Beddie Byes!

My first movie at Fantasia this year was Black Fawn's newest – and fifth (I believe) title of their eight-picture deal with Breakthrough Entertainment – Bed of the Dead.

While watching the first act, I was sure that Bed of the Dead was going to be standard and procedural fare. It reminded me of a lesser version of The Raft, Stephen King's segment from Creepshow 2, but with a supernatural antagonist that uses your sins against you. However, about halfway through the movie, a new element was introduced that made things a little more interesting.

The added device, which I won't spoil here, took the movie into more uncharted territory and I appreciated that. I mean, logically it doesn't make a lick of sense, but as lead actress Alysa King said in the Q&A, “if you're going to accept a bed that kills people, you might as well as accept the rest.”

Gwenlyn Cumyn & Alysa King get red in Bed of the Dead

And speaking of the lead actress, King was the standout here. Much like her strong performance in Berkshire County, she kept her wits about her, got covered in blood and looked good doing it. I feel she is one of the brightest talents in the Canadian genre landscape right now.

Bed of The Dead is also another great showcase of F/X house The Butcher Shop's skills. There was some great gore and it felt like real thought went into the death pieces.

Of course, the 1977 cult flick Death Bed came up during the Q&A. They were aware of it, and have even since been in contact with director George Berry to set up a screening.

Cast & crew of Bed of the Dead.

Bed of the Dead is pretty much what you would expect, but it does have its moments. Black Fawn are banging out these scripts pretty quickly, so it's more about how well they can dress them up. In this case, the combination of a fine lead, blood & guts and the easy-sell premise made this fairly watchable.