Steve: Death Collector (2015)
Steve (Eamon Hardiman) is a socially awkward nerd who gets financially taken advantage of by his mother and her boyfriend. Upon her request, he finds a job at a debt collection agency, where he is immediately tormented by his co-workers (although the ladies seem to like him). Steve’s built-up frustration and victimization has created within him a psychosis which compels him to kill all the people listed on his spreadsheet who owe debt, and various random people along the way who happen to have poor credit. Meanwhile, a lesbian witch ritual is happening in a suburban home; Steve stops by to watch. One of the witches may also be an aerobics video star, but that doesn’t matter. Literally no one is safe from Steve’s spree of collecting death, and that’s what matters.
Directed by Missy Dawn and produced through Razor Sharp Studios, Steve: Death Collector initially started out as a previously shot mock trailer that set up the to-be movie as a sleazy, retro, minimalist, shot-on-video slasher movie. Upon watching the feature-length final product, however, the viewer will see that it nixes the vintage aesthetic of the trailer for a more modern look and feel (though Hardiman’s wardrobe is still off the 80’s rack). Shot in HD, in 3-D, and for under $2,000, Steve is ambitious to say the least. To say a little more, the movie is fairly adept at keeping the viewer’s attention for the entire 90 minutes despite the frequent bouts of filler material (such as Steve pouring gasoline in a single spot for, how long was it? 2 minutes? I didn’t stop to check, I was fast-forwarding) and also tossing in a few genuine moments of dry comedy and gutter-dwelling exploitation.
The majority of the cast were pulled from Razor Sharp’s last film Pig Girl, and even though that movie came out just last year, there is some noticeable improvement in the acting department here in Steve. The dialog is less amateurishly improvised, there is more interesting dynamic between characters, and a lot of the actors have unique roles instead of seeming to basically play themselves under a different name. Steve also amps up the gratuitous nudity and sex teases thanks to that unusual witchcraft tangent the movie takes about half way through. What it lacks, though, are enough likeable characters. Steve is not likeable. I kind of have to root for him, and he does get better towards the end, but he sure is a miserable puss when a rockabilly song isn’t following him around killing people.
Steve: Death Collector has a relatively high body count and some pretty show-stopping kills, including a rubber dildo strangulation to start the movie off and one of the most over-the-top body meltdowns I’ve seen in some time. The high number of different locations was refreshing, although I may just be glad the action had been taken out of the woods. There is a cool synth score that turns up only occasionally, but the soundtrack is mostly rock songs including not one but TWO Billy Idol cover tunes. Lastly and ultimately, the movie benefits most from its overall sleazy nature; although the picture quality is pristine, there is an invisible layer of filth that is covering the screen at all times.
I was trying not to make the comparison before, but I think it has to be made: Steve: Death Collector totally reminds me of the Toby Radloff vehicle Killer Nerd, in a good way of course. No one can turn down a nerd revenge movie. In fact, Steve may even be better than that SOV Troma flick (though maybe not Bride of Killer Nerd). At any rate, this picture is a good time for cult and exploitation fans. It seems like 2015 is finally starting to produce the kind of stuff I can ramble on about on this page, thank goodness. -N. Weaver