March 28, 2009
|
Zombies hate burn victims.
My initial reaction to Glenn McQuaid's 2008 Hammer-esque feature-length debut I Sell the Dead was one of genuine, perfectly formed confusion. For whatever reason, I just couldn't get into it. In fact, it wasn't until my second viewing that I discovered the film's slightly off-kilter rhythm: a strange, almost delirious combination of 70's British horror and the slapstickity antics of, say, Don Knotts and Tim Conway or Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Cutting edge genre guru Larry Fessenden and Lord of the Rings veteran Dominic Monaghan star as a pair of bumbling grave robbers who are looking for a way to escape the wrath of the demented Dr. Vernon Quint (Angus Scrimm), a twisted old coot who uses fresh corpses for his clandestine medical research. The film chronicles their exploits from their uncomfortably grotesque first assignment to their inevitable fate at the hands of those who are looking to make an example out of the kooky body snatchers. Despite the morbid atmosphere, McQuaid keeps the film light and breezy, deftly balancing the physical comedy with several effective scares. Not all of the jokes are zingers, of course, and most are so dry that you may question how, exactly, you're supposed to react. Fortunately, unusual comedies are my forte, a fact which allows I Sell the Dead to fit snugly into that cozy little space in-between Adam Rifkin's The Dark Backward and Lang Elliott's The Private Eyes. Great fun for those in the right mindset.
Recipe For Success: Larry Fessenden & Dominic Monaghan + Ron Perlman + Great Use Of Faux Comic Book Styling
How To Anger Zombies: If you really want to piss off the undead, all you have to do is frighten them.
Facial scars are a wonderful place to start.
0 Spasms:
Post a Comment