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[Official Review] ‘Dear God No!’ A Throwback That Lacks Depth

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Reviewed by Mike Ferraro

What a film. Dear God No is a throwback genre film bringing us back to the glory days of Grindhouse cinema. Writer/director James Bickert made the brilliant choice of shooting this film on actual 16mm film – a giant step in the right direction of filmmaking! As you’re watching, you can’t help but miss the format. It’s not like digital cinema has cinematography as a whole. It’s just so painfully obvious how it all lacks a certain depth. With this film, it’s nice to see things like how the foreground separates from the background, a little bit of grain covering the whole image throughout the entire picture, and how the lighting looks way more realistic.

But that is about all for which we can really praise.

Dear God No tells the story of a Jett (Jett Bryant), the leader of a devil-worshipping motorcycle gang, who spend their time raping nuns and murdering people. The group decides to pick on a group of wealthy college types at a cabin in the middle of the woods.

In this cabin, Dr. Marco (Paul McComisky) has been dabbing a bit with trying to cure the dead (most notably, his dead wife). With that, however, also comes a giant sasquatch-like creature, roaming the woods and knocking off heads of passersby. So when the undead wife comes from out of the basement as this gang prepares themselves to rape a pregnant lady, they just see it as another opportunity to rape someone else. If Dead Girl taught us anything cinematically, it’s that thou shall not rape that which no longer lives.

Since the Tarantino/Rodriguez created Grindhouse double-feature from a few years ago, filmmakers far and wide have created films of that ilk to keep the genre going. Only a few of them have really succeeded (like Hobo With a Shotgun and maybe Bad Ass) and the others just try too hard. Dear God No definitely falls into that latter category. The harder the filmmaker tries to shock us – and there are moments – the easier it becomes to not care about what we are seeing. It’s one thing to shock for a purpose but it is another to shock for no reason whatsoever, simply because you are trying to tap into certain genre requirements.

The DVD is chocked full of special features regarding the making of the film. It even contains traces of its marketing campaign – most notably, specific genre related spots (torture porn, zombie). We are also blessed with 2 commentaries – filmmaker and actor – if you are so inclined to sit through this film a couple of more times. That is not going to be an easy task.

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Don Mancini in the “Early Stages” of Working On a New “Chucky” Movie!

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Chucky death

Everyone’s favorite killer doll is headed back to the small screen with “Chucky” Season 3: Part 2 on April 10, but are any further movies being planned at this time?

Created by Don Mancini, the “Chucky” television series remarkably plays around with existing elements from all previous films without disregarding ANYTHING from the past. From the original Child’s Play to sequels including Child’s Play 2, Bride of Chucky and even Seed of Chucky, it’s all one cohesive timeline that Mancini remains deeply committed to.

Of course, the most recent film in the Child’s Play franchise was the 2019 remake, to date the only movie in the saga that’s NOT part of Mancini’s vision. Is Mancini’s original incarnation going to spend his final days on TV, while another Chucky will be featured in the movies? It’s a question we’ve been asking ourselves for the last few years, and we may now have an answer.

Speaking with the Scream Dreams Podcast this week, Mancini revealed that he’s in the early stages of development on a potential new installment in the original Chucky film franchise!

new Chucky movie

CHUCKY — “Jennifer’s Body” Episode 303 — Pictured in this screengrab: Chucky — (Photo by: SYFY)

“Like anyone in this business, I want to do more things. At this point though if it’s only Chucky I’m totally cool with that,” Mancini explains. “I have other things I want to do. I’m working on a new pilot. I’m also, actually, in the early stages of working on a new Chucky movie.”

Mancini adds, “At this point, my goal is just to keep working.”

Outside of the aforementioned Child’s Play remake, there are to date seven installments in the franchise, with Cult of Chucky (2017) being the original franchise’s most recent film.

For now, Chucky remains a small screen icon. Don’t miss the premiere of Season 3: Part 2 on both USA and SYFY on April 10, with new episodes hitting Peacock the day after they air.

You can watch Don Mancini’s full chat with Scream Dreams below.

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