Starring: Aaron Frye, Wes Vance

Grade: B

In to the Pit: The Shocking Story of Deadpit.com is a documentary about the rise of the online horror radio show and website, Deadpit.com, created by two small town Kentuckians with a love for the genre, Aaron Frye and Wes Vance. Their alter egos on the show are Uncle Bill and the Creepy Kentuckian. They started the show in December of 2005 and soon gained success due to their southern accents giving listeners a “backwoods redneck” vibe, nostalgic of many slasher and horror films.

The documentary shows many of their highlights such as their Friday the 13^th special, interviews with John Carpenter and George A. Romero, and a film entitled “Back Roads” that Aaron and Wes were featured in.  They talk about how they were simply thrilled that there was someone making independent horror films near their small town of Prestonburg, Kentucky. Kevin Tenney, Tiffany Shepis, and Lloyd Kaufman among many others are featured in the documentary, discussing the quality of the fan-based interviews that they got with Deadpit.com that differed from the typical journalistic approach they often got.

More than anything else In to the Pit is really about the individuals behind Deadpit. We learn about their childhoods, sneaking in to horror films at 7 years-old. Aaron identifies his love and pursue of horror as an admiration and connection with his father who took him to films throughout his childhood. Some father and son have cars or sports, they had horror movies. Wes says that after a certain point it became about more than just watching horror movies, it became a calling as this really seemed like what he should be doing.  

While Aaron’s heart is in the show he does feel conflicts between balancing the show and trying to build a more stable future for himself. This is where the main conflict comes in. Aaron is going to school for his Masters in Mental Health Counseling and aspires to be a substance abuse counselor. He sees a lot of people around their community with substance abuse problems and not nearly enough help for them. In the grand scheme of things, he thinks that is more important than talking horror. At the same time, it’s his passion and it comes so naturally to him that he doesn’t want to let that part of him go. Wes isn’t very understanding of Aaron’s studies and doesn’t want to lose the success and fan-base they have created with Deadpit.com.

While this conflict was introduced I think it could have played a slightly more central role in the film. We got a better view from Aaron’s perspective, but even in his case we could have gotten more insight on the dilemma he was going through. The only insight we got from Wes on the issue was a mild annoyance that Aaron wasn’t putting the show first. It just seems like a few key conversations are missing for this to be the main conflict in the film. Its ending also really doesn’t feel very complete. It basically says Aaron is trying to juggle school and the Deadpit show as best as he can while Wes is putting all of his effort in to the site to try and keep it alive and going. The future really isn’t known and we end with the basic situation we started with.

I also appreciated the viewpoint and light they shed on the horror convention circuit. I loved Wes’ interpretation of some of the bigger name celebrities at the conventions who won’t give you the time of day until you hand over some cash, “It’s almost like prostitution; paying someone to do something they wouldn’t normally do”. It’s sad that you have so many genuine fans that have a chance to be amongst the people they have grown up admiring, adding a fuel to these celebrities success in the horror genre and it’s still just about the paycheck to many of them. There’s a clip that highlights this where Kane Hodder is trying to cleverly get rid of Aaron and Wes, but just comes off as someone who doesn’t really care about his fans at all. I’ve gotten this same vibe from conventions he has been at as well, which is one reason I often prefer talking to independent filmmakers who are still just as big of horror fans as the people who attend the conventions.

 Luckily, we also get to see the other side of it, appreciative and dedicated individuals like Betsy Palmer and Kevin Tenney who know the fans are what keeps their past projects alive. What I enjoyed the most about the documentary was the fan aspect and connection Aaron and Wes found to the rest of the world through their radio show. The community they live in largely looks down on horror movies much more so than the average movie-goer. Prestonsburg is a very religious community and the people who live there see horror movies and their fan as the devil himself. They don’t tell many people about their show, because they know most people wouldn’t approve of it. The only violence the community really supports is hunting and fishing, something neither Wes or Aaron understands the appeal to. Considering they have both lived in a place where there is such little understanding of their passion for horror, Deadpit really served as a connection throughout the world to likeminded individuals. Horror websites have done that for majority of the people who will end up reading this. We should all be able to relate to Aaron and Wes as fellow fans of the horror genre who love talking about films, listening to filmmaker’s perspectives, and being around other fans who can discuss and appreciate the same things.