Ultratumba

I feel like now that this film is available on blu ray in awesome quality some people will re-evaluate it. I remember seeing it on tv in the 90's. Possibly on USA up all night. I think it's a pretty good and effective little ghost story. The only thing i would change would be that Paul LeMat's charcter needed more enthusiasm. Any movie with David Warner and Lee Ving is at least worth a watch. Give it a shot.

Renée Soutendijk was a very popular actress in The Netherlands and Belgium, where I grew up during the 80s and early 90s, and a beloved sex-symbol thanks to her roles in local cult-classics like "Spetters" and "De Vierde Man". At the end of the 80s, she aspired an international career, but it was over very quickly, and I still don't fully understand why, because the few movies she made in the US were interesting; like this "Grave Secrets" and the Sci-Fi thriller "Eve of Destruction". She's a good actress, and her English is almost completely accent-free, which can't be said from most Dutch performers trying their luck in Hollywood.

That being said, "Grave Secrets" is a sorely lacking and disappointing horror. Especially for being produced in the late 80s, the film doesn't nearly deliver enough in the gore and sleaze department, and this despite numerous shocking & controversial themes in the plot (incest, rape, baby murder, ...). The main and obvious problem is that all the good stuff is saved up until the final 10-15 minutes. The first 70 minutes are far too dull, vague, and bloodless. The most exhilarating thing happening for a long time is a ghostly force throwing a raw egg in the face of paranormal investigator Paul Le Mat, go figure! The climax is fun, with a glorious over-the-top role for stunt man Bob Herron, but it comes too little too late to fix everything.

Holy moly, was this hard to get through. I have to confess to watching it in two parts and, by the time I'd got round to watching the second half, I'd pretty much forgotten what had gone on before. I decided to start again from the beginning until I realised that nothing much of any interest had happened and I could just skip back to the midway point where I'd originally left off.

It feels like one of those 'made-for-TV' movies based off a Stephen King story that seemed to be very popular in the eighties. Those weren't very good - and yet they were head and shoulders over this offering. It's about a woman who's troubled by a ghost and, seeing as the 'Ghostbusters' were obviously way too busy to help out, she enlists the help of a college professor with an interest in the paranormal.

And, er, that's about it for the most part. Almost nothing happens until about ten minutes before the end. The characters are ugly (meow!) and they do quite dumb things. It looks like the film-makers put everything into one make-up scene a few almost passable special effects right at the end. But that was way too little too late to make this worth sitting through.

A woman tormented by ghostly apparitions and a professor of psychic phenomena (Paul LeMat) investigate other-worldly disturbances and unlock the secret of a malevolent force reaching out for vengeance from beyond the grave.

Oh, Paul LeMat, how the almost mighty have fallen. You went from being a star in "American Graffiti" to doing this film and "Puppet Master". You could have been a contender! Now, I am not trying to be rude, Paul. You are a fine actor and have a strong screen presence. How did you start getting these offers rather than blockbusters? Why did Harrison Ford get to be Han Solo instead of you?

The story and effects here are not bad, sort of like a toned down "Ghost Busters" (and not nearly as funny). Except here you sort of have to coax ghosts out rather than capture them. (In "Ghost Busters" they seem to be eternal and can only be stored. Here they "cross over" if wrongs have been put right.)

I cannot say this is the best film about a haunting. Not by far. But it is not bad, either. Watch this only if you have already seen "Changeling" -- that is a far superior film.

This is an unknown gem of a movie that has some real chills. Like much of it's genre it shows too much at the end and falls apart while fumbling for an (unsatisfying) explanation of the events. Overall, definitely recommended over the "Scream" rip-offs or "Exorcist" rip-offs of the late 70s and early 80s. If it were released today it would probably be a modest box office success.

Look for some conceptually innovative supernatural activity!