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My Thoughts on Die’ced: Reloaded
Die’ced Reloaded is the extended adaption/follow on/sequel of Die'ced (2023), a 50 minute horror short.
You can tell pretty quickly that Jeremy Rudd wasn’t aiming for prestige horror or some deep commentary on society with this feature length version. He just wanted to make a blood-soaked slasher that pays tribute to the VHS era he clearly grew up loving.
We get a classic slasher horror movie setup, where Benny, a serial killer who’s been locked away for twenty years, gets help from a nurse and escapes, where he pulls on a scarecrow costume and heads out to kill again.
The film attempts to balance two stories - Benny’s rampage and Cassandra’s teenage drama. Cassandra’s home life isn’t perfect, her dad is broken after her mom left, but she’s still trying to be a normal teenager, hanging out with friends and going to parties, and eventually ending up facing Benny.
I do wish more time was spent fleshing out her character, because Eden Campbell clearly had the presence to carry more weight than the film allowed her, but since this is a slasher, that was never going to happen, was it?
With that said, these kind of movies really lives or die by the gore, and there’s plenty of it, and I thought some of it worked with a few kills that have a over-the-top quality that can be both gross and funny at the same time.
Other times though it did all feel a bit repetitive, and at times it felt like the film was padding itself out by showing the same gag from a slightly different angle, and I know that’s part of the appeal for certain audiences, but I would have liked a bit more variety in how the violence was staged.
The cinematography is also inconsistent, and there are moments where you literally have to squint at the screen because you can’t tell what’s happening.
And while I certainly don’t mind low-budget roughness, it does distract you a bit when scenes are too dark or flat, and it pulls you out of the experience instead of letting you sink into it.
Performance wise, it’s uneven too. Jason Brooks does a good job as Benny, giving him a presence even when he’s under a mask, and Eden Campbell is strong as Cassandra, and you believe her fear and determination.
But some of the supporting cast struggled, with some line deliveries being quite stiff, which obviously isn’t the effect Rudd was going for, but then again, rough acting has always been a part of low-budget horror, so it depends on how forgiving you are with that sort of thing.
Despite the flaws, Die’ced Reloaded is a somewhat watchable film with a lot of heart, without it ever bringing much new to the table. I respect what Rudd was trying to do, and if you want a slasher that is gory and has some fun moments, Die'ced: Reloaded is worth a cheap watch, flaws and all.