DVC 10 - "The Stiff - Hugh DiMauro
 

I could not have made this movie without the Banshee nor Bradley Marlow. A heartfelt thanks to the both of you guys for keeping me off The Wall. I hope everybody is entertained.

This movie is loosely based on an alleged true story told to me by a friend back in 1981. I laughed so hard I doubled over. Of course, the ending of my movie is a fabrication from my warped mind but everything before is kinda the way the story unfolded. Enjoy!

Hi Hugh!
 

This cracked me up!

I really liked some of those lines...That stiff ain't dead!" Bull****, I embalmed it myself!" Haa! Stiff:"Aruuuugh" "You moron! The guys lungs never purged air..." Referring to the guy like a bottle of pop or something. Does some of that humor come from being an officer and seeing everything under the sun? I can only imagine what you have seen. Whoa.

Did you have someone bouncing on the bumper for the last hearse shot? Fantastic!. It reminded me of the old time movies. Great sound too. May I ask what you used?

I thought your two guys did a nice job with their acting.

Hugh,

Some funny stuff in this one. I liked the writing. "You may be my nephew but you're an idiot!"

I'd love to have seen him get in the car, hear the same sound, get out and investigate it himself, and then get back in the car.

Before we kill someone for being an idiot, we audience members love to see him ignore all the warning signs.

Dick

ok, who does one have to kill to get a hearse in these parts??

seriously, you people have some chutzpah with the props acquisition! i'm impressed.

this was fun, funny, goofy--and it didn't leave any retinal stains on my brain that i will have to scour off later. nice job, hugh. good continuity, nice angles on the shots, amusing character-driven plot...what's not to like??

LOL! You are such a nut sometimes… :)

It shows all over this movie that you guys had an absolute blast making it. I’m very jealous.

What Bradley and Dick have done by quoting so many lines from your movie is give you the best compliment of all as a filmmaker. There’s nothing like a great script, and you and these fellas really pulled it off.

I swear you were born in the wrong decade. It seems your movies usually hark back to some good ol’ days of filmmaking in one way or another, and they’re always good. Thanks for the laughs, Hugh! :)

Thanks To Everyone
 

Forgive my taking so long to reply. Work has been a bear and I still have other submissions on which to view and comment. I'm pretty behind schedule. Yes, we had tons of laughs making this movie and the chutzpah belongs to a very special friend who arranged the hearse, funeral home and cremation casket. But heck, I reminded my actors that it's not every day they get to ride in a hearse and lay in a casket. Boy do I owe them! Most importantly, I hope everybody who watched this film had a good laugh.

That is some good stuff there, I loved the conversation too. Great looking shots. Nice job getting a "car of death". I think the only thing I could suggest was maybe a night shoot to make it scarier.

Hugh, Good humor with a nice (...nice?) twist to it at the end. Good camera visuals and good flow to the editing. I always enjoy your work.

Great stuff as usual, Hugh. The only suggestion I would make is to slow down the corpse's hand coming up at the driver towards the end. We as an audience need time to see what's about to happen, and be given enough time to squirm in our seats knowing about it while the on screen character does not. A classic Alfred Hitchcock technique.

Technically, i would rate your film as 'flawless'

-gb-

Marco: I would have loved a night shoot. However, the funeral director gave us a 0900 - 1100 time slot.

Bruce: Thank you. Humor wins out with me over gore every time. That's why I cannot win. I think one must be very careful with gore in that only truly talented filmmakers can get away with the gore (Meryem's movie is an exception: She did an excellent job with her gore) :-) If you watch the original Halloween, there is little to no blood. Perfect example.

Greg: Flawless? You are just too kind. I forgot to turn on the photoflood in the funeral director's office which is why that scene looks muddy and I shot into the sun during the hearse sequence which is why you can see the dust on my ND filters and the lens elements.

Great film....not scary but funny and great.

Randy

This was probably my favorite out of all the comedy style horrors. The lines were delivered well and I had a good laugh after I realized just how far the guy had to run.

Hugh:

Checking in with my thumbs up for this one too.... fun to watch !!

I feel kind of stupid, but this film actually scared me. I don't know why I was caught off guard the ending was obvious. I guess it was the combination of humor mixed with the very plausible (in my mind) explanation of why the corpse was making noises. I actually jumped when the hand came out.

This is the only film where I actually jumped... I jumped because I was scared. right?

This challenge is going to be impossible to judge.

Nice job Hugh, thanks for the laugh.

I thank you all for your kind replies. A horror/comedy! Me likey! Oh, and as per custom, I'd like to show my appreciation for my actors and crew by bragging a bit about them: Joe Moore (Funeral Director) is a former Marine Corps drill instructor and my former shift sergeant. I'm proud to call him my friend. The guy has a set of costagnes on him and let me tell you, when you're around him, you are definitely in the presence of greatness. That man can diffuse a potentially volatile situation with just a glance. Travis Engle (Scared Driver) works on my shift (and is my former FTO) and is a real sport for making himself act goofy in this movie. He is a former college football player and college baseball coach. He made himself available when I needed him and methinks the DV Infoers will be seeing alot more of him. Oh, and the guy can cook ribs like you would not believe. Brian Bruni (The Corpse) gets the real award for this. He volunteered to lay in the casket for us. He also doubled as our sound guy. Not bad for a fellow who showed up late because he went drinking the night before.