History WebVideo / DeadMeat

** James would later call ''Film/{{Thankskilling}} 3'' the worst movie he's ever covered, and makes it clear throughout the Kill Count how much he despises the film. He ''tries'' to give his usual opening, but gives up halfway through to rant about how he's only covering it because people wouldn't stop flooding his comments with requests for it, insults the movie's plot and production values throughout the count, and finally doesn't even bother saying "Let's get to the numbers" before stomping off to summarize the count.

* SoBadItsGood: In-universe, this is James' rationale for giving both the Golden Chainsaw ''and'' the Dull Machete to Rick's EyeScream in ''Film/FridayThe13thPartIII'', due to the obvious mannequin head.

* BiasSteamroller: James revealed that ''Film/IllAlwaysKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'' is his most hated horror movie of all time and justifiably so it's so horrible that it scored an infamous '''0%''' on Website/RottenTomatoes. And when he finally does a Kill Count for it, he makes that fact perfectly clear. He sounds bored in his intro and opening narration, and instead of going into detail about the movie's production, he just says "this movie fucking sucks" before getting right to the recap. And before [[CouchGag getting to the numbers]], instead of doing anything from the movie, James smacks the film's DVD off his shelf and [[FlippingTheBird flips it off]]. James reiterates during the video's outro (and in earlier ''Last Summer'' videos as well) that ''I'll Always Know'' is his least-favorite horror movie of all time. He'd later call Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation the worst film to be covered on the kill count, although is doesn't bother him as much.

* BigNo: James lets out a real one of these during the outro in ''Mandy'' because the prop axe that resembled the one from the movie fell off of his bookcase, breaking in half when it hit the floor. Luckily, James was sent a free replacement axe before the Kill Count happened.
** Also, when James finally realizes he’s going to have to cover Thankskilling 3.

* OhCrap: James' reaction whenever a character uses a smoke grenade or something to block the view of a group killing, creating much more guesswork for him as to how many people got killed. He [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this during the ''Film/TheFirstPurge'' Kill Count.

* ActionGirl: James' preferred protagonist is a woman and doesn't shy away from voicing his admiration towards these characters. He also voices his disgust at sexist characters and disdains any depiction of rape and/or misogyny.

* FlawlessToken: Discussed in the kill count for ''12 Hour Shift'', James is a firm supporter of feminism and hates films that objectify women and treat them as sex objects. At the same time, he thinks films that portray women as flawless and messianic equally problematic since they still [[HumansAreFlawed aren't portrayed as people]].

** In ''Film/LeatherfaceTheTexasChainsawMassacreIII'' James is appalled and disturbed by the implication of Leatherface being the [[ChildByRape father of the creepy child]][[note]]"You don't need that additional depravity, man. The Sawyers already eat people, that's bad enough."[[/note]]. In the kill count for ''Film/HappyDeathDay'', he voices his respect towards Carter for not taking advantage of Tree while she was drunk the other night. James tells his audience that Carter is a "righteous horror character to emulate".

* RunningGag:
** The ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' videos have James bemoaning the appearance of Super forms of characters with "Super X sucks!" Similarly, he insistently refers to the girls who jump rope and sing Freddy's song as Jump Rope Girls like they were a music group.
** He refers to the titular ''Film/{{Leprechaun}}'' as "the little shit" or "Leppy boy".
** Whenever a GroinAttack is inflicted on a male character, he says "right in the nyuts".
** He tends to say "saboteur" in a dramatic fashion whenever someone commits an act of sabotage.
** While covering the ''Franchise/ChildsPlay'' franchise, he constantly comes up with new variations of "Incantation -iation" every time the Damballa chant is said.
** From Saw III onward, making reference to "slow-ass motherfuckin' Jeff".
** During the ''Franchise/{{Jaws}}'' series: "Does that (ChekhovsGun) look like an oxygen tank[[note]]referring to said tank from the first movie that plays an integral part to the shark's death[[/note]] to you?"
** During the ''Franchise/FinalDestination'' series, whenever there are signs that death is coming for one of the characters, James notes that things are getting “SHPOOKAY!” He also refers to the initial premonitions as "secret retina (insert location here)" due to the fact that every premonition ends with a zoom out of an extreme close-up of the protagonist's eye.
** James will always pronounce the word "dinosaur" with an exaggerated Southern accent as "DI-nuh-SAWW", like [[Film/JurassicPark Mr. DNA]].
** Starting with the ''Home Sweet Home'' Kill Count, James will don a [[HighClassGlass monocle,]] [[CigarChomper cigar]] and [[DashinglyDapperDerby bowler hat]] when discussing a subject he's not too knowledgeable about: BUSINESS!
** While covering the Film/{{Carrie}} franchise, [[spoiler: every single version of the original has Tommy Ross's death as the Dull Machete. James even notes that he doesn't want to break tradition when giving it the award while covering the [[Film/Carrie2013 2013 Remake]].]]
** Whenever there's an [[PaddleballShot obvious 3D effect]], like in ''Saw 3D'' or ''Film/TheFinalDestination'', James goes "whoa!" dramatically (and mockingly).
** Podcast-specific only: gratuitous references to the infamous [[Film/Psycho1998 1998 ''Psycho'' remake]].
** Film/PGPsychoGoreman has James using a different P-word every time he refers to the Gem of Praxidike.

