Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-21 03:38:03

Great popcorn movie

This is just a fun movie to look at. Very good actors for such a low budget movie. The title just about tell you all you need to know to enjoy it.

2012-05-20 13:02:12

Bit of a let down

Wasn't very funny (a few chuckles here & there, very few) & not quite horror either. I really wanted to like this movie. Good cast & acting, story was kind of weak & SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER... how could you not see the priest wasn't who he seemed (maybe you were supposed to know? ending just felt like it ran out of steam).

2012-05-18 00:20:34

I Sell the Dead review

I Sell The Dead is a great movie. It fits in really nicely with other great dark comedies like the "Evil Dead" series. There were several points where I laughed to tears.

2012-05-17 15:17:57

Comedy/Horror

This review is from: I Sell the Dead (DVD) Hello, Well; This was OK, It was a lot of talking which some of the movie was, shall I say; Stupid!It started to get boring really quickly. I guess that's what it was suppose to be! Other than that, It was just ok.

dbborroughs 2012-05-17 06:36:07

Messy but fun horror comedy

Grave robber is sitting in his cell awaiting execution is visited by amonk wishing to take down his last words for posterity and as a warningto others about the horrible life he lead. At first reluctant, but withhis tongue loosened up by drink the young grave robber is soon tellinghis story which is full of the dead, the undead and things that go bumpin the night. New York lensed horror film (filmed in part on Staten Island which nodoubt brought the spirit of Andy Milligan lurking about) is one of thebetter horror comedies to come around in a while. This is an often veryfunny film that just spins its story out in every which way. The castis first rate. Dominic Monaghan plays Arthur Blake the grave robbertelling his story. Ron Perlman is Father Duffy the monk taking thestatement and perhaps getting too involved in the tale. Both men areclearly having a grand old time and it shows. The rest of the cast isequally as good. The music by Jeff Grace is excellent. The effects areperfect for this sort of ghoulish silliness. The film is a great dealof fun. If there is any trouble with the film its that perhaps itthrows its net a little wide so as the result has way too much goingon. I don't want to give too much away but I don't think we needed thealien body in the mix. Still this is a great deal of fun and its oneI'm pretty sure I will revisit on the IFC in Theaters where I saw itthe first time, and later on I'm sure I'll pick up the DVD.Worth a look.

masakiuma 2012-05-16 17:09:38

Fun horror comedy with a rushed ending

Faced with his impending execution by guillotine for murder, a graverobber (Arthur Blake - Monaghan) tells tales of his life of crime to apriest (Father Duffy - Perlman) in 1800's England. He describes how hegot into the business by following Willie Grimes (Fessenden), who hadbeen executed at the beginning of the film, and multiple misadventuresthat the two had.This movie is almost like an anthology...sort of, but more like a framestory with separate sections. The overlying story includes Arthur Blaketelling tales to the priest. The stories are almost entirely exclusiveof each other, so in reality one could probably skip one or two andstill get the major idea (not that I would recommend that). Arthur goesinto detail about how he started stealing corpses as a child, buteventually discovered that the REAL money was in trafficking theUNdead.There are serious moments, but most of it is done in a comedic way thatis somewhat of a "grim sitcom" style. Many moments were quite goofy,even if they were dealing with grave robbing and the undead. Withoutspoiling anything, Arthur and Willie encounter many different..."kinds"of corpses, some of which are quite hilarious. I wouldn't say most ofthe film is "laugh out loud" funny, but it still has that light tonethat will easily hold your interest.Dominic did a great job, though it took me a little while to shake offhis old role of Charlie on LOST. Likewise, Ron Perlman had a prettyconvincing Irish accent, and though I never heard of Larry Fessendenbefore this movie, he had a great "grubby poor English criminal"character. Like I noted in the header, Angus Scrimm is credited third,but he was only present very briefly, though he is quite awesome as theold corrupt doctor.For an indie film the special effects are pretty awesome. There weresome moments were there was an obvious green screen, particularly ofthe panoramic English countryside at night shots, but for the most partthe settings are pretty convincing. There isn't much gore for a movieabout stealing corpses, but when there is it is done right.The ending felt extremely rushed. It seemed like the climax andresolution all happened within the last 60-90 seconds. Also, I can'ttell if they were leaving it open for a sequel or if the final messagewas "and they ran off to have more misadventures forever :D " While itdid take me a little while to get into it, and I do feel conflictedabout the ending, it was still a pretty fun film. It is also fairlyshort and sweet, so it has definite replay value and never drags.Final Score - 7/10

