Willow is cast in a play and finds it more than she bargains for in Katherine Dudas’s Theater is Dead, a horror-comedy of ambition, the drive, and the madness of putting on a show, plus a splash of bigger horror. Presented through Screamfest LA 2025.
In Theater is Dead, Willow is an engineering student who takes a stab (heh) at a part in a local theater production. It’s not long before the acting bug takes a huge bite, putting her in over her head and into a dangerous world; perhaps there’s more going on than a simple play.
It’s great fun watching Willow try to ingrain herself into the scene and the world, breaking out of her life to try something new and fall for it. The ups and downs of prepping a show and examining one’s life goals make for an interesting drive, especially as the theater takes over more and more. The personal and professional squabbles make good comedy, especially as things come a head against the surly Taylor or the bloody finale. But always with the undercurrent of something going wrong, more than a show failing to come together
I’ve been involved in community theatre for a long time, together with the Rocky Horror shadowcast performances I mentioned in Strange Journey’s review. Some productions were wonderfully fun to work on, and others not so much. Theater is Dead captures this perfectly. The manemerisms, personal cliches, situations, and the ebb and flow of preparing and presenting a performance are all hit perfectly. But you’d expect that, theatre kids acting as theater kids in a movie about theatre kids. Okay, they are all adults, but the point is made. For that, I honed in on the humor of their personalities and what they deal with. It’s also just funny that all this melodrama is for a small-town theater. I wonder how those who haven’t done this sort of thing will grasp it as humor, or just find it annoying and self-involved. Not to mention, the bloody horror skin placed over it all, giving a second level of gleeful fun.
*In a side note of connection, this was made and takes place on Vashon Island, just west of Seattle, a mere ferry ride away. I can literally see the gorgeous Elliot Bay island right now as I type this from Seattle (full disclosure, I went slightly out of my way driving today to pause on a side street to write these two sentences). Awesome to see nearly-hometown folks!
For our performer performers: Shane West is suitably a balance of creepy and charismatic. His director, Matthew, is a man who obviously knows what he wants on the stage and in life. Those he works with can feel “maybe this is too far,” but the piercing eyes and push of hypnotic voice push past. It’s dangerous. It’s an eye-catching intensity.
Madison Lawlor’s goth girl has a typical but funny attitude, but ultimately a depth is highlighted, easily taking the film from a less sure lead, Decker Sadowski. Yes, she’s supposed to be less of a personality, but something didn’t quite click. Like she was living the life of the character. She was fine, but lost within the bigger personalities around her. But it’s fair to say she is playing straight man to most, and that’s a big ask.
The reveals of the third act aren’t quite a surprise; hints abound, but still come a little out of left field. Theatre as ritual, what do you summon? Something within yourself? Your own ambition, how does it emerge, and what if it’s taken too far? What if said ritualization of performance and push is used by others for nefarious purposes?
It’s a horror-comedy with a fire for pushing past the small-scale production. Ambition abounds, and it gets so far with sheer chutzpah. I love it. There’s a lot to dig into and enjoy. Going mad for small audiences of locals. Delicious. I’ve seen that people get so incredibly into something they’ll perform a few times and then move on. But it does become something wholly else, and I like what Theater is Dead had to say and how it did it.
Theater is Dead is a fine horror-comedy. It’s a small-town movie of a small-town theatrical production. The humor is solid, the horror is fun, and the whole is enjoyable. It’ll hit best with those with a foot in the show, but could translate well for anyone who gets obsessed. Check it out for some blood on the boards.
Theater is Dead is presented as part of Screamfest LA 2025, running October 7th through 16th.