Post by tav7623 on Sept 23, 2010 0:59:56 GMT -5
Hello everyone tav here with another movie review, this week I will be reviewing the 2008 movie I Sell The Dead which was written and directed by Glenn McQuaid and stars Dominic Monaghan (LOST, Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Alien Ressurection,Blade II), Larry Fessenden (Session 9 Actor, Directed horror film Wendigo and a Episode of Fear Itself called "Skin and Bones"), and Angus Scrimm (Phantasm series). The movie is set in 19th century Scotland/England and centers around Blake (Monaghan) one half of the infamous duo of grave robbers Blake and Grimes (Fessenden), both of whom are set to be executed by beheading for grave robbing and murder and begins when a priest (Perlman) comes to visit Blake to hear his confession and write down his story to be used as an example for others to not follow in Blake and Grimes footsteps............what follows is hilarity and horror as Blake tells the priest about his adventures with dead and the undead
Pros: Good Cinematography, Good Editing, Good Soundtrack/music, Good Acting, Good practical special effects, and a good blend of horror and comedy.
Cons: little nitpicky stuff mostly involving the rules surrounding powers/actions/destruction of the undead and the brief jaunt into the world of little green men.
Overall I enjoyed I Sell the Dead and give it an 8 out of 10 for being in my opinion a near perfect blend of horror and comedy that only a handful of movies have managed to pull off in recent years (Shaun of the Dead comes to mind). This film is steeped in 19th century Gothic scenery (funeral homes, foggy cliff side seascapes, foggy cemetery's and the surrounding woods), bloody visual effects, funny sight gags (though there are a few times where the movie appears to be relying to much on those gags to help get the plot onto the next bit), and like all good buddy comedy movies has a strong pairing/rapport between Monaghan and Fessenden who play the unfortunate terrible twosome. This film also has appearances from Ron Perlman who plays a somewhat alcoholic asshole priest with a bad Scottish accent that comes and goes, as well as Angus Scrimm who plays a double dealing blackmailing violin playing doctor who usually "hires" Blake and Grimes to rob fresh graves so that he can examine their bodies......for as he puts it "furthering science"...... My only gripes with this movie has mainly to do with the rules/folklore governing the undead who are from what I can tell a cross between a zombie and a vampire (Zombie Body, 30 Days of Night vampire teeth) occasionally look like the possessed from Evil Dead (this is especially true with the first one the duo encounter).....are partially governed by the rules/folklore for both vampires and zombies, and other than that nothing is really explained about them......they are just there....... My other grip has to do with a brief encounter the duo have with aliens who are in this movie depicted as the stereotypical little green men, I feel that even though it was a some what funny segment and was meant to be serious and highlight the main characters first encounter with the leader of a vicious rival group of grave robbers but instead it gets side tracked with the alien encounter and comes across as hokey and anticlimactic when the duo meet the leader of the rival group given the build up/hype about this fearsome rival groups leader.........now this would be a major gripe but is save because of a later encounter the duo has with the leader as well as the rest of the gang that lives up a little bit better to the hype...........In the end tough these gripes are like I said in my cons list just nitpicky gripes and overall didn't really subtract from my enjoyment of this movie and I would highly recommend this movie especially if you are a fan of Horror/Comedy films such as Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, and An American Werewolf in London.
I hope you enjoyed my review I will be back next week with a new movie review of the 1963 Mario Bava classic anthology movie Black Sabbath starring Boris Karloff and also I will soon be announcing a little something special that I have planned for the month of October that I think most of ya'll might enjoy................
Pros: Good Cinematography, Good Editing, Good Soundtrack/music, Good Acting, Good practical special effects, and a good blend of horror and comedy.
Cons: little nitpicky stuff mostly involving the rules surrounding powers/actions/destruction of the undead and the brief jaunt into the world of little green men.
Overall I enjoyed I Sell the Dead and give it an 8 out of 10 for being in my opinion a near perfect blend of horror and comedy that only a handful of movies have managed to pull off in recent years (Shaun of the Dead comes to mind). This film is steeped in 19th century Gothic scenery (funeral homes, foggy cliff side seascapes, foggy cemetery's and the surrounding woods), bloody visual effects, funny sight gags (though there are a few times where the movie appears to be relying to much on those gags to help get the plot onto the next bit), and like all good buddy comedy movies has a strong pairing/rapport between Monaghan and Fessenden who play the unfortunate terrible twosome. This film also has appearances from Ron Perlman who plays a somewhat alcoholic asshole priest with a bad Scottish accent that comes and goes, as well as Angus Scrimm who plays a double dealing blackmailing violin playing doctor who usually "hires" Blake and Grimes to rob fresh graves so that he can examine their bodies......for as he puts it "furthering science"...... My only gripes with this movie has mainly to do with the rules/folklore governing the undead who are from what I can tell a cross between a zombie and a vampire (Zombie Body, 30 Days of Night vampire teeth) occasionally look like the possessed from Evil Dead (this is especially true with the first one the duo encounter).....are partially governed by the rules/folklore for both vampires and zombies, and other than that nothing is really explained about them......they are just there....... My other grip has to do with a brief encounter the duo have with aliens who are in this movie depicted as the stereotypical little green men, I feel that even though it was a some what funny segment and was meant to be serious and highlight the main characters first encounter with the leader of a vicious rival group of grave robbers but instead it gets side tracked with the alien encounter and comes across as hokey and anticlimactic when the duo meet the leader of the rival group given the build up/hype about this fearsome rival groups leader.........now this would be a major gripe but is save because of a later encounter the duo has with the leader as well as the rest of the gang that lives up a little bit better to the hype...........In the end tough these gripes are like I said in my cons list just nitpicky gripes and overall didn't really subtract from my enjoyment of this movie and I would highly recommend this movie especially if you are a fan of Horror/Comedy films such as Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, and An American Werewolf in London.
I hope you enjoyed my review I will be back next week with a new movie review of the 1963 Mario Bava classic anthology movie Black Sabbath starring Boris Karloff and also I will soon be announcing a little something special that I have planned for the month of October that I think most of ya'll might enjoy................