The Dead Pit is a 1989 American horror film co-written and directed by Brett Leonard, in his directorial debut. Cheryl Lawson stars as a mental patient who must defeat an undead serial killer who previously worked at the asylum, played by Danny Gochnauer.
The Dead Pit opens with Dr. Ramzi, a brilliant yet insane doctor who has been running horrible experiments on his patients in an effort to master death, being killed and buried in the basement of a mental health facility. Twenty years later, the hospital is running again and Jane Doe arrives at the institute. Upon her arrival, a major earthquake rocks the building. Jane insists that there are patients in the basement that need help but isn't taken seriously. In the following days she befriends fellow patients and undergoes hypnosis that reveals that she and her mother changed their names to escape her father.
As the film progresses Dr. Ramzi comes back as an undead entity and uses his powers to manipulate inmates and kill staff. Jane also has the revelation that she is the daughter of Dr. Ramzi, as her mother was rightfully terrified of him. He ultimately uses his powers to raise the dead patients as zombies.
Filming took place at Agnew's Development Center in Santa Clara, California. Ken Kesey had previously used this as the setting for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.[1]
The United States premiere was in October 1989.[2]
The Dead Pit received positive reviews upon release from Fangoria and Slaughterhouse.[citation needed] Fangoria later included the film in its 101 Best Horror Movies You've Never Seen, where they wrote, "This serious attempt at horror never quite hits its mark, evolving into a series of gory laughs, which is what is so endearing about it."[1] Drive-In critic Joe Bob Briggs gave the film four stars (his highest rating) and praised lead Cheryl Lawson's screaming ability.[6] Steve Barton of Dread Central rated it 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "For me, Dead Pit is more than a guilty pleasure. It’s a movie so bad that it's hard not to enjoy it."[7] Marc Patterson of Brutal as Hell called it "low budget filmmaking at its finest".[8] Bill Gibron of DVD Talk rated it 2/5 stars and described it as "a simple slasher film upended by a Lucio Fulci inspired unnecessary unleashing of the living dead".[9] In The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, academic Peter Dendle wrote, "Leonard's uninvolving psychological horror revels in shock effects and disrupted narrative logic, poured into the tired dreamworld and asylum settings of Nightmare on Elm Street and Hellbound."[10]