Grave Secrets

There are three writers credited with the script. None of them seem to know how a normal human being would react in any given situation and the director doesn't seem to care. At least one of them wanted this to be a comedy.

The actors aren't bad ones, but their performances are so forced that it's painful to watch. Then again, they are playing unrealistic, idiotic characters speaking ridiculous dialogue, so it's difficult to blame them.

You'll want to strangle each one of them personally while watching this. David Warner's part in this is small, so be warned if you're hoping to see a lot of him. You won't.

If it hadn't been for the general premise, the camera work and lighting, the passable effects, and a half-decent score, I would not have kept watching. I don't know how many times I said, "Oh dumb," and "This doesn't make any sense!"

If you make it to the end, you'll be shaking your head in disbelief, wondering how something like this got made, and potentially laughing your ass off at the ridiculousness of it. I can't recommend this mess to anyone.

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.

Troubled Iris seeks the help of a paranormal psychologist/university professor who himself can't let go of his deceased wife and thus is about to be fired, to investigate hauntings at her cabin.

I saw this film on Instant Netflix under the title "Secret Screams", but no matter which moniker the movie goes by it's awful nonetheless. the acting is sub-par, the little special effects the film uses are hokey even for '80's standards, nothing really happens for a good 2/3rds of the movie and the plot is simply a jumbled mess. chalk this one up as an exercise in tedium.

My Grade: D-

I cant believe that this was made in 1989 The effects are so dated It looks more like a 1940s horror film, No scares, no gore seriously lame movie and the story is predictable I thought it might be good beacuse david warner was in it ...yes he is.. for 15 minutes and even the part he played was terrible.

As soon as the egg started flying i should of turned off.

Never the less i watch it all the way through hoping it would get better and it did not.

The idea film started like a good ole 80s film then about 10 minutes in it goes down hill.

This film is the sort of "horror " i would watch with my grandma on a sunday afternoon.

This movie begins with a woman named "Iris Norwood" (Renee Soutendijk) driving a car with an older man sitting beside her and he is apparently in some pain. He suddenly attacks her and she escapes by leaping out of the fast-moving car just before it crashes into a large tree. Three months later a college professor by the name of "David Shaw" (Paul Le Mat) is lecturing his students about a paranormal experience with a spirit of the dead when he notices a visitor leaving his class at the very end. The visitor just happens to be Iris. Eventually, David and Iris meet and she tells him that the bed & breakfast that she owns is haunted. What then transpires is a ghost story which starts off slow but builds in intensity until the very end. Unfortunately, the last 10 minutes or so of the film has too many details thrown in without enough detail for the audience to assimilate. Now, this movie definitely has some good horror mixed with a little comedy here and there but again the ending could have been handled better. Slightly below average.