** James will always pronounce the word "dinosaur" with an exaggerated Southern accent as "DI-nuh-SAWW," like [[Film/JurassicPark Mr. DNA]].

** Whenever there's an obvious 3D effect, like in ''Saw 3D'' or ''Film/TheFinalDestination'', James goes "whoa!" dramatically (and mockingly).

* TeaserOnlyCharacter: The long version of the Dead Meat intro has an image from ''Film/AmericanPsycho''. To date, this film is the only one James has yet to review.

** Film/PsychoGoreman has James constantly referring to the Gem of Praxidike using as many different P-words as possible.

** During the ''Franchise/{{Jaws}}'' series: "Does that (ChekhovsGun) look like an oxygen tank[[note]]referring to said tank from the first movie plays an integral part to the shark's death[[/note]] to you?"

* TheCommandments: James has a set of rules to abide by when it comes to counting kills. The rules have to be verified by James himself, so don't make assumptions or excuses for why he didn't add a specific character's death. The rules listed are reccuring rules or explanations about the kills themselves, [[RuleOfFun they are not to be taken seriously]] and James has stated that [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem he will bend the rules in accordance to the film of the episode]].
** Characters have to be introduced and physically seen so they can be counted on the list.
** Babies are a controversial and delicate case. Generally, they have to be born and seen in order to be counted. If a pregnant woman dies, then only the woman will be counted as a kill, not the unborn baby. Babies will be exempt from the rating system/awards because of [[EveryoneHasStandards the subject matter]] and [[BloodyHilarious theme of the show]].
** The kill has to be fresh. If it's not displaying evidence of a recent kill then it doesn't count since they were killed before the events of the film. The victims have to be visualised, identified, and accurately totalled, especially during wide-angle shots.
** They have to be human or have human-like qualities, so animals or animalistic aliens don't count. There are exceptions to this rule. James sometimes plays with this rule by including animals that were central to the story and because of how famous they are; in ''Film/{{Cujo}}'' and ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', he counted Cujo and the shark as kills, but he didn't any of the sharks from the ''Jaws'' sequels. He also jokingly counts the stuffed dinosaur Rex from ''Film/WesCravensNewNightmare'' since its owner said that it was a brave dino.
** Robots are not counted, as the trio of Killbots from ''Film/ChoppingMall'' weren't sentient and didn't display any human traits. Unlike androids and cyborgs, which are counted the list due to their sentience and overall display of humanity. James also doesn’t count any of the Banana Splits animatronics and [[Film/ChildsPlay2019 the Buddi dolls (including Reboot!Chucky)]] in their movies for the same reason.
** Undead and supernatural figures are a complicated example, but James said he'll include them on the list if he wants to inflate the numbers:
*** James will count zombies through infections, if a survivor becomes infected then they will be classed as dead if they don't amputate or cure themselves.
*** [[RevenantZombie Revenant zombies]] are counted ''twice'' (once for dying as a human, twice for dying as a revenant) because they display more sentience than common zombies (mindless creatures that are driven to kill and consume, display no sentience or intelligence).
*** For films like ''[[Film/{{Zombieland}} Zombieland]]'', James will count all zombies that are killed on screen since they make a majority of the body count.
*** Possessions count since the killing human form will generally kill the possessor if they don't evacuate the host. If the possessed human doesn't return to normal, then they too are counted as dead. Possessors also have to possess human forms, otherwise, they won't be included on the list. In ''Christine'', James refused to add Christine to the kill count because she was still a car, not a human and it's never stated if Christine was possessed or sentient.
*** Dolls and toys like [[Franchise/ChildsPlay Chucky]] are allowed, but only if they display significant amounts of sentience. This rule results in James not counting any of the Film/DemonicToys as kills (not even Baby Oopsy-Daisy, who displays the most sentience out of them).
*** Kills after revivals count as separate deaths. In other words, if a character dies on-screen, then comes back to life and dies on-screen again, each death will be counted as a kill. Several characters in ''The Babysitter: Killer Queen'' died and came back to life, and James counted each one of their deaths as separate kills.
** Premonitions and dreams do not count; the deaths have to be canonical (James still ranks these in their own category, but does not count them). In the ''Film/FinalDestination'' films, James puts the victims of the various accidents on the list but does not say how each died specifically (as they are often too numerous to describe in the first place). Since the main characters change their fates by avoiding the accidents, they cannot be counted with the other victims.
** Similarly, in movies involving a GroundhogDayLoop, James counts every kill he sees, even if the same person dies multiple times. The distinction is made during the actual video and at the Numbers if the same person dies more than once. This rule mostly only applies to ''Film/HappyDeathDay'' and its sequel, but he's said in podcasts that the precedent is set for if any other horror movies use a time loop.
** The kills must be presented during the film itself, and not in supplementary material such as deleted scenes, and if they do take place off-screen, a body must be shown or we must receive canon confirmation of their death. This is why James counts Alex Browning in ''Film/FinalDestination2'', but not Kimberly and Thomas in ''Film/FinalDestination3'', as the former's body was clearly shown in a photograph despite dying off-screen between the first and second movies, whereas the death of the latter two is only mentioned in a deleted scene. Deaths that occur off-screen and are simply confirmed by other characters tend to receive the "Dull Machete" award, especially if all of the other deaths are interesting.
** The death has to be shown before a film transition or before the ending credits, so James can have an accurate tallying of deaths. ''Final Destination 3'' created a dilemma for James, since the actual subway accident happened during a film transition before the credits, despite, the premonition showing how everyone is supposed to die beforehand. Since the survivors didn't return for the sequel and show how they defied the premonition, James is forced to put them on the tally.
** If a victim has already been counted in a previous film's video, they won't be re-counted if their death is referenced or shown again in the backstory of a prequel or sequel.
** If a death is confirmed before we see what happened, he will wait to count it until we see it (usually over the course of a movie series rather than an individual movie).
*** For instance, he waited to put Adam from ''Film/{{Saw}}'' on the count until the third movie even though the first movie left it obvious he would die and the second showed his corpse because the third movie actually showed his death.
*** Similarly, he pointed out in his Kill Count for ''Film/ItChapterTwo'' how he did not count [[BarbaricBully Henry Bowers]] in his Kill Count for ''Film/It2017'' 2 years ago as the former revealed that [[spoiler:he survived the fall in the well]].
** If a film has only one kill in it, it will not be covered on the channel, so you won’t see any ''Film/ParanormalActivity'' films on the channel. If the movie has way too many deaths to count then it won't be covered by the channel. He makes a special exception in the ''Krampus'' film he watches, cause [[spoiler: no one died in it. They instead got taken to an alternate dimension in the end. So instead, he makes it a Capture Count.]]
** If a canon sequel mentions how many people are killed in its previous film (regardless of whether it's an off-hand conversation or a news report), it can be used to tally up the kills in the latter. This is how James can identify the number of people killed during the prom massacre in ''Film/Carrie1976'' due to one of the characters in ''Film/TheRageCarrie2'' mentioning how many people died in the former.
** While this rule is not related to how kills are counted, James will only perform Kill Counts for horror and horror-related movies (even if he has to stretch the definition in [[Film/MortalKombatTheMovie some cases]]).

