Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (1977)

Directed by George Barry [Other horror films: N/A]

Having seen this oddity once before, I was looking forward to revisiting this one. I had to anyway, of course, but I wanted to see if this was as odd as I remembered it being. And certainly, after seeing it with fresh eyes, I can say that it is.

Most horror fans probably know the story behind this movie. After being filmed, the director George Barry wasn’t able to get it distributed or released on video, but a bootleg VHS was created, and it wasn’t until 2001 that Barry found out that anyone save him and those involved in the movie knew this existed. It finally made it onto DVD officially in 2003, and the rest is history.

Death Bed: The Bed That Eats might sound, based on the title, to be a goofy movie, but I don’t really think that’s the case. There are some mildly amusing parts, or some pieces of dialogue that are sort of funny, but there’s very little in here that seems to actually be played for laughs. Really, as ludicrous as the plot is, the movie feels more fantasy than it does comedy.

The reason for that, of course, being that one of the characters in the film is sort of the spirit of one of the bed’s victims who is trapped in a painting. He witnesses all of the atrocities the bed comments, and through his narration, we learn of the bed’s creation and history, with a particularly dry segment detailing some of the bed’s previous victims.

Of course, he’s not the only narrator in this movie. There’s a lot of internal first-person monologue here, which might not be a surprise, given it’s a 70’s film (Let’s Scare Jessica to Death did the same thing), but I almost feel there’s more internal monologue than there is actual conversations here. It’s an odd way to make a film, but given the story this has, which is somewhat bare-bones, perhaps it makes sense.

Only five performances matter here, and that may be a stretch. While the man trapped in the painting is played by Dave Marsh, his monologue is voiced by Patrick Spence-Thomas. Spence-Thomas has a dramatic delivery that adds to the amusement, though much of it may not be intended (‘You [potential victims] gaze at me as a painting on the wall, and I see you as a serving upon some monstrous silver platter’). Even so, it’s good stuff.

Most of the characters, played by Rosa Luxemburg (no, not the revolutionary socialist and Marxist philosopher), Julie Ritter, Demene Hall, and William Russ (Dead of Winter), weren’t really that important. I mean, Luxemburg’s was, but either way, none of them got a whole lot of what you’d actually call character.

Even so, this is a mildly fascinating movie. It’s digestible (see what I did there?), and the special effects can sort of be cool. See, when the bed consumes something, it sort of takes it into it’s digestive fluids. Perhaps one of the more memorable scenes is a man who’s hands get dissolved to the bone before he’s able to pull them out of the bed. There’s also a whole dreamlike atmosphere that permeates much of the movie, which makes sense, as the idea of this film apparently came from a dream of the director.

Those effects paired with the fantasy-feel of the narration and whole of the story make for a rather different movie. It’s not a good one, but it definitely feels unique, and related, totally 70’s. I can’t say it’s a movie I’d watch too often, but it is a somewhat wild ride that should be seen to be believed.

6/10