Vengeance of the Dead

A tidy horror/thriller from Wisconsin filmmakers Adams and Picardi with lots of twists and turns and many offbeat touches. A young guy goes to visit his grandpa down on the farm, and soon is spending those soft summer nights sleepwalking and torching elderly neighbors, apparently coaxed/goaded along by some restless ghosts. I watched the DVD, which was chock-full of cool extras about the filmmakers and their projects. VENGEANCE OF THE DEAD is what solid b-movie filmmaking looks like.

Poor production values and a plot that is stretched way too thin to support a feature length film (even one with a tight running time of 72 minutes) undermine some interesting ideas and sometimes effective direction from independent writer/directors Don Adams and Harry James Picardi.

Their one dimensional story of a teen possessed by the vengeful ghosts of a murdered family plays out in a far too predictable fashion and provides too few answers to some burning questions (Why have the ghosts waited so long to seek revenge? What is the relevance of the spoon?), and any genuine moments of originality and inventiveness are overwhelmed by risible dialogue, shoddy video effects and amateurish acting.

A creepy moment early on, involving the ghost of a little girl on a swing, proves that the guys can create atmosphere and deliver an effective scare when necessary, and a delightfully twisted scene in which a pervy old man spies on his granddaughter in the shower earns them points for being willing to push the envelope, but to really do their ideas justice in future, Adams and Picardi really need to drum up some more cash for that professional finish and get themselves a decent cast.

There can be no spoilers here because there aren't any! The longer I watched the film, the more confused I got. When the end credits came, I actually sat up and said, "What? That's it? Huh??" No clue.

The only saving grace is watching this with Rifftrax.

If I could give this film less than one star, I would.

That flashy box-cover fooled me into thinking I was getting into a silly, fun Charles Band ride. It was all the more difficult after that to get into the mood for this very spare ghost chiller, but I was hooked in 5 minutes.

The prologue sees a young man (possibly gay ?) driving through the country to greet his grandfather after some time in the city. The farm is modest, the fields never-ending and grandpa is full of love for his grandson. Then visions of the past haunt the son's dreams, until he finds himself sleepwalking into some of his granddad's old friends' homes...to burn them.

The ghost story is simple and reminiscent of "The Nesting", and probably a few other ghost movies. The lead looks convincingly lost in the situation he's put in (and obviously lost in a few other areas of his life). The settings adequately serve the haunting storyline, as this town is clearly a town where nothing happens and secrets stay buried.

Although there was no surprise to be found, the creepy pace of the movie and a modest but distinctive direction kept me interested all the way through.

A young man travels to his grandfathers house, finds an old spoon and soon starts to have visions of a brutal murder. Before you know it Eric (Galvin) is guided by a ghostly force to kill a bunch of old men.

I didn't expect much from VOTD when I popped in the DVD player, but by the end I was pleasantly surprised. VOTD turns out to a be a competently made and interesting low budget flick that I got into. Writer/director Don Adams and Harry Picardi show alot of potential here and could have done much better with more money and a cast of professional actors. They give us some cool moments and use the DV camera in some pretty interesting ways. The acting isn't great and the sound and picture quality is pretty bad. It runs a little too long for its own good and drags along the way. By the middle of the flick I figured out what the twist was, but in the end it still disturbed me and I felt fulfilled. VOTD is an original little flick with alot of good qualities in its favor.

Vengeance Of The Dead has its problems, but is a solid flick with alot of potential. Its a valiant effort all around, but would have benefited from a tighter script, a bigger budget, and professional actors. I still recommend you check it out. I've seen much bigger flicks that have been much worse.

DVD Details: Trailers, director commentary, teaser and making of War Wolf (Adam and Picardi's next flick). The picture is very grainy and the sound quality is pretty bad. Not a good DVD transfer.