2012-05-13 12:03:03

Awesome

This review is from: I Sell the Dead (Amazon Instant Video) If you're into a side of dry humor with your horror, than you'll like this. Some might call it a B movie, I say it's A+.

siderite 2012-05-13 00:31:14

Like a Tales from the Crypt episode, only longer

I expected a lot more. The atmosphere was nice, the acting OK, thestory gruesome, but it felt kind of empty in the end. The comedy wasmostly parodical, the horror was avoided completely, the disgustingscenes were almost decent and the plot was predictable and linear.I was looking forward to Pearlman's performance, but he had a marginalrole. Dominic Monaghan had most of the fun, portraying the unlikelycowardly grave robber, but with a good heart.Bottom line: it felt like a Tales from the Crypt episode, onlyunnecessarily long. Were they to keep down the unfunny comedy and stuckto more horror, maybe it would have made more sense. From where I amsitting, it was a decent effort, but ultimately a failed movie.

2012-05-06 00:00:52

Surprisingly awesome movie

This review is from: I Sell the Dead (DVD) After reading reviews of this movie I had to check it out. What a crazy original flick! Comedy, zombie, and supernatural fans would love this movie. The casting and acting is spot on with everyone devlivering an awesome performance. The only real gripes I had with the movie is that it was too short and made the pacing a bit off, but I hear rumor a sequel is in the works.

scottmannen1 2012-05-05 06:48:25

Fantastic Horror Comedy! DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!

If you want to see a great little horror comedy with an eerie feel toit this is the one. If you are expecting a blood and guts gore flickthats going to scare your pants off- then this isn't the one for you.For the budget that this movie was filmed on, the music wasparticularly amazing! Even though the film was filmed on a bargainbudget the music and audio was definitely better than most movies witha huge budget!The story was truly well done and the director is to be commended.There is an almost perfect blend of comedy to horror in this movie! Theacting is top notch and leaves room to make a sequel which I amdefinitely holding out for! I have no doubt that this movie will becomean instant cult classic.In a nutshell this movie chronicles the life story of a boy who entersinto the career of becoming a grave-robber. It tells the story inflashback of each of the more fantastic experiences that the robber duoencounters. Vampires to Zombies and even aliens! Our stars start out assimple grave-robbers stealing for jewellery but quickly become bodysnatchers for a mad doctor (Angus Scrim) who requires bodies for hismedical practise. When the duo find a way to have a vampire dispatchtheir cruel employer the grave-robbers discover that trafficking inundead corpses is much more profitable than just stealing regular deadbodies. The only problem is that there is another gang called the houseof Murphy that is competing for the same undead corpses- and thatswhere both grave-robbing gangs clash head to head with direconsequences.This movie is one of the most refreshing and exciting horror comediesthat I have seen in years and reminds me of the Evil Dead. Don't missthis one, you will regret it!

2012-05-04 23:42:48

I Want a Refund

This isn't a movie so to speak. There is neither a story arc nor a character arc. It's really a series of episodes.Here's the scoop. Willie Grimes has been given a close shave under a guillotine for murder and grave robbing. Now it's his partner, Arthur Blake's turn. However, before he's put to death, a priest wants his story. A bottle of whiskey loosens his tongue and he proceeds to tell the priest of his start in the business of robbing graves and many of his adventures up to the big one that landed him in jail.Seems to me the director, Glenn Quaid, had his sights set on making a Sam Raimi-esque type flick and just couldn't pull it off. It has some of the visual appeal of Raimi but not his unique sensibilities. And having a series of vignettes as opposed to a true storyline didn't help. The characters were decent enough but nothing happens to them. They don't change. And when they introduce the Fanny Bryers Character in the third act, to goad Arthur into pulling off the big score, it all seemed too manufactured. Too many other aspects of the movie seemed off as well. Most of the shots weren't framed particularly well. The costumes seemed out of time. This is set in the 19th century but there are shirts with sewn on collars and, I believe, pants with zippers. The styles just seemed wrong. The acting was decent enough. Ron Pearlman is usually worth watching and the principal characters held their own.It doesn't hurt to watch this but unless you're really hurtin' for movies to see, I'd put this on bottom of the pile.

