I have a spreadsheet that contains everything Michael Eklund has acted in and my goal is to watch all of it and blog about it along the way. There will be spoilers.
Bizarre assassins come together to unravel a dead man’s blackmail secrets and why he’s already dead on the set of his own porn film.
The summary isn’t exactly correct. Michael Eklund’s character Gus isn’t an assassin, he’s an (ex) thief, with a wife and an adorable daughter. Stegman is Dead is a comedic crime thriller that has numerous faults and just as many funny, interesting moments. The plot isn’t linear, it travels around and up and over itself, sometimes revealing a little secret or re-examining a fact we already knew.
This low budget film was shot in Winnipeg during one of the many seasons in Canada known as winter. One interesting part to me is how the film dealt with the Canadian outdoor scenes while still maintaining the visual look of a crime thriller. You know how movies of this genre and genres of its ilk (action, thriller, spy, heist) have guys in suits swanning their way into buildings with fanfare and guns blazing? Usually they’re set in places like Vegas, Los Angeles etc., where coats are just an illusion. Well, Ekland’s Gus wears a heavy winter coat outside that he tucks into the trunk of his car before he goes in. He wears a suit underneath and BOOM! problem solved and we still get to see an Eklund in a suit.

Gus in winter.