Artist Sara has sex with a corpse in the local funeral home and soon finds herself infected with a mysterious disease. After infecting her crust punk boyfriend Muzzy, the pair sets out on a reckless spree of carefree crime and chaos. They soon discover the virus is the deranged creation of the disgraced government genetic scientist turned janitor Dr. Robert Olsen (Joel D. Wynkoop). Developed as an experimental population control method, the virus causes its living victims to deteriorate and decompose. Shooting fermaldyde intravenously to avoid their inevitable decay, Sarah and Muzzy desperately traverse the Florida backstreets and underground punk clubs in search of an antitode to the Rot.
The third SOV feature from Florida based filmmaker Marcus Koch known concurrently for his transgressive directorial output (100 Tears, Fell, Bad Blood) as well as his masterful special FX work (Jakob’s Wife, We Are Still Here), Rot combines a rudimentary take on Cronenberg’s body horror ruminations with the grimy, analog aesthetics of Hugh Gallagher’s Gorotica. With an unhinged performance from B-Movie legend Joel D. Wynkoop (Creep, Lost Faith) and a riotous soundtrack featuring The Casualties, Blanks 77, and The Scams, Rot is a gooey and gruesome cinematic explosion of punk, puke, and necrophilia. And for the analog completists, Rot now comes accompanied by Koch’s long sought after, suburban teenage metalhead splatter epic Lunch Meat from 1989 plus over 8 hours of slimy special features!
directed by: Marcus Koch starring: Billy Scam, Tiffany Stinky, Joel D. Wynkoop, Tim Leavey, Dane Maddison 1999 / 80 min / 1.33:1 / English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Additional info:
Region Free Blu-ray
Audio commentary with director Marcus Koch and actor Joel D. Wynkoop
Cast commentary with director Marcus Koch and actors Billy Scam, Tiffany Steinke, & Joel D. Wynkoop
Dead Like a Piece of Old Wax: A Celebration of Marcus Koch’s Rot” -a visual essay by writer & cult film expert Heather Drain
Interview with writer / director / FX artist Marcus Koch
“Ladies of the Punk House”: an interview with actress Tiffany Steinke and production manager Karaly Clubb
“The Man, the Myth, the Legend”: an interview with actor Joel D. Wynkoop (63 min.)
“The Man in Black”: an interview with actor Walter Maseda
An appreciation by horror author and filmmaker David C. Hayes
Archival behind the scenes footage
Bloopers & outtakes
Trailer
BONUS MOVIE: Lunch Meat (1992) Marcus Koch’s suburban teenage metalhead splatter epic with optional director’s commentary (60 min.)
White Massacre (1989) Marcus Koch’s early short film with optional director’s commentary (35 min.)