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre 2012-05-04 05:15:08

Could've been so much better with the same budget.

I saw 'I Smell the Dead' -- sorry, 'I SELL the Dead' -- at a pressscreening. Glenn McQuaid, the film's writer-director-editor, is aladdish Irishman who introduced the screening by announcing that --whilst it was in progress -- he would be 'going out for a pint'. Idon't begrudge him a drink, but -- by telling us about it -- he seemedto feel he needed to certify his laddishness or his Irishness, or both.When the opening credits rolled, there were -- as usual at pressscreenings -- loud ovations for the names of every actor or crew memberwho'd got friends in the audience, and silence for those who hadn't.McQuaid returned for a witty Q&A afterwards.This horror movie doesn't take itself seriously, which is good becauseits humour is considerably stronger than its horror. Only one scene iseven remotely scary, and most of the 'horror' is merely gross-out, butI laughed throughout much of the film.This movie appears to be set in Ireland circa 1850 (by which timegrave-robbing was mostly defunct). The story is told in flashback: weget flashbacks within flashbacks, and the narrating characterflashbacks material that he couldn't know about, because sometimes hewasn't present or (in one case) because the action is unfolding behindhis back.The story begins with a prisoner being taken to the guillotine.Guillotines weren't used in 19th-century Ireland, but -- for once -- weactually see a plausible guillotine sequence. The prisoner struggles onhis way to execution, the rope cleats are accurate, and the prisonermanages to look up to see the blade overhead. (And there's a payofflater to justify the historically inaccurate use of the guillotineitself.)The characters are ostensibly Irish, but one major character speaks inCockney slang: using phrases like "a mug's game" and "take a butcher's"(for 'have a look'). For once, actors in 19th-century roles display19th-century dental hygiene, yet nearly all the clothes and hairstyles(and the women's make-ups) are resolutely 21st-century. I'm notcomplaining in the case of Heather Bullock, who wears a very fetchingblack miniskirt cozzie that appears to be PVC. Phworr!The lead actors (except Ron Perlman) are excellent, but most of thesupporting cast have no sense of the Victorian period. The worstoffender is Joel Garland as the publican, whose characterisation isfirmly rooted in the twenty-first century. Just when I thought thatGarland's performance couldn't get any less Victorian, he used hisfingers to make "ironic" air-quotes.The sets (especially Angus Scrimm's lab) are detailed and impressive,yet failed to convince me that people actually lived and worked inthese places. Nearly every interior contains burning candles, but neveronce did I see what would have been there if these were actualVictorian homes or workplaces: leftover drippings from previouscandles.One scene features an extra-terrestrial: I was annoyed that McQuaidplumped for a stereotypical "grey" Schwa alien, rather than somethingoriginal.There are splendid montage sequences, but McQuaid opts for flashyeffects -- split-screens, overhead shots -- that don't serve the story.I was impressed by a recurring blue-screen device superimposing themain characters' heads over other backgrounds. Less effective was arecurring 'Creepshow'-style motif of camera shots morphing actors'faces into drawings resembling panel art from 1950s EC horror comics.I'm a fan of EC Comics, but they don't belong in 19th-century Ireland.The money that McQuaid spent on flashy photo F/X -- showing off hisediting skills without serving the story -- should've been spent onaccurate costumes.BIG SPOILERS NOW. Ron Perlman gives an "Oirish" performance full ofacting-school tics. Ostensibly playing a 19th-century Irish priest, hewrites with his left hand. (In Victorian Ireland, left-handed childrenwere punished for using "the devil's hand" and were forcibly retrainedto become righties.) But Perlman's character turns out to have a reasonfor concealing his right hand. Elsewhere, a character is bitten by azombie yet suffers no ill effects, so I knew there'd be a payoff later.Several scenes that would more logically take place at night are shotin daylight, apparently only because this was easier and lessexpensive. (Since McQuaid is a proficient director and editor, he couldeasily have shot "day for night" ... but using a process-photographyeffect to help tell the story seems to interest him much less thanshowing off his flashy editing techniques.)McQuaid seems to be giving homage to those great old Hammer horrorflicks. But those Hammers were so great because the actors andproduction designers worked hard to convince us that we were actuallywitnessing events in 1888 Whitechapel, or wherever. 'I Sell the Dead'almost entirely fails to evoke the 19th century.Glenn McQuaid shows talent as a director, scripter and editor, yet inall three capacities here he makes odd choices ... then largely failsto justify those choices. But I enjoyed 'I Sell the Dead'. I'll rate it7 out of 10, and I look forward to his next movie.

