Goose, the leader of the Ravens is convinced by his girlfriend to leave the gang cause she fears for him life. But quiting isn't that easy as the leader of the rival gang, the Spiders, start smarting from a recent fight between the two gang members decides to take it upon himself and one of his gang members to off the slut. This sends Goose into an endless see of drugs and despair in a endlessly downward spiral, but not before disposing of your now deceased girlfriend in a trash compacter (she he DOES care, and doesn't litter, what a environmentalist). Anyways he soon finds himself up against the new combined ultra-gang (the new leader of the Ravens combined forces with The Spiders) and all-out carnage ensues. This little no budget movie goes a long way on sheer manic energy alone even though the acting leaves much to be desired. And overall I did find myself enjoying it very much.

My Grade: B-

Eye Candy: 2 pairs of breasts, and Jim Bebbers ass for the ladies

DVD Extras: Commentary by writer/director/actor Jim Van Bebber, producer/director of photography Michael King, British cult film distributor David Gregory, and actor Marc Pitman; Jim Bebber filmography; soundless Outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage; "Chunkblower" promo film; and"My Sweet Satan" short film

Easter Egg: On Side A, highlight a hidden pentagram in the center of the gravestone for a music video of Skinny Puppy's "Spasmolytic"

Okay, judging by the extremely favorable rating (6.9/10 momentarily) and the amount of exclamation marks in the subject lines of other users' reviews (I love this movie!!!!!!!),it's abundantly clear that "Deadbeat at Dawn" has a rather large base of devoted fans. Then probably my two-cents won't become too popular and quickly will collect a few dozen non-useful votes, because all I saw was an irritatingly cheap and practically intolerable amateur home video. People always refer to "The Evil Dead" when they've seen a low-budgeted horror/cult movie they liked, but let's be honest, the genius and superiority of Sam Raimi's landmark never gets reached. Jim Van Bebber's debut is far more reminiscent to Tim Ritter ("Killing Spree", "Creep") and Nathan Schiff ("Weasels Rip my Flesh", "Long Island Cannibal Massacre"). In other words, painfully inept amateur guff in which the overenthusiastic writer/director desperately mobilizes his friends and family members to star in his dream project, but nobody actually dares to shatter his illusion and say to his face that his film sucks.

"Deadbeat at Dawn" admittedly features a few brief moments that are decent and a plot that could have been compelling if it were handled by a slightly more competent director with a budget. The set-up is comparable to Walter Hill's "The Warriors" - a personal favorite - and opens with a depiction of the intense rivalry between two street gangs. Goose, leader of the Ravens, and Danny, leader of the Spiders, practically cut each other to pieces during a macho-showdown at the local cemetery, and for Goose's spiritual girlfriend it means the ultimatum to choose between her or his gang. After a long and deep reflection, Goose realizes he really loves her and decides to drastically turn his life around. The Spiders then savagely kill the girlfriend and Goose is bent on revenge; - especially when he finds out that the two gangs are merging together behind his back. "Deadbeat at Dawn" is mostly infamous and loved for its excessive gore and violence. I'll be the first to gladly admit that the brutal massacres are sick and twisted in a delightfully entertaining fashion, but they are also badly spread throughout the film. For every gore highlight that lasts for three seconds, there are several overlong and tedious sequences in which absolutely nothing remarkable happens. Van Bebber tends to stretch every ingenious aspect endlessly, by the way. The encounter with Goose's alcoholic father, who goes berserk because the son drank his last can of beer, is funny at first but not for 7 minutes. The first lines of the "I-hate-people" rant by a maniacal gang member named Bonecrusher is also hilarious, but the full four minutes are insufferable.

In the nineties, Jim Van Bebber made excellent (and extremely sickening) short films, namely "My Sweet Satan" and "Roadkill". I strongly believe they were fantastic just because they were shorts, and thus Van Bebber didn't need to add filler footage. He returned once more with the highly acclaimed (among genre fans) biopic "The Manson Family", but personally I think that's also one of the most boring and undeservedly hyped horror films ever.

It's not hard to see why Jim Van Bebber's grimy expose of gang related turmoil has become such a cherished cult favourite; The film delivers equal dosages of OTT violence, blood letting, action and some highly commendable amateur stunt work and this all wrapped up in a grim and nihilistic tale of retribution. Of course, many independent films comprise and follow similar themes; However, this one further raises the bar with its incredibly bleak depiction of sheer hopelessness as experienced by our protagonist and those around him. The scenes featuring our hero returning home to his father and his obvious shock and disgust at the mental deterioration experienced by said parent are surprisingly powerful - far more so than one would expect from a film of this ilk.

Having said that, ultimately what really will stick with the viewer is the incredible ultra-violence on display; The finale especially is a suitably nasty affair and lets just say, the outcome pretty much negates the possibility of a direct sequel........

Given what Bebber gave us here with this diamond in the rough, it's even more of a shame that he never fulfilled his obvious potential by moving on to bigger things......oh well, even if he were to only be remembered for this effort, it's a heck of a reputation.