I Sell the Dead (2008)

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

19th century England. Eager young Andrew Blake (a fine and engaging performance by Dominic Monaghan) and his seasoned mentor Willy Grimes (splendidly played with lip-smacking rascally relish by Larry Fessenden) make a living stealing corpses from coffins and cemeteries: The dastardly duo encounter vampires, zombies, and even an alien throughout their fiendish exploits. Writer/director Glenn McQuaid offers a flavorsome evocation of the period setting, does an ace job of crafting a deliciously macabre tongue-in-cheek mood, and ably mines a wickedly funny line in spot-on twisted gallows humor. However, McQuaid's key triumph for sure is the quirky, colorful, and cinematic live action EC Comics-type style and sensibility he brings to the playfully ghoulish material. The natural and likable chemistry Monaghan and Fessenden in the leads really keeps the picture buzzing; they receive sterling support from Ron Perlman as hearty Irish priest Father Duffy, Angus Scrimm as the corrupt and demanding Dr. Quint, Brenda Cooney as gutsy'n'sassy apprentice Fanny Briers, and John Speredakos as the fearsome Cornelius Murphy. Richard Lopez's sumptuous widescreen cinematography provides an impressively handsome and baroque look. Jeff Grace's robust score hits the spirited spot. A real treat.

Spoiler Alert.. What a wonderfully fun very odd film! I'm not sure where to start..Set in the 1800′s (I think, it really didn't say) our story begins with a unfortunate man getting beheaded while his partner in crime is waiting for his turn. During the wait, he tells his story.He was a grave robber. At first it was an innocent endeavor to earn some money but as time went on he starts to encounter unusual corpses.This movie has it all, vampires, aliens and zombies..oh my!This is a fun movie for teens and adults (no younger kids), it really does have it's scary moments.

Grave robber Arthur Blake (Dominic Monaghan) is sentenced to death, and spends his final hours telling his macabre tales to an interested priest (Ron Perlman).This film showed up as a Netflix suggestion a few times, but I knew nothing about it and generally try to avoid newer horror films. (I stress "generally try" because I still see far more than the average person.) Then, it was deemed worthy of being shown at the monthly House of Horrors showcase in Oshkosh -- I would now be forced to view it.What a pleasant surprise! The film probably would have already been good just on casting alone (Angus Scrimm, Ron Perlman and Larry Fessenden are strong genre icons), both the writing and direction are excellent, and the art direction (or whoever designed the sets) is beyond great. This is a horror film that no one saw, but probably deserved to be a big screen hit. It has plenty of cult and re-watch potential.I loved the blend of horror and humor. Although primarily a horror film, with the mixture of undead and grave robbing (which fit together seamlessly here), it has just the right level of self-aware humor that makes it charming and lovable. Certain scenes are shown in a way that should not be possible to take seriously, and yet they attempt it, giving it a humor that may not be "laugh out loud", but is definitely "what the heck".Recommended for all horror fans, or even those who do not necessarily enjoy horror but have a quirky sense of humor.

I give it a 9 just for the fact that whoever made this film took a B movie budget and turned it in to a better movie than a lot of the A movies out there. Very enjoyable and satisfying. It was humorous and gross and scary and fun. The characters were great. The story was great. It was eerie and entertaining. I bought it as a bootleg for two dollars and I have watched it 4 times or so. I think that the writing was excellent and imaginative. It was not meant to be profound or artsy or anything of the such. Just a good old fashioned, well shot, well acted, very entertaining, gory horror film that delivers the classic gross-outs and tale telling of the past in a new age format. Good job!