2013-08-04

20130804: Horror Film Review 2--Laid to Rest





Name: Laid to Rest (2009)
IMDb: link to Laid to Rest page

Genres: Horror, Thriller   Country of origin: USA

Cast: Richard Lynch (Halloween, Invasion USA) as Mr. Jones, Lena Headey (The Brothers Grimm, 300,  Game of Thrones) as Cindy, Sean Whelan (MIB, Twister) as Steven, Bobbi Sue Luther as 'The Girl,' Kevin Gage as Tucker.

Written and directed by: Robert Hall
Chromeskull
The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:
The female protagonist wakes up in a coffin, makes her way out, and nearly gets killed by the man who put her there in the first place.

Delineation of conflicts:
She manages to survive the night, but most of the allies she meets along the way get killed trying to help her and to live themselves.  Her adversary's motives are rather opaque, and remain that way.

Resolution:
There is a sequel, Chromeskull: Laid to Rest 2 (2011), with a new cast.  Perhaps that film has resolution.

One line summary:  Cliche inscrutable almost invulnerable slasher villain.

Statistics:

Cinematography: 10/10 Framing, focus, natural colours, all OK.  Most scenes are dark (night scenes), as one should expect from a horror film, but the cameras used were up to the challenge.

Sound: 10/10 Good, with the actors well-miked.

Screenplay: 3/10 The killer could not finish the protagonist.  This made no sense, since he murdered quite a few others in ten seconds or less.  No one could take out the killer with guns, crowbars, or anything else...until he applied some extra-powerful glue to re-bond his mask to his face.  The police did not show up in force until the few living witnesses had fled the scene.  The ending provided only a minimal amount of resolution.  The motivation of the killer was never disclosed or even hinted at.  His need for the mask was not explained, and so on.

Acting: 4/10 Bobbi Sue Luther seemed more than a bit green as the female lead.  I expected more from Kevin Gage (the male lead), whose resume was longer.  The character actors Richard Lynch, Lena Headey, and Sean Whelan had enormously more talent and experience than the lead actors.  If not for these three actors, I would have rated the acting at 0/10.

CGI: 5/10 There were some poor special effects of the more bloody scenes in the unrated version.

Final Rating: 4/10, neutral

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