Judge and Jury (1996)

Director:

John Eyres

Writers:

John Cianetti (writer)
John Eyres (screenplay)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Meet The Executioner!

Plot:

An electrocuted killer returns from the dead to take revenge on the authorities who caught him. |

Plot Keywords:

Electric Chair | Electrocution | Independent Film

Cast

David Keith	...	Joseph Meeker
Martin Kove	...	Michael Silvano
Thomas Ian Nicholas	...	Alex Silvano
Laura Johnson	...	Grace Silvano
Kelly Perine	...	Roland
Paul Koslo	...	Lockhart
Robert Miranda	...	Coach Wagner
Patricia Scanlon	...	Mary
Jay Rasumny	...	Guard #1
Stan Sells	...	Warden
Bob Minor	...	Biker #1
David Brisbin	...	Priest
Angelo Dimascio	...	Biker #2
Scott Hass	...	Boy #1
Josh Keaton	...	Boy #2

Also Known As:

From Beyond the Grave (UK) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for continuous strong violence and language.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:MA | USA:R | UK:18

Company:

EGM Film International

You have been found guilty on the charge of being a dreadful movie, and are hereby condemned to obscurity and widespread, justified hatred

If this is not heavily featured on every list of "what not to watch", it should only be because those keeping that particular list are not aware of its existence, which, as long as that remains so, is the acceptable alternative. I'm not kidding you, this is a *bad* "movie". Joseph Meeker returns from the dead, with various vague, undefined supernatural powers, the most employed of which would seem to be appearing in new, increasingly comical-looking and ridiculous(and never scary or creepy... in general, when this goes for the latter of those, it winds up just being bizarre, and attempts at the former just don't work, period) outfits and stereotypes/archetypes, and he is portrayed by David Keith(whom I respect in... well, at least Daredevil), doing a more often than not terribly inconsistent(which could also have to do with script) and often over the top performance. A character or two have personalities so unbelievably irritating that they're painful to watch. The editing thinks it's considerably more clever than it really is(and what on Earth was with the red tint for the flashbacks?). Cinematography... oh, dear. Framing, coverage, effective use of angle(that one could be attributed some to editing, too, perhaps), please, guys, stop me when I say something you've ever heard about the existence of. As far as the technical side goes, this is a pretty lousy excuse for something more worthwhile to put in the projector than unexposed film. But why stop there? The plot is just poor. The basic idea's been done, and it's been done so much better than this(The Crow would be one). The way it's told is gimmicky, and while there is some explanation behind the flashbacks, it still doesn't satisfy. Pacing is about non-existent. The lead is distinctly unlikeable, and there's more personality in a barn door, not to mention that those are also considerably less wooden. Kelly Perine and Thomas Ian Nicholas? What in the name of all that is good and just(pun intended) are you doing in this? Perine, you were already funny before this, on The Drew Carey Show, Nicholas, well, I haven't seen you in anything preceding American Pie, but if nothing else, you *were* funny later on, and in those productions, the amusement was intentional. Dialog is... the less said, the better. Language is unrestrained, and tends to be stupid. The violence is shoddily done, and they don't even seem to care to try to hide it(hinting at it might have been the smarter strategy). Characters, don't get me started. Why spend so much energy on portraying unexciting, at times utterly illogical, events? The more you think about this, the worse it gets. It's not even passable as a "bad horror flick", or a B movie(it may very well pass through the rest of the alphabet, and go further still), it couldn't scare you on the scariest day of your life if it had an electrified scaring machine. I recommend this only to people who want to disprove how bad this is, and don't say I didn't warn ya. 1/10