Dead Still

Being quite familiar with the correct history of so called post mortem photography popular from about the 1830th's well into the twentieth century, this movie caught my attention.

When I saw Ray Wise had o role in it I got even more interested, being a fan of his since Twin Peaks. But, man, was I disappointed. I Think they have completely missed out on the possibility to build up tension and uneasy feelings which surrounds this subject, it's all loud rock music with distorted guitars and agitated, irrational character behavior as if all hell had broken loose, and that was just minutes into the movie. The filmmakers could have done more with less, so to speak.

The acting and script seems very stiff (no pun intended), with characters, for example, reading letters out loud for themselves and describing what they are about to do talking loudly to themselves. Ray Wise's performance is good though, he makes a good effort with the role given him, but that's about the only solid acting in there is here.

The special effects in terms of gory dying/dead people is quite good, but over the top, a bit too much, and too early on in the film.

Horror fan, fan of the subject or both, you'll basically be wasting your time if you see this one.

Suspenseful,scary,gore,fascinating are only a few words to describe this film! I had so much fun watching this movie! The characters are great! Costumes are wonderful and makeup and special effects are hauntingly delightful! The little girl who plays Lela is precious! I feel in love with her character! Most of all the story is intriguing and keeps you're attention! I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was next! Its on my DVR and I will be watching it again!! Thank you Booth Brothers for bringing us a very entertaining film! I hope you have other projects in the works because I for one am a fan! If your looking for a sitting on the edge of your seat kind of movie look no further!

I am surprise to see so many good reviews from users, with so low rating of the film.

Believe the rating.

This movie is bad, generally speaking. The story is weak, and there are so many inconsistencies, perhaps for the incompetence of the filmmakers, not really because it was unavoidable. Bad timing, wrong reactions to situations... etc.

Maybe the only thing that was notable was the not-so-bad costumes and the filming locations. But it was at all enough.

Finally , the acting was completely shocking, negligent.

The story of Victorian death photography: wasted.

If you are looking for an actual serious scary horror with tension, and a consistent story this film is not for you. If you want everything you'd expect from a scy-fy original, and feeling like your going through a fever dream, but are some how still entertained. I recommend this film.

It's so bad it is an art form. But in a fun if you enjoy a certain level of bad film kind of way. The special effects and CGI are "interesting".

The lead actor is the only one who can act, the villain has pantomime levels of over the top villain acting, and the story leaves you with more questions? There are some cool monster designs though.

"Dead Still" actually turned out better than I had anticipated, given the less than impressive reviews and overall rating that the movie had received here on IMDb. But still, it is a horror movie, and that alone had me interested. But given the negative vibe to the reviews and such, then I must admit that my hopes for the movie weren't great.

However, I was more than genuinely surprised that the movie was better than I had hoped (or feared) that it would turn out to be. Sure, it wasn't a horror masterpiece, but it still an entertaining enough movie, and it did have some originality to it, which was what kept the movie afloat.

The story was somewhat different from what I had expected and it was that aspect of the movie that particularly turned out to be a fresh addition to the horror genre. The storyline is about a wedding photographer who inherits an antique camera, that has been used previously to take obscure death-scene photographs. And strange deaths starts occurring around the talented photographer, which are tied to the old camera.

I will say that I was actually genuinely entertained by the movie, despite it not being a groundbreaking monument in the horror genre. But it still turned out to be entertaining and it did have a sense of originality to it.

The acting in the movie was adequate for most parts, but I must say that it was especially Ray Wise who carried the biggest part of the movie with his performance and his usual wicked charisma on the screen.

The effects in the movie were actually quite good, especially the creature make-up and designs. I liked those quite a lot. Just a shame that they weren't more actively used in the entire movie.

"Dead Still" is actually a good choice for a movie if you are in for an evening of horror movies. I was more than genuinely entertained and pleasantly surprised with it. Who knows, you might just be as well...