2012-05-02 10:00:03

Loved it

This review is from: I Sell the Dead (DVD) I sell the dead was great. Funny, well acted, entertaining, spooky, original, etc. It's uneven at times, and shows it's budget on occasion, but it's one hell of a fun movie overall. Take a look!

2012-05-02 04:18:28

A Cult Classic in the making!

This review is from: I Sell the Dead (DVD) "I Sell the Dead" is a "wittingly funny horror" film about a man, Arthur, who makes his living as a grave robber and finds himself stopped dead in his tracks when he winds up in jail awaiting the guillotine. Fortunately, a priest has come to offer him closure in the last hours of his life and Arthur begins to recap on how he got into the proffession of grave robbing, which ended up placing him in jail. Throughout the movie, you get to see the strange experiences that befall Arthur and his mentor, Willie, as they try to make a not-so-honest living at being grave robbers. "I Sell the Dead" may not be a box office hit, but like Boondock Saints, it has the potential to become a Cult Classic.

JoeytheBrit 2012-04-27 01:22:17

Pointless misfire

I couldn't really see the point of this low-budget misfire. The writerschoose a subject ripe for some rich atmosphere and detail, but for somereason fail to fit a story around it. The plot is framed by aconfession of sorts, told by the condemned hero in the shadow of theguillotine (which I thought was used by the French, not the Brits, butmaybe I'm wrong). Anyway, our hero, such as he is, relates his tale toa monk (Ron Perlman, the only real name in the film). He recalls how hewas recruited into the body-stealing trade by Willie Grimes and howthey toiled under the insatiable demands of a wicked doctor – until,that is, they discovered a sort of sub-market in the bodies of theundead (which means the film should really be called I Sell the Undead,but no matter).Now, as you can imagine, it's around about this point in the movie thatall discerning viewers will probably raise their eyes skyward andeither reach for the remote or, like me, settle down behind folded armsin the hope that things will somehow improve. The story, however,meanders along, wandering up a few dead ends, scratching its head,ambling back the way it came. Our heroes discover a baby alien in oneof the graves they desecrate. They look at it with slight puzzlementfor a moment before it is snatched from them by Cornelius Murphy, oneof a rival gang of body-snatchers, and never spoken of again. Nobodyseems inclined to explain why the ghoulish undead are being transportedhither and yon or by whom, the audience are just expected to acceptthis traffic without question.I'm not quite sure what market the film is trying to attract. It seemsto be aiming for irreverent black humour, but it misses most of thetime. The ghouls are imaginatively designed, but there's little senseof period or setting due, presumably, to the meagre budget. When a filmis deprived of such a vital component it's writing needs to be of ahigh enough standard to absorb the viewer and make them at leastcapable of overlooking its other shortcomings. I Sell the Dead fails todo this and suffers badly as a consequence…

benfranklin100 2012-04-26 11:51:49

Creepy, Funny and Entertaining

It is so refreshing to see a movie like this with actual mood andpersonality instead of just a bunch of CGI cartoon gimmicks. This is agreat horror-spoof that has genuine chills along side some really greatsets and performances. Its laughs are subtle, but plentiful. Becausethere is very little if any CGI, there is no need to violently shakethe camera around to hide the crappy effects. This makes the movieimmensely watchable compared to the othercamera-man-must-be-sh%#@ing-his-pants films of this genre that havecome out in the last decade or so.Far more enjoyable than the big-budget re-made garbage being releasedby Hollywood today.See it.

ajs-10 2012-04-21 15:35:01

Surprisingly good!...