* EveryoneHasStandards: Even though the channel covers and delights in theatrical scenes of brutality, gore, and evil, James still draws a line at some content. For one, he often expresses squeamishness at the gore and deaths on display if they are too sadistic and cruel or sexually violent.
** James has cited this as to why ''Film/JeepersCreepers'' and its sequels will not be covered on the Kill Count, due to director Victor Salva being a convicted pedophile and his discomfort at giving a spotlight to a convicted predator. Likewise, he has ruled out any films by Creator/RomanPolanski due to his statutory rape conviction and won't even consider them for the channel until after Polanski has died. In ''Film/JackFrost1997'' he voices his partial relief that Jill Metzner's actress was 24 during the film since the 18-year-old character was raped to death in a signature scene which James finds appalling and distasteful, and has a similar sentiment towards the rape scene in ''Film/{{Thankskilling}}''.
** James tends not to put animals on the Kill Count due to not wanting to inflate the Count with numbers for animals. The only exceptions to the rule were Cujo the dog from ''Cujo'' and "Bruce" the shark from ''Jaws'' because they are iconic antagonists of the movies they were in, and even then the sharks from the ''Jaws'' sequels were left out.
** In his review of the ''Film/LeprechaunBack2ThaHood'', he's upset when the Leprechaun gives a woman at a salon a ''NeckSnap'', despite doing nothing to piss off the Lep' in the first place; he gives the "Dull Machete" to that specific kill for that reason and the fact that the kill was uncreative compared to the other kills in the film.
** In his video analyzing the two versions (theatrical and director's cut) of the Rob Zombie ''Film/Halloween2007'' reboot, he was appalled at the rape scene in the director's cut, refusing to show any major parts of it and saying he prefers the theatrical version of ''Halloween'' over the director's cut at the end of the video because of this scene, despite having liked the additional scenes with Laurie's parents and Dr. Loomis in the DC.
** James hates sexism, misogyny and prejudice against the LGBT; in ''Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation'' he tells the audience to not insult feminism because of 3 misandristic witches. In ''Film/{{Valentine}}'' he voices his hatred for the female leads for being shallow and sexist about their male dates. In ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreetPart2FreddysRevenge'', James addresses the homoerotic overtones and tells the audience to just accept it and take it as a lesson in empathy.
--> '''James''': For any straight guys complaining about how this is super gay, which it totally is...just think about how [[MaleGaze every other movie shoots the female characters like this]]. You can live with one movie [[FemaleGaze catering to the ladies and the gay dudes]], it's okay, it ain't gonna hurt you.
** Similarly, James has often expressed discomfort/disapproval towards films where ValuesDissonance and UnfortunateImplications are present and will acknowledge and discuss these problems even in films he otherwise enjoys.
** He considers the Brazen Bull in ''Film/Saw3D'' messed up even by ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' standards, as it was a (allegedly) real Greek torture device, and gave its (completely innocent) victim the most horrifying death in the series.
** In the ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'' review, he expresses disgust over the fact that [[spoiler:so-called protagonist Anna killed her own baby in a fit of rage, framed her husband for it (by leading him to believe that he rolled over the child and smothered it while sleeping) and his subsequent guilt lead to him hanging himself]], citing how he missed seeing [[Film/Saw3D Neo-Nazis getting run over]] in lieu of what was happening here.
** James was taken aback by Calvin Bouchard's decision to save a [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl random lady coworker]] from Jaws [[ThickerThanWater instead of his own nephew]] in ''Film/Jaws3D''.
** James warned viewers of his ''Film/PresidentsDay'' kill count to not watch if they would be triggered by a SerialKiller in a high school (the video, while planned months in advance to be released near the titular holiday, was released a few days after the Parkland shooting).
** James has made it clear that he's not a fan of fanservice scenes in movies and considers those scenes lazy storytelling. As shown by his frustration and bewilderment by ''[[Film/FinalDestination4 Final Destination 4]]'''s needless use of fanservice when the main character's girlfriend just stands around in her underwear for a few seconds for the sake of the camera.
** In the ''[[Film/TheBananaSplits The Banana Splits Movie]]'' video, he states his discomfort towards Thadd's Livestream proposal by saying he'll "Do the one thing I knew I would never do to Chelsea".
** In ''Film/JurassicWorld'', James begrudgingly gives Zara the Golden Chainsaw and cites his discomfort about her death scene being too elaborate and drawn out.
** In ''Tales from the Hood 2'', he refuses to add Emmett Till (a black teenager whose 1955 murder was one of the most infamous lynchings in American history) to the kill count out of respect for the teen. He also doesn't like how the segment describes Till and other hate crime victims as "martyrs".
--->'''James:''' And no, I'm not gonna put Emmett Till on my stupid, little kill count. That's fuckin' weird.

