Play Dead (DVD)

Hester Ramsey (Yvonne De Carlo) lives in a cavernous old house, with only her pet Rottweiler, Greta, to keep her company. Bitter and alone, Hester blames her estranged sister for stealing away her one true love, Sam, decades earlier. Following her sister’s death, Hester begins to plot a diabolical revenge, using her knowledge of the black arts to place a spell on her dog, and then gifting the satanic beast to her grief stricken niece, Audrey (Stephanie Dunnam). Soon, those closest to Audrey begin to get bumped off by her newly cursed pet in a series of increasingly violent ‘accidents,’ as Hester seeks to kill off all of her surviving family and leave Audrey to take the blame.

A low key Texas lensed supernatural thriller that was produced by a construction company, Peter Wittman’s PLAY DEAD, mixes Southern melodrama and a smattering of T&A, alongside its requisite bloodshed and occult tinged twists. Given only a scant theatrical release before being dumped to video, Vinegar Syndrome brings this regional sleeper to, newly restored in 2k from its original 35mm interpositive.