Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Graves, The - 1.5/5

Well my first experience with the fourth set of After Dark Horrorfest turns out to be more like a cliche-fest of epic disappointments. "The Graves" is a combination of some great cult classics like "Children Of The Corn" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" all mashed into a ball of 'what the fuck is going on'. Not that the story is hard to follow, but it happens to be so poorly told and written that nothing can right this sinking ship. Not even some Horror icons like Tony Todd and Bill Moseley.

Honestly, this film gets a star and a half for those two men. Bill Moseley is always so intriguing in these films and he is the only actor in this film that can rise above his poor dialogue and even worse character development. Even Tony Todd has trouble dealing with his almost cartoon like preacher/leader of the town Unity. Otherwise this film pretty much blows from the get-go.

"The Graves" are two sisters (Abby and Megan Graves) who are going on a road trip by themselves for the first time when they stumble on a small town and decide to take a trip into the old abandoned gold mine community for a tour. This tour is from Hell though and suddenly they find themselves stalked by a renegade family of fuck-ups that slaughter tourists in the name of a local demon/savior that the townsfolk worship.

I feel bad for the lead girls as for the most part they try desperately hard to combat their awful dialogue and plot writing. Even Clare Grant (whom did a fine job in the Masters Of Horror episode "Valerie On The Stairs" also co-starring Tony Todd) tries to be charismatic in this shitty written film. Unfortunately, the cliche story, poor pacing, and 'tries far too hard to by stylistic' directing sink this movie before it even leaves harbor.

This film was just far too frustrating as a Horror movie watcher to be enjoyable. The odd continuity errors (especially with the blood splatter which is a HUGE no-no for Horror films) and odd plot shifts (first Meg is dying the then she's fine!) make this film hair ripping frustrating.

If you love low budget Horror films than only see this one for a laugh and to see your icons. Otherwise, its too cliche and too poorly structured for even the most casual film watchers. Don't bother is my recommendation. 


Written By Matt Reifschneider

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