The Dead Girls are a shock rock band whose members are Gina Verelli, who goes by Bertha Beirut and is played by Diana Karanikas (Click: The Calendar Girl Killer); Dana Grant, who is Lucy Lethal and is played by Angela Eads (Fatal Images); Amy is Nancy Napalm and is played by Kay Schaber (Fatal Images); her brother Mark, who is Randy Rot and played by Steven Kyle and Susie Stryker who is Cynthia Slain and is played by Angela Scaglione.
Their manager Artie (Brian Chin) has ideas to make them go mainstream, but the girls realize that they are mainly known for their death-obsessed lyrics more than their abilities. Much like the Stained Class and Ozzy Osbourne lawsuits that inspired this story, the band's fans have been inspired by their lyrics to engage in a mass suicide. The biggest problem for Gina is that her sister Brooke (Ilene Singer) was one of them and barely survived. Now, Aunt Annie (Carol Albright) and Uncle Jim (Robert Morris) - who raised them with good Christian values - think that Gina is to blame.
The band decides to take a two week vacation to a remote cabin, bringing along Brooke, the band's assistant Jeff (Jeff Herbick), Gina's old boyfriend from home Mike (David Chatfield) and a groupie named Karen (Mara Holland). Moments after they depart, Artie is murdered by a masked person. Also along for the ride is a nurse (Deirdre West) who is helping Brooke to recover.
The small place they're staying it is frightening from the beginning. Elmo (David Williams), the developmentally challenged handyman seems to be stalking everyone. And when they send the groupie away, she's soon killed. The murder doesn't stop, as Susie is drowned in the lake by the killer and her body is found by Amy. Her body disappears and the band think that it's a prank, as she has died on stage several times and worked with a magician to learn how to slow her heart and breathing.
If you think that this feels like a giallo, that's no accident. Writer Steven Jarvis was influenced by the Italian genre.
The next morning, Amy find Susie and Jeff's corpses in a barn. Gina runs, trying to stop the nurse who is taking Brooke to the hospital. She doesn't get to her, stranding the group in a place with cut phone lines and a sheriff (Robert Harden) who thinks that they're all pulling a stunt. Dana believes that Amy and Gina are behind the murders and the group begins to battle amongst themselves.
Amy is obsessed with the military - after all her name is Nancy Napalm - and she sets bombs up all over the barn trying to stop the killer. Dana and Gina start to believe that Mark is the killer and while they're discussing that, Amy is dismembered with an axe just as Mark returns with firewood. Gina finds her body and takes her gun, returning to find Dana tied up and Mark holding a pistol.
That's when it all comes out. Dana and Mark wanted to kill Amy and Gina, thinking that they were the murderers. And then, the real killer shows up and slices Dana's throat. Gina runs with the killer following her. Mark kills Elmo and we think that's the end...except...
Spoiler warning...
Mark is the real killer. He's a religious man who thinks that the Dead Girls had to die to end their music and save teenagers. He accidentally steps on a bomb and blows up, just as the nurse returns, finding Gina tied up. Thinking - just like Mark - that they're all evil, she leaves Gina tied up and drives away.
Director Dennis Devine (Things II, Fatal Images) said that the weather and cold temperatures made this the most difficult film of his career. I love the idea that the band is being killed by weapons from their songs. I just wish that they actually had a chance to play their songs. It's so close to being a great metal movie and that would push it over the top.
Their manager Artie (Brian Chin) has ideas to make them go mainstream, but the girls realize that they are mainly known for their death-obsessed lyrics more than their abilities. Much like the Stained Class and Ozzy Osbourne lawsuits that inspired this story, the band's fans have been inspired by their lyrics to engage in a mass suicide. The biggest problem for Gina is that her sister Brooke (Ilene Singer) was one of them and barely survived. Now, Aunt Annie (Carol Albright) and Uncle Jim (Robert Morris) - who raised them with good Christian values - think that Gina is to blame.
The band decides to take a two week vacation to a remote cabin, bringing along Brooke, the band's assistant Jeff (Jeff Herbick), Gina's old boyfriend from home Mike (David Chatfield) and a groupie named Karen (Mara Holland). Moments after they depart, Artie is murdered by a masked person. Also along for the ride is a nurse (Deirdre West) who is helping Brooke to recover.
The small place they're staying it is frightening from the beginning. Elmo (David Williams), the developmentally challenged handyman seems to be stalking everyone. And when they send the groupie away, she's soon killed. The murder doesn't stop, as Susie is drowned in the lake by the killer and her body is found by Amy. Her body disappears and the band think that it's a prank, as she has died on stage several times and worked with a magician to learn how to slow her heart and breathing.
If you think that this feels like a giallo, that's no accident. Writer Steven Jarvis was influenced by the Italian genre.
The next morning, Amy find Susie and Jeff's corpses in a barn. Gina runs, trying to stop the nurse who is taking Brooke to the hospital. She doesn't get to her, stranding the group in a place with cut phone lines and a sheriff (Robert Harden) who thinks that they're all pulling a stunt. Dana believes that Amy and Gina are behind the murders and the group begins to battle amongst themselves.
Amy is obsessed with the military - after all her name is Nancy Napalm - and she sets bombs up all over the barn trying to stop the killer. Dana and Gina start to believe that Mark is the killer and while they're discussing that, Amy is dismembered with an axe just as Mark returns with firewood. Gina finds her body and takes her gun, returning to find Dana tied up and Mark holding a pistol.
That's when it all comes out. Dana and Mark wanted to kill Amy and Gina, thinking that they were the murderers. And then, the real killer shows up and slices Dana's throat. Gina runs with the killer following her. Mark kills Elmo and we think that's the end...except...
Spoiler warning...
Mark is the real killer. He's a religious man who thinks that the Dead Girls had to die to end their music and save teenagers. He accidentally steps on a bomb and blows up, just as the nurse returns, finding Gina tied up. Thinking - just like Mark - that they're all evil, she leaves Gina tied up and drives away.
Director Dennis Devine (Things II, Fatal Images) said that the weather and cold temperatures made this the most difficult film of his career. I love the idea that the band is being killed by weapons from their songs. I just wish that they actually had a chance to play their songs. It's so close to being a great metal movie and that would push it over the top.