Director – Mark Mackner (Daisy Derkins: Dogsitter of the Damned, Daisy Derkins vs the Bloodthirsty Beast of the Pine Barrens)
Starring – Jessica Lynch, Falon Joslyn (American Exorcist, Alpha Girls), Bob Kaplan (Killerz II, The Play-Station Killed the Puppet)
Release Date – 2024
Rating – 3/5
A few days ago I started out with what would be a triple feature of epic proportions. As I’ve stated in recent reviews, I started watching the three installments of the Daisy Derkins saga that I had yet to see after director Mark Mackner contacted me about reviewing the newest film. While I really enjoy the first film, Dogsitter of the Damned, I was not a fan of Bloodthirsty Beast of the Pine Barrens.
The series seemed to pick up a bit with Dinosaur Apocalypse which once again made me excited to check out the newest film Die, Daisy, Die. I want to take a moment to thank Mark for sending this one over for review!
**Spoiler Alert** The film, once again, follows the evil fighting Daisy Derkins (Lynch) who is now living a mundane life. She finds herself employed for a company that has just launched a brand new dating app. What she doesn’t know is that the people behind the new app are actually lizard people from the center of the Earth in need of women to reproduce. They partner with a man who has it out for Daisy when she failed to save his sister back during the first film. Their plan is to go back in time to prevent Daisy from becoming the hero she is now so they can take all the women they require but Daisy is more resilient than they expected. **Spoiler Alert**
I went into this one knowing absolutely nothing about it aside from it being another installment of the Daisy Derkins series. However, after the last two films I was ready for what I could only assume was going to be one wild ride.
The acting in this one does go back to what was seen in the second installment. While a good portion of the cast does have some acting credits to their name on imdb, a lot of the scenes just felt stiff. The cast almost delivers their dialogue in monotone with very little attempt at making it feel like casual conversation. While that does feel like the entire film is shot this way, there is a few performances that I really enjoyed.
The story for this one is a bit all over the place and not as coherent as it could be. A film following Daisy as she avoids the scheme of lizard people and a nemesis she doesn’t know she has. Solid plot on paper but the inconsistent editing and drawn out scenes makes the film a bit difficult to follow at times. With that being said, the actually story is still able to be followed if you stick with it and is just absurd enough to work even with all the hiccups and imperfections.
Finally, the film is full of the cheesy and cheap visual effects and campy masks that you would expect from Mackner and crew. While it’s not a bloody mess like most genre fans like, it still delivers on those bad effects that fans of indie cinema look for. Overall, Die, Daisy, Die was not as fun as Dogsitter of the Damned but I really enjoyed the over the top story and comical characters. Honestly, I would have loved more lizard people and a little more meat on the bone in regards to their backstory but that’s just me. The film is a lot of fun as it especially if you watch it with like minded friends and some cheap beer. Check it out.