I hadn't heard of this film before seeing it and was pleasantlysurprised that it wasn't terrible. I must say that a cast that includedboth Dominic Monaghan and Ron Perlman did work in its favour somewhat.As some may know I'm not particularly big on comedy films… they justdon't make me laugh these days (a sign of old age I guess), but I likedthe dark humour in this. Here's a brief summary before I give you mythoughts.It is the Eighteenth century (that's the 1700's for those that don'tknow), and Arthur Blake is due to be executed in the morning. He hasbeen accused of being a grave robber and a murderer. His partner,Willie Grimes has already met his maker under the scaffold of theguillotine earlier that day. A priest, Father Duffy, comes to seeBlake, he wants his story so it can be published in order to put offthose tempted to go down a similar path. And so, for a supply ofwhiskey, Blake begins to tell his tale, having first denying any handin any murder. He was a grave robber, no more, no less. Apprenticed toGrimes at an early age, Blake soon got a taste for the work. The onlyproblem was that there was no way out. The doctor they worked for,Quint, just threatened them with arrest if they didn't come come upwith the corpses he wanted. Eventually they have to go out of the townto get bodies and this is where the tale gets weird… The undead are tobe found out there and this causes more than one problem to the pair.Add to that a rival gang of grave robbers and they have more problemsthan they can cope with. The Quint problem was nicely solved though,with the help of… I'll leave it here, I don't really want to be dug upby them Spoiler 'grave robber' Police.This film put me in mind of the early Hammer films. They weren't allthat well made, but there was an edge to them that hadn't been seenbefore. Decent performances all round, particularly from DominicMonaghan as Arthur Blake, Ron Perlman as Father Duffy and LarryFessenden as Willie Grimes. Honourable mentions go to; Angus Scrimm asDr. Vernon Quint, John Speredakos as Cornelious Murphy, Brenda Cooneyas Fanny Bryers and Joel Garland as Ronnie.Although the accents are all over the place, particularly FatherDuffy's, and some of the situations the pair get into are totallyridiculous, I kind of liked this film. It had quite a low budget, andit showed, but even so, I see some promise in this work. Over all, nota bad effort, it could have done with a little more polish, but I likedit!... Recommended (for at least one watch).My Score: 6.3/10.IMDb Score: 6.0/10 (3,770 votes when this review was written).Rotten Tomatoes Score: 74/100 (42 reviews counted when this review waswritten).

2012-04-21 02:33:56

In the tradition of Hare and Burke - entertaining horror-comedy

One of my favorite classic horror movies is The Flesh and the Fiendsstarring horror icon Peter Cushing and featuring two grave robbers, Hare and Burke, who resort to less conventional (and criminal) methods to keep the good doctor supplied in fresh corpses. "I Sell the Dead" also features grave robbers, and is more of a homage to old horror classics.The movie focuses on Arthur Blake (Dominic Monaghan) who has been sentenced to death for murder and whilst awaiting his execution, narrates his ghoulish experiences to a priest (played by Ron Perlman). The viewer is then taken via flashback to the past where Arthur and his boss/mentor Willie (Larry Fessenden) are in the business of grave robbing, digging up corpses to sell for a tidy profit. But, these are no ordinary corpses as Arthur confesses to the priest - there are vampires, zombies, and all manner of the undead. The scenes of the pair digging up the corpses and being attacked by the undead are truly fun to watch - one scene features Arthur pooh-poohing the stake in a female corpse's heart and nonchalantly pulling it out, whilst Willie cautions him repeatedly not to do it. Of course, the vampire attacks the pair and Willie who catches on to the whole stake-in-heart=dormant vampire (though many movies have it that this is the way to kill vampires) starts playing with the undead corpse - pulling out the stake and piercing it back again and again! There are other scenes that convey similar comic effects which I personally found entertaining and refreshing.The story does not flow all that well - partly because the scenes in the past are rather awkwardly weaved together with the ones in the present (with the priest), but fans of classic horror might find something to appreciate in this indie flick especially in its unabashed attempt to pay homage to the old horror classics.

2012-04-20 01:54:43

Not bad just not great

This review is from: I Sell the Dead (DVD) I love zombie movies. This one would make a fair rental but no George Romero classic. I felt is was about this same quality as what you would find watching a sci-fi channel or Chiller movie marathon special.

2012-04-19 12:17:29

I Sell the Dead Blu ray

This review is from: I Sell the Dead [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Horror/comedy flare....Story told very well but wasn't your traditional horror movie, So if your looking to be scared then this movie isn't for you.