Film:  Netherbeast, Incorporated (comedy) http://www.netherbeastmovie.com/

Studio:    Ronalds Brothers Films

Principal actors:  Darrell Hammond, Judd Nelson, Dave Foley, Steve Burns, Amy Davidson, Robert Wagner

Director: Dean Matthew Ronalds

Screening Date:  September 16, 2007

Kansas International Film Festival

Film length:  90 minutes

Rating:  unrated 

3 Stars 

Reviewer:  Deborah Ground Buckner 

Netherbeast Incorporated began as a multi-award winning short, The Netherbeast of Berm-Tech Industries Inc,  which can be viewed here

The short is hysterical, but the longer version, expanded from 3 minutes to 90 minutes, can't sustain the laughs. 

The talent in this film is top-notch:  Darrell Hammond (Saturday Night Live), Judd Nelson (“Suddenly Susan”), Amy Davidson (“8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teen-aged Daughter”), Steve Burns (“Blue's Clues”) and even Robert Wagner as President James A. Garfield.  The premise is original and clever:  A new worker joins a company where the rest of the staff are all vampires.  There is even a fresh presentation of the vampire legend, explaining they prefer to be called “netherbeasts,” draw their strength from the “netherstone,” eat human flesh as well as drink blood, don't sleep in coffins, and have several more traits and requirements which are explained with the same style as a PowerPoint presentation at a sales conference. 

Otto (Steve Burns), Henry (Dave Foley), and Rebecca (Robyn Allen), employees of an all-netherbeast company called Berm-Tech Industries, suspect their boss Turner (Darrell Hammond) is suffering from a malady known as “the retardation,” a politically incorrect term for a degenerating brain condition that afflicts some netherbeasts.  Their clues are Turner's sudden odd behavior such as killing an employee, Mike, with a wooden stake to the heart, because “he is a vampire.”  Turner next astounds the office by hiring a non-netherbeast productivity consultant, Steven (Judd Nelson).  Add to the complications another non-netherbeast employee, Pearl (Amy Davidson), and there are soon a multitude of frantic attempts to keep Turner under control and protect the company secret. 

A romance between Otto and Pearl doesn't reach its full potential either from a humor or a romance standpoint (though it is cute when Burns, who first gained fame as the owner of the puppy, Blue, on “Blue's Clues,” makes up an excuse for not going out with Pearl:  “I have a dog.”).  The script relies on a series of bathroom jokes that are not particularly funny and add nothing to the plot.  Revelation of a conspiracy results in some rather gory scenes with red-stained corn syrup flowing in abundance. 

But the film certainly has its comic moments, especially the opening scene which is basically the short film.  A company meeting that falls into a debate of the fable of the tortoise and the hare earned a lot of laughs.     

In a Q and A following the screening, an audience member asked the Ronalds Brothers “What was the biggest challenge of a taking a successful short and expanding it out?”  They readily answered, “Everything.”  It shows.  This is a clever concept with a lot of comic potential.  Some re-writing with more focus on the original idea could earn just as much acclaim as the short film. 

Netherbeast Incorporated had its world premiere at the AFI Dallas International Film Festival in February 2007.  It has also screened at the Sonoma Valley Film Festival,the Phoenix Film Festival, the Tribeca Drive-In at Rockefeller Center, the Long Island International Film Expo, the Rhode Island International Film Festival, the Toofy Film Festival in Colorado (winner of the Golden Toof for Best Feature), and the Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival.  Upcoming screenings include the Edmonton International Film Festival (September 28-October 6), the ICon International Film Festival in Israel (September 28-October 4), The Los Angeles Horror Sci-Fi Film Festival (October 4-7),  the Escapism Film Festival in North Carolina (October 5-7), the Eerie Horror Film Festival in Erie, Pennsylvania (October 13),  the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival in Tempe, Arizona (October 19-21), and the Savannah Film Festival (October 27-November 3).