SnoopyStyle
Arthur Blake (Dominic Monaghan) recounts his life as a grave robber to Father Duffy (Ron Perlman) as he awaits for his execution. His partner Willie Grimes has already been guillotined. He was a young boy when he started with Willie robbing graves for the demanding Dr. Quint. Quint demands more corpses and fresher ones all the time. Then the corpses start coming alive.I really don't like Monaghan and Perlman's scenes. They cut up and interrupt the story. It's also the men sitting and recounting the story which doesn't always add much to the movie. It's like a spoiler and one is always wondering if Blake is lying. It's not terribly funny even as a dark comedy. This is no Shaun of the Dead. The movie struggles to get any momentum. Whenever the movie pulls me in, it always gets interrupted by Monaghan and Perlman.
ajs-10
I hadn't heard of this film before seeing it and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't terrible. I must say that a cast that included both Dominic Monaghan and Ron Perlman did work in its favour somewhat. As some may know I'm not particularly big on comedy films… they just don't make me laugh these days (a sign of old age I guess), but I liked the dark humour in this. Here's a brief summary before I give you my thoughts.It is the Eighteenth century (that's the 1700's for those that don't know), and Arthur Blake is due to be executed in the morning. He has been accused of being a grave robber and a murderer. His partner, Willie Grimes has already met his maker under the scaffold of the guillotine earlier that day. A priest, Father Duffy, comes to see Blake, he wants his story so it can be published in order to put off those tempted to go down a similar path. And so, for a supply of whiskey, Blake begins to tell his tale, having first denying any hand in any murder. He was a grave robber, no more, no less. Apprenticed to Grimes at an early age, Blake soon got a taste for the work. The only problem was that there was no way out. The doctor they worked for, Quint, just threatened them with arrest if they didn't come come up with the corpses he wanted. Eventually they have to go out of the town to get bodies and this is where the tale gets weird… The undead are to be found out there and this causes more than one problem to the pair. Add to that a rival gang of grave robbers and they have more problems than they can cope with. The Quint problem was nicely solved though, with the help of… I'll leave it here, I don't really want to be dug up by them Spoiler 'grave robber' Police.This film put me in mind of the early Hammer films. They weren't all that well made, but there was an edge to them that hadn't been seen before. Decent performances all round, particularly from Dominic Monaghan as Arthur Blake, Ron Perlman as Father Duffy and Larry Fessenden as Willie Grimes. Honourable mentions go to; Angus Scrimm as Dr. Vernon Quint, John Speredakos as Cornelious Murphy, Brenda Cooney as Fanny Bryers and Joel Garland as Ronnie.Although the accents are all over the place, particularly Father Duffy's, and some of the situations the pair get into are totally ridiculous, I kind of liked this film. It had quite a low budget, and it showed, but even so, I see some promise in this work. Over all, not a bad effort, it could have done with a little more polish, but I liked it!... Recommended (for at least one watch).My Score: 6.3/10.IMDb Score: 6.0/10 (3,770 votes when this review was written).Rotten Tomatoes Score: 74/100 (42 reviews counted when this review was written).
donalscallan
This film is a poor attempt at comedy and horror. It has mild frights and even milder humor.The movie drags on for far too long and really is not very well cast.The most annoying thing about this tripe is the accents that some of the actors attempt to put on. Especially Monaghans character as a kid. The majority of Irish accents are laughable apart from the odd actual Irish person who got a role in the movie(you can spot the real accents very easily).Some scenes look like they where thrown together after the movie was finished to fill in the time.Please save yourself a few quid and rent/buy something else.
drew petersen
I give it a 9 just for the fact that whoever made this film took a B movie budget and turned it in to a better movie than a lot of the A movies out there. Very enjoyable and satisfying. It was humorous and gross and scary and fun. The characters were great. The story was great. It was eerie and entertaining. I bought it as a bootleg for two dollars and I have watched it 4 times or so. I think that the writing was excellent and imaginative. It was not meant to be profound or artsy or anything of the such. Just a good old fashioned, well shot, well acted, very entertaining, gory horror film that delivers the classic gross-outs and tale telling of the past in a new age format. Good job!
