatched up by a major to helm a big Hollywood action picture.

Beginning on a rather stale note, it only takes a few minutes for this 16mm marvel to kick into high gear. Aside from all the over the top violence, bloodshed and bad acting, several scenes and dialog exchanges are pulled off with poignancy and undeniable skill. DEADBEAT is a one of a kind underground splatter action revenge movie whose no budget level of accomplishment is staggering to say the least. Very few filmmakers can do so much with so little. There's a ton of creative energy in this nifty little cult obscurity. The no holds barred, gore drenched finale is worth the DVD alone.