Dead Awake

Ever wonder who would show up at your funeral? After attending a funeral for an old high school friend and running in to his ex-girlfriend (Amy Smart) Dylan (Stahl) comes up with a plan to stage his own death and hold a funeral for himself. When a strange crack addict (McGowan) shows up to see him his life takes a strange turn and nothing is what it seems. This movie is hard to explain without giving anything away, but the best way I can put it is that it is a cross between the "Sixth Sense" and "After.Life". I really enjoyed the movie and I'm not sure if it was because I had no expectations heading in or because it was actually a very good movie (if that makes sense). This is more of a drama then horror, in the same way the "Sixth Sense" could be categorized either way. I really liked the twist at the end, I honestly can predict about 95% of movies made lately and this one got me. I was very surprised at how much I liked it. I surprisingly give it a B+.

Would I watch it again? - I would, if only to catch clues I missed the first time.

I did sort of enjoy this movie, but I'm not sure if some meaning was lost in the editing, or it was just not well written, or if I'm just a bit dense. The acting is fairly solid throughout, but there were so many loose ends you could make another 4 movies to tidy it all up. Some subplots just don't make sense. There are others that just seem to be forgotten, and left unfinished, or unexplained. Ideally it need another 30 minutes to wrap things up, but it was a strange movie. The cinematography had a real grainy quality, as if shot on super 8, and I'm not sure if this was intentional or due to budget restrictions. But surprisingly, it did fit the tone of the movie and didn't become annoying. I can understand the 6th sense references, but I also got a bit of a Jacob's Ladder vibe, mostly due to the, at times, jarringly disjointed narrative. Having said all that, it did keep me watching and curious.

Overall I gave it a six, as it kept me watching to the end and had some really good ideas, that unfortunately were not well executed at times, but there are so many bad movies out there with good scores on IMDB, and this is not one of them Ultimately a challenging watch, but has its has it has more than enough moments to carry it through.

The only thing I can say about this: random. The story is pretty random and the execution is pretty poor. The story skips and jumps around like a rubber ball and there is no consistency in the characters. The acting is so awful that the makers had to resort to in-your-face scoring to push the viewer into the mood they couldn't achieve through good story telling. Nothing adds up in the end and you're left with a feeling that neither writer nor director have have any idea about how to make a compelling movie.

But what really ruined the movie for me were the two Irish characters. Brian Lynner as Decko was just as untalented as a B-class actor can get and his Irish accent was a completely annoying farce. Mixing Scottish and a few local Irish accents just made me want to turn off the sound every time that guy opened his mouth. Who ever casted him should hang their heads in shame. Same goes for the character of his wife, whose name I am too lazy to look up.

Do yourself a favor and skip this one. This movie is boring, unimaginative and annoying.

This movie was really good and I'm not to sure why it got so many bad reviews. This movie made me think of "After.Life" but I am not sure why maybe because the eeriness that was in both of them? Just the feel of it I suppose. Anyways it is about a man who has gone through a tragedy and then somehow when he fakes his death the person who caused the tragedy somehow lives through it and gets to make amends. Doing so the whole movie leads you through twists and turns and leaves clues of the ending throughout, I knew what was going on. Boy gets girl the dead passes on after amends, kind of like the usual but written differently and uniquely. On a side note at times I felt it was awfully slow and could have been written better to pick up speed and get you into it more. I am no one to judge though. Overall the movie was really good predictable or not, worth a watch.

BRIEF BLU-RAY REVIEW:

I believe that this was shot on 16 mm film. So, you have a pretty gritty, primitive, high-contrasty look to the movie. This isn't your usual glossy new looking film, but I feel that it's unique, stark look really lends itself to the story.

Now, to the movie... I had seen this film quite some time ago and I vaguely remember that I did like it. But, I just now watched it again on Blu-ray and I found that I still very much enjoyed it. Actually, I was kind of surprised that I liked this movie that much. Normally I do not care for 'Drama' heavy films, no matter the Genre. BUT... I really liked the way the movie was done, so that you had a nice, tense feel of light Horror, and a definite sense of Mystery, and along with that also a very touching and moving story surrounding this young man and what has been going on the last 10 years of his life.

The story itself is VERY simple. It is not the kind of movie where you have anything really intense or shocking. It is very moody, but in a simple way. You might have to give it a chance to get going a bit before you quite get into what is going on. The acting is very good by everyone involved. I'm not necessarily a HUGE fan of Nick Stahl, but I felt that he did a fine job here, along with everyone else. The director gave the film a nice sense of Mystery and tension. And understandably, the audience may not quite be sure as to what the deal is with this guy or the meaning of the flashbacks that occur. But, this is one of those stories that becomes clear as you progress through it, and of course especially when you get to the end.

***PLEASE*** be very careful in reading about this film before you see it. I NEVER cease to be completely amazed at the brainless STUPIDITY and lack of any good sense or consideration by the NumbNut Donkey-Sucking Dickweeds here who blurt out key plot points to the films that they 'review'... Pure, PHUK'n Idiots, if you ask me... Anyway, please do read with care, or better yet, just watch the movie and see what you think. To give you some guidance WITHOUT mindlessly giving anything away, just know that this film TECHNICALLY has some metaphysical themes, but is primarily Drama and character driven. Like I mentioned, normally I really don't get very excited about films that are weighted more toward 'Drama', but in this case I feel that the story is told in such a way as to draw the audience into what is happening and involve them. This is NOT really a true Horror film, so if that is what you are looking for, then you should pass on this one. But, if you don't mind a bit of a low-key, Drama driven quasi-Supernatural / Metaphysical film about Death, etc., then you might end up enjoying it like I did.