Dig Two Graves

I've seen it advertised on Netflix but never watched it until now. I've seen so many bad movies and I never heard of it, so I didn't want to watch another stinker. I was pleasantly surprised. It had two stories in one that blended nicely together at the end. It was different and after all I've seen, I can appreciate that. Give it shot, you may just enjoy it!

Three strange brothers offer a grieving teenage girl the opportunity to bring her recently deceased brother back to life. A movie that fails to deliver on its early promise is salvaged to a degree by the performances of Ted Levine and young Samantha Isler. It doesn't really seem to know what kind of movie it wants to be and subsequently lacks consistency. Can't for the life of me figure out why the brothers were dressed like 1880s moonshiners, or whether they really had the power to deliver on their offer or whether it was all a scam in order to get their revenge. A shame - it could have been a real success had a little more thought (and care) been put into it.

I was expecting a different type of movie. This was well cast and the story was interesting. It was a reasonable length and had some twists and details you wouldn't have expected. One of the better made movies of this type today.

A unique and provocative thriller about rising above the sins of the past, it's slightly heightened yet familiar, like a surreal nightmare. Imagine the otherworldly evil of The Witch thrown into the realistic American heart of It, but without any of the blatant horror of either. Even with the unwieldy storytelling, it's a beautifully gothic and creepy indie, hiding within the bowels of Netflix like a deep dark secret in a family tree.

I will give the makers of "Dig Two Graves" some credit where credit is due. First of all, despite having a real low budget, the movie does look very decent; the movie looks technically sound, and has some striking images every so often. Second, while you may think you're able to guess how the movie plays out from its plot description, the movie does surprise by going down a much different path. Unfortunately, in the end I probably would have preferred had the movie gone down the most expected path, even though there have been many movies before it that have gone down the same path. Although the movie only runs 84 minutes long, it plays out in an extremely slow manner, and for the first two-thirds constantly spins its wheels with very little to nothing of consequence happening. Another problem is that there are some head-scratching plot points that are ultimately not answered in a satisfactory manner, or simply not given any effort in answering at all. In the end, the movie is too unsatisfying to recommend, despite it being obvious that the filmmakers were trying for something different than usual. Maybe next time...