The Netherbeast of Berm-Tech Industries, Inc. (2004) User Reviews

Hilarious!!

[Billybob-Shatner · 9/10 · 15 July 2006]

I just caught this at the Long Island International Film Expo tonight, and laughed out loud nearly the entire run time.

The plot basically deals with a meeting between a boss (who sounds like he's right out of an infomercial) and employee. The movie is such a prime example of why comedy is so much better when it's played straight.

In my years of attending film festivals, this is one of the best short films I've come across, along with Dave Coyne's "Dr. Deniro and Mr. X". Both films are amazing examples of what was great work can be accomplished using prosumer equipment.

Highly recommended.

Sidesplitting comedy short

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 11 March 2010]

Stern no-nonsense manager Kevin (superbly played with eerie calm by Bob Rue) calls Daryl (a marvelously edgy turn by Brian Ronalds) into his office so he can rewrite an important business proposal. Meanwhile, the corpse of fellow co-worker Mike (writer Bruce Dellis) sits in a chair right next to them with a wooden stake sticking out of his chest. Director Dean Matthew Ronalds and writer Dellis expertly craft a wickedly funny short that savagely satirizes prim'n'proper white collar office conduct and decorum (Kevin rationally explaining to Daryl that he killed Mike because he's a vampire is positively gut-busting in its blunt and unblinking matter-of-fact directness). The gloriously surreal and ridiculous pitch-black gallows humor works like a charm because it's done in a delightfully deadpan way (special kudos are especially in order for Rue's remarkable portrayal of the quintessential fiercely pragmatic office worker taken to its logical ruthless extreme). The surprise ending likewise smokes. Ditto Tim Clark's busy shivery score. An absolute riot.

Spaghetti and skateboards

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 22 December 2017]

"The Netherbeast of Berm-Tech Industries, Inc." is an American 6-minute live action short film in the English language. This one was directed by Dean Matthew Ronalds, who apparently got in some of his family members for minor characters too. The script is by Bruce Dellis, who plays a corpse that is basically visible from start to finish in here. You could call it an office horror comedy I guess. The boss calls an employee to his office to discuss a business decision and completely aside from that we have a dead guy with a wooden stake in his heart sitting there too. Of course the employee is scared to death, but the boss just wants to talk business and when they finally discuss what happened there, you will hear the most randomly hilarious explanation. Of course he was a vampire and of course the boss is out to take care of a werewolf next. I think that the overthetopness of the whole project and story was extremely entertaining. This shows that you can make a quality comedy in 5 minutes too and completely leave out realism if you give it the right approach in terms of tone and script. The strong acting, especially by Bob Rue pretending he just did what was asked for in the situation and that people should not make a big fuss about it and everybody should return to work, certainly helps too. This is a little gem of a film. Award-winning yes, but still extremely underseen. You can check it out here on imdb and I definitely think you should. One of the finest short films from 2004 that I've seen and I've seen a lot. Highly recommended.

Wow...I would hate to work for Berm-Tech Industries.

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 29 March 2009]

This is an exceptional short comedy that is so surreal you can't help but laugh. The film begins with the boss, Kevin, talking to one of his employees about the importance of re-writing an important proposal ASAP. The problem is, that as they are talking, another co-worker is lying in one of the chairs--dead and with a stake in his heart!! During all this conversation, Kevin doesn't even mention anything about there being a dead employee there and he only talks about it when asked. Even then, he answers as if everything he's saying makes sense and has no idea why the other guy is so upset!!

The film has an excellent, albeit strange, plot. But what really makes the film is the strange way that the script is delivered. Bob Rue's delivery (as Kevin) really does make the film as does the cute ending. All in all, it's one of the funniest shorts I've seen in some time--kudos for doing something different and truly funny.