I Sell the Dead

Great cast, great idea and stylish.... but it was missing something. It was neat to look at, but I never really connected to it.

There were a whole lot of good ideas, but not enough was done with them. The movie would have been better if it were longer to expand on the ideas or more focused. Most of Arthur's apprenticeship could have been cut for instance.

The horror wasn't particularly scary and the humor snicker worthy at best. Combined with the slow pacing, it's just too many strikes against the movie. It's a shame, because this movie has the cast and ingredients to be a genuine cult classic.

I saw this movie as part of the Midnite Madness at Sitges. Set in 18th century England, the plot covers the life of Arthur Blake from his first outing as an apprentice grave robber to his final confession on the eve of his execution.

The plot moves along via a series of misadventures involving Arthur and his partner encountering various unsavory characters and bizarre situations.

The first thing that strikes you about this movie is how accurately they managed to capture the look of the Hammer period horrors, the atmosphere is set with lots of fog laden graveyards, rowdy tavern scenes and excellent set/costume design.

For a movie titled I Sell the Dead, I was expecting the emphasis to be mostly on horror – don't get me wrong there are some jumpy moments and gore, but the tone is very much comedic, driven by the situations the characters get themselves into and their dialog. The closest comparison to the scenes between the two leads (Larry Fessenden and Dominic Monaghan) is the character interaction seen in the classic English comedies Only Fools and Horses, the Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise.

The acting is strong and the casting of very familiar faces in Ron Perlman and Angus Scrimm lift the movie above many of the others on view in Sitges.

Overall the movie offers something very different to the current crop of mainstream horror and will leave a smile on your face.

I confess, I only watched this because I enjoy Ron Perlman, but I stayed with it because it is a hoot! It is neither excessively gory nor bloody, but it keeps its horror creds kinda side-wise, and kept me chuckling throughout. I find it hard to categorize this odd flick, but if you have the 90 or so minutes, give it a try - it is fun! The story line allows you to expect a bigger payoff than you get, but the actual story more than makes up for it. First you meet the apparent villain and his church appointed accuser. It rapidly becomes apparent that the real issues are not mundane but seriously supernatural!Vampires, zombies, grave robbers. The world is not as simple as you might wish. Oh MY - laugh and enjoy - it is worth the visit!

This movie totally surprised me; I was expecting your run-of-the-mill zombie apocalypse, with the usual who's-gonna-get-killed-first gamble, but I was wrong: It is about the lives and times of two grave robbers in the mid 1800s England. It is horror in a blasé way, and a comedy by circumstance more than by design.

It is by no way a summer blockbuster; There are no spectacular explosion and CGI, nor there is any romancing "for the female crowd"; It is an old-fashion, hand-made movie with lots of love.

This love is apparent in the actors' play, which is a testimony to their great direction: The two main characters have a synergy that works very well (they look as if they played together for ages) and every other actor in the movie are characterized and unique, even the background and silent ones. The music score, robust and in the right tone, adds to the grim ambiance.

It may not have a spectacular development or a intricate storyline, but it is easy listening due to the anecdotal way it is told and the smooth camera work. I still have pleasure re-watching it, even more-so with a couple of brews under the belt.

7 out of 10: Not a true classic in the cinematographic sense, but certainly worth a try.

The story has been told in other movies too. But the way it is handled here (with the humor) seems far superior to other movies (even a recent one, made by Landis). The story is more or less told in a reverse way, which makes you wonder a few things (or maybe you will guess where it is heading quite early on).

The acting is really great and even the small role by Mr. Pearlman is just great. You couldn't imagine anyone else playing that role. He really is on par with Dominic M., who just is great in this one. There is life after "LotR" and "Lost" after all. And he is one of the guys who can say he made the most of it (not to mention his engagement with the wonderful Evangeline Lilly)!