What Into the Pit: The Shocking Story of Deadpit.com will mean for viewers who haven't spent a lot of time in the world of internet based film journalism, might actually be vastly different than my own personal experience with this particular documentary. Into the Pit for me as a viewer, was a lot like taking a look in the mirror and seeing myself now and actually what I hope and aspire to be. Not necessarily in any kind of social form, but The Creepy Kentuckian and Uncle Bill are far more tuned into the film community than I have ever been. However, that is changing as of recent. I've been involved in my own podcast, I've been pursuing interviews and I see how the guys from deadpit.com do these things now. So I see myself, that brazen fan from a small town that generally doesn't share any kind of similar interest with those around me - then I see these two guys doing essentially the same thing that I have been doing for the better part of a decade now and they come from a similar background. When the title refers to the "Shocking" story of deadpit.com, I think it refers mostly to their success that they have found and the massive interviews that they have been able to pull off. However, ultimately it's just an amazing story that these two guys from this incredibly small town were both such huge horror fans and have went on to do such big things within the community. As someone from both the south and a small town, I can tell you that meeting other horror or cult movie fans is not an easy thing. In all of my life I have only met one other film geek at this point and it was in passing. So, I have to agree, that the circumstances came together that these two gentlemen could meet - it truly does make for a shocking story.

Into the Pit tells the story of two Kentucky based horror fans who started their own internet radio show. Going by the alias of The Creep Kentuckian (Wes Vance) and Uncle Bill (Aaron Frye), their show has a very down-at-home appeal to it. The two Kentuckians share very thick southern accents which have endeared then with their audience and have made their unlikely success story all the more amazing. With simply a love for horror binding these two friends, they took what was a small time production and gathered attention from the entire horror community as they scored interviews with such high profile names as George Romero, John Carpenter and many, many more. The two gather together on a weekly basis in order to record the radio show, but tensions have been rising lately due to Aaron's goal of becoming a substance abuse counselor which is steadily drawing closer. Wes wants to continue on their path to success but Aaron feels the urge to actually do something with his life that will ultimately make a difference. As much as he loves horror, he questions the importance of what they do.

Before popping in the DVD, I was vaguely familiar with Deadpit and had already seen the trailer for the film through their website, but I can't say I knew exactly what I was getting into. From the starting point, I was surprised by the quality of the production. Even after seeing clips from the trailer, I think I had relatively low expectations for this. An indie documentary based around a website and radio show? Surely this will be a cheap, shot on low-rent equipment, fluff piece meant to blow up the website or the creators egos. That is not the case at all with Into the Pit. For one, the documentary looks GREAT and comes across as very slick. Using horror clips, such as those from Friday the 13th, and digital effect shots - the documentary is far more polished than you could even expect. Also, aside from focusing on the origins of this website and how fun these two guys are (and believe me, they are characters!) there's the interesting dynamic going on between Wes and Aaron due to Aaron's eventual goal of being a substance abuse counselor. There's actually a story going on with these two and it's nice that the film focuses on that, rather than just being a generic "behind the scenes". You could argue that ultimately, the "story" seems a bit unresolved, but I think the trip that the film takes you on is ultimately the greatest reward you can gather from the story. That two guys from this rural southern area could not only discover filmmakers such as Lucio Fulci and Rugero Deodato, but go on to become such large voices in helping to get the publicity out there about their work - it's a great story for horror fans!

Featuring interviews with Lloyd Kaufman, Tiffany Shepis, Uwe Boll, Betsy Palmer, Kevin S. Tenney, Harry Manfredini and PJ Soles. Also featuring cameo appearances with John Landis and Kane Hodder, this feature is stacked with celebrity commentary. So, for those not interested even yet, you get to hear Uwe Boll talk an incredible amount of smack on his critics once more, which as you may already know is always pretty hilarious! Into the Pit, regardless of your experience with this particular radio show - is a thoroughly entertaining documentary. It's slick, looks great and comes across as being fair with its subjects but not to the point of being fake or phony. It was such a fun picture and it certainly gets my seal of approval. In fact, I've been touting its graces since first seeing it with all of my podcasting friends. Definitely check this one out!