Post Mortem

Let's get straight to the point: the plot doesn't really make much sense and there are some hinted subplots that never get really explained or explored. But!!! It's incredibly atmospheric and the setting (WWI rural Hungary) is original and refreshing. I definitely suggest horror lovers to give it a chance because it's not your average "Saturday horror movie".

Post Mortem: Hungarian horror flick set in 1919 during the Spanish Flu pandemic. Thomas (Viktor Klem) is a post mortem photographer, often snapping the dead with their loved ones. He is with a travelling fair when a young girl, Anna (Fruzsina Hais) asks him to travel to her village to photograph the dead. He only agrees because Anna looks just like a girl he saw in a vision when he was wounded during WW1. The village is gloomy, some residents wear flour sacks over their heads "to fend off the Flu", the dead are stored in a barn, partially frozen due to the Winter cold. Strange events ensue, he hears running on the roof, as he sets up the dead to be photographed we see them move and weep. Shadows appear in the images he develops. He sets out to solve the mystery with the help of Anna who seems wise beyond her years. The spirits which infest the town are noisy ghosts indeed, Poltergeist effects occur, ranging from moving objects to levitation and killings. Only real Zombie but he appears in a terrifying scene. Great performances by Klem and Hais, with an eerie village and an atmosphere which captures the dread and despair of the time when the Spanish Lady stalked the world. Directed & Co-Written by Péter Bergendy. 8/10.

I really, REALLY wanted to like this movie. It had my kind of description, my kind of look and feel, and ... my kind of story. Several of the actors are competent, (not many, but several), and, on THIS budget (which appears to be about 59¢), the director did a "passable" job. Now, don't get me wrong ... I really love when a director has to make a shoestring budget work (i.e. George Romero).

Not to give anything away, but, when lead character Tomás is rescued from death in war and becomes a photographer of the dead for poor families in the early 1900's Europe ... I got excited! THAT plot line had a lot of possibilities. Tomás goes to a small, war torn village to photograph family members with their dead, in really kind of "macabre" family portraits, and the hijinks ensue.

Look for little Anna, Tomás's village "helper", who also does a credible acting job.

It's WWI. Tomás barely survives the trenches and almost left for dead in a mass grave. He ends up photographing the dead posed with the living in family portraits. A little orphan named Anna recruits him to visit her village. He had seen her in a vision. There are many dead haunting the place.

I like the use of some physical effects. I find them adorable. It has an endearing indie charm. As a horror, it's not scary. It's like an old fashion ghost story. I like the photography premise although it could use some more poetry. The back story needs some work. This is a good simple old style horror.

Not bad horror mystery movie though I did not understand the end at all. First time watching a hungarian movie. The special effects are very good. However the actors were a bit lethargic.