The Grave

I casually watched this one night on cable and giggled at the small details such as the Southern vernacular and wise sayings, the classic Rush t-shirt on Mr. Hall, the pot smoking Cletus, etc... Since then I've seen this 6 times and love this movie now! It's a bit of a classic to me. It has a great ending that will make anyone smile and the intricacies of the movie come out if you really pay attention. This gets **** from me.

I really hate to use the term "guilty pleasure" but here, it seems to be fitting. I caught it late one night on HBO or something like that. Anyway, I got into it and missed the ending so I had to order a copy. I'm glad I did. The movie hits that "Tales From the Crypt" feel right on the head. There is not one likeable character in the whole thing. All of the jokes come on time and the black humor is right on target. The Southern atmosphere does its work, giving everything a creepy atmosphere. I enjoyed all of the performances. Anything with Keith David involved usually has it's rewards. His performance in this was fairly brief, but enjoyable. In fact the whole thing was enjoyable and highly entertaining. There is not a dull moment in the whole thing and the plot twists come at a rapid pace. Just be on your toes to catch all of the references and jokes. I's full of 'em.

I don't think this flick was that bad. I rather enjoyed watching it to be honest. Witty dialogue. Hillbilly humor. And although the actors are pretty unknown they all pull it off quite nicely. Especially the narrator does a great job. Creepy! ;)

Like he cleverly points out: "In the end everyone gets what they deserve." I think this movie wasn't even meant to be taken seriously. It's just fun to watch because you can never know exactly what's going to happen next. And that's refreshing for a change. ;)

We begin with two dark figures in a dank and shadowy prison somewhere in a southern American town. Then the silence is broken by a husky voice, as we hear of a story of a couple of escaped convicts trekking through swamplands on their way to a graveyard to search out some hidden treasure. Throughout it moves back and forth between the actual tale and that of the narrator. So like others have mentioned, it does have that 'Tales from the Crypt' touch, as it doesn't come any bitterer than this southern Gothic thriller with a wicked sense of black humour and seedy violence. There's a quirky quality about (mainly the characters), but the few macabre and creepy inclusions at times do offset it. However it does what it sets out to achieve and rather well too. Even with its recycled story developments and genre conventions (treachery, greed leading to the true reflection and you know the rest), due to smart flavored writing it's engrossingly unpredictable and razor edged with an oozing, captivating turn of events. The material constantly engages as there's always something going on or references to keep look out for, but there are questionable story details. Being small scale it relied on the script, and also committed performances from Craig Sheffer, Josh Charles, Donal Logue, Anthony Michael Hall, John Diehl and the gorgeous Gabrielle Anwar. In lesser, but highly amusing cameo roles were Eric Roberts, Giovanni Ribisi and Keith David. Location work is authentically picture-perfect. The southern atmospheric tailoring is lush, humid and surprisingly haunting during the night sequences. You feel as if you're right there, because of director Jonas Pete's great sense of place and situation. There are a few inspired set-pieces and vivid images (caught in the graveyard and a torture scene for information). Boldly directed, briskly edited and Alex Wurman's potently racy and twangy southern music score go on to deliver an agreeable mix. A good, quick moving and provocative independent midnight movie.

This is a sinister little thriller with diabolically nasty twist at the end.I especially like the macabre humor that the script uses and location gave it a great atmosphere. It reminds me of Tales of the Crypt

episodes that I enjoyed.