Exhumed

Director Richard Griffin's film EXHUMED is a dark, low-budget horror flick that succeeds on many levels. Shot entirely in RI (or at least entirely in Southern New England for sure), the movie is grim, nihilistic, and full of nice doses of black humor. To describe it best, it's almost like a "haunted house" movie about a dysfunctional family.

However, the film's greatest strength lies in its ability to feel fresh (though it does gain part of this edge simply from being made in a time suffering from a cesspool of banal films and an over-saturated film-market). Oddly enough, the film's freshness seems to come out in a weird (if seemingly contradictory) way by capturing the look and atmosphere of horror films of old. The micro-budget, black and white (often shot on one location), character centered horror films of the 60s. Director Jack Hill's 1968 flick SPIDER BABY comes off as the closest example of the type to EXHUMED and may have even influenced it. Despite being (welcomely) old fashioned, the film is set entirely in the present. EXHUMED is that kind of movie (sort of like say, PULP FICTION) that even though set in the present day for when it was filmed, feels strangely like it belongs in another time frame or even firmly in the film's own uniquely created world. EXHUHMED definitely has a timeless quality to it.

While Richard Griffin and screenwriter Guy Benoit deserve a lot of credit for crafting this great flick, cinematographer Ken Willinger and his crew deserve a huge shout out for providing some beautiful cinematography. The stark, low-key film-noir look to the film is pitch perfect and creates quite the atmospheric little horror flick.

EXHUMED isn't a perfect film by any means, but it easily stands as one of the finest films (and possibly best horror flick) of 2011.

Richard Griffin's best. Writer Guy Beniot hit a home run with a very haunting script. I really hope griffin will stay with this style of movie.

Amazing cast. Evelena Marie is mesmerizing. The usual griffin cast backs her up to the hilt. Sarah Nicklin, Michael reed, Michael Thurber and the rest of the cast can be proud.

I would encourage anyone that enjoys horror to check this flick out. It's a low budget movie without a low budget feel. Guy Benoit is a writer to watch. in the future. And Evelena Marie is the actress to watch!

It's so weird to read reviews on IMDb. We'll, if it isn't Lynch level, then it is obviously crap?

There's some leeway you certainly need to give to the microbudget cinema that exists out there. If you can't make that distinction simply by watching a film's trailer, I'm not so sure I can trust your review.

That said, it is incredibly rare in my experience to find a microbudget film that I can make it through entirely. It's so tough to watch a production trying to follow the studio horror playbook with far fewer resources. This one tries something different with odd narrative and equally strange performance choices. There's integrity here, and I can respect that.

I do think it has a very niche audience. Artsy horror without a budget is not something I see people applauding regularly online. It's usually something relegated to prospective filmmakers and those who scour the nadir of cinema looking for something of substance. If that sounds like you, Exhumed might be up your alley.