** In ''Tales from the Hood 2'', he refuses to add Emmett Till (a black teenager whose 1955 murder was one of the most infamous lynchings in American history) to the kill count out of respect for the teen.

Now includes a GagDub Series called WebVideo/TheyTalk, created by James' editor Zoran

** [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] with the Film/HappyDeathDay episode of They Talk, which starts with a content warning for... [[HurricaneOfPuns a metric ton of puns]]

** The ''They Talk'' episode for the film uses this, as expected, but with a twist: ''[[VillainProtagonist Babyface]]'' is the one trapped in the time loop.

* PreMortemOneLiner: A plot point for the ''Film/HappyDeathDay'' episode of ''They Talk'', where Babyface is trying to come up with good puns for a "Pun-damentals" class.

* SanitySlippage: [[Film/HappyDeathDay Babyface]] goes kind of loopy when trapped in a time loop in that film's episode of They Talk, ending the episode passing Freddy's Pun-damental class... but also in a straitjacket.

** For the Scream episode of ''They Talk'', James plays Ghostface as a serial killer that targets people who starred in bad movies. At one point, Ghostface has to clarify that his M.O. isn't killing actors from Adam Sandler movies, it just looks that way because "he made a shitton of [bad movies]."

* GagDub: ''They Talk!'', a show where James and/or Zoran (Who usually acts as Jame's editor) plays the voice of a horror movie's silent killer.