Deadbeat at Dawn. Jim VanBebber, 1988.
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Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2018. English language. Runtime approximately 80 minutes.
Summary: Depiction of a drug-addled man attacking a rat with a baseball bat, but no we see no impact shots, blood, dead rat or similar; just a crazy 50-year-old man slamming a baseball bat into the drywall of his disgusting apartment.
“Shocking” is the best word to describe this movie. It is shockingly violent, shockingly well-conceived and entertaining to watch, shockingly impressive for a young director’s first film, and shockingly free of animal violence.
The Arrow release includes four additional short films by VanBebber, the second and third of which contain unpleasant violence to animals. Click on titles for details:
Into the Black (1983)
My Sweet Satan (1993)
Gator Green (2013)
Deadbeat at Dawn features nice Xenon and Haunted House machines in the bar set.