Film review: Dead on Arrival stands the test of time

Written by Laurie Gordon.

Stephen C. Sepher’s Dead on Arrival is inspired by Rudolph Mate’s D.O.A., the classic film noir D.O.A. stands the test of time while succeeding to maintain the integrity of the original story. Dead On Arrival is a sexy macabre thriller set against a lush backdrop shot in the hauntingly beautiful bayous of Louisiana.

This dark tale of Sam Collins  the man you’re rooting for who has just 24 hours to live seeks to resolve his own soon to transpire murder. If that's not enough sprinkle in a voodoo priestess and a conniving town sheriff et voila! you have a movie remake done good.  The final result gives rhyme and reason to the retelling of a dark spiralling Hitchcockian whodunit intrigue.

Starring actor Billy Flynn who is best known from the television soap opera Days of Our Lives playing the role of Sam Collins, a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company travelling to a small town in Louisiana for an important business deal.  Through the smoke, mirrors and combustion of sex, corruption and murder, the ill-intentioned perpetrators follow closely behind him. Collins is lethally poisoned without a cure to save him and he attempts to solve his own murder before he dies and until he takes his very last breath.

The recently inspired version succeeds with its ensemble of actors whose delivery and strong performances give a contemporary take on the timeless murder mystery theme doused with sex tinged with the melancholy of lost souls and broken hearts particularly well performed by actress Scottie Thompson.

Collins has less than 24 hours to live and he turns to a local girl Jesse where they meet a voodoo priestess who confirms Sam's death sentence. Sam and Jesse are on the run from authorities as the mob and sheriff want him dead and you’re on the edge of your seat.

Comparisons between the new and older version are inevitable and will be made and one always hopes the director gets it right. After all remaking a film provokes  the "if it ain't broke don't fix it"  but Sepher succeeds at doing just that.

Dead on Arrival holds its ground proving that the producers instincts are on the money. Also serving as producers of the film are Rory Fradella, Kim Barnard and Nazo Bravo. 

Solid acting and direction delivered by Sepher, Dead On Arrival presents an impressive cast giving a fresh take to an edgy paced story.Look out for Dead on Arrival fresh on the festival circuit and recently premiered at the Rhode Island International Film Festival 2017.