The Gravedancers (2006)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Mike Mendez

Writers (WGA):

Brad Keene (written by) &
Chris Skinner (written by)

Release Date:

27 August 2008 (Philippines)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Unrest In Peace

Plot:

After a night of drunken exploits, Allison, Harris, and Kira are chased and terrorized by the ghosts of a child pyromaniac, an ax murderer, and a rapist.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Curse | Rapist | Cemetery | Tombstone

Cast

Dominic Purcell	...	Harris McKay
Josie Maran	...	Kira Hayden
Clare Kramer	...	Allison Mitchell
Marcus Thomas	...	Sid Vance
Tchéky Karyo	...	Vincent Cochet
Megahn Perry	...	Frances Culpepper
Martha Holland	...	Emma
Oakley Stevenson	...	Haunted Woman
Samantha MacIvor	...	Nurse Jenny (as Samantha Twyford MacIvor)
Jack Mulcahy	...	Police Officer #1
Jim McKeny	...	Doctor
Geneva Avarett-Short	...	Nurse Brolin (as Geneva E. Averett-Short)
Bob McHone	...	Priest

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence/terror and some language.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Germany:16 | Australia:MA (2008) | Netherlands:16 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Finland:K-18 (self applied)

Filming Locations:

Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Code Entertainment

Trivia:

This project was originally announced in 1999 through Artisan Entertainment

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): After being attacked in the hospital, Kira is visited by her two friends. When they go into her room, she is sitting on her hospital bed smoking a cigarette. There's no smoking in any U.S. hospital.

Quotes:

Sid Vance: You just can't find good paranormal help, these days.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Spider-Man 2 (2004)

This is no masterpiece but it supplies enough scares to make it a worthwhile watch

The name "The Gravedancers" sounds way too much like something coming out from the 80s low budget b-movie horror era. With its absurd plot and not so strong characters. But it still succeeds in creating some nice scenes where the viewer feels at least a bit unease.

The story is about a group of childhood friends who reunite after several years for the funeral of one of their pals. After a night of drinking they return to the cemetery in order to pay proper respect to their dead friend. On his grave they find a weird letter, written to sound as a "celebration of life". Our unlucky heroes while under the effects of alcohol naturally decide to begin chanting and dancing (on the graves) thus unleashing a trio of ghosts that begin terrorizing their lives.

There are several problems with the script. Besides the corny outline. There is the problem regarding the characters, more specifically there are several situations throughout the film that feel underdeveloped and possibly left unexplained. Such as for example, the presence of one of the leads wife. With her being out of danger, why did her husband still kept her around thus putting her at risk of being killed? This lack of providing solid reason is one that becomes very familiar in the movie. The characters themselves are nothing new we haven't seen before, their lines are monotonous and boring but not horribly acted. Indeed the performances are fairly decent and the actors could've done even better had they had a better script to work with.

The one thing this movie does good comes in terms of setting up an atmosphere and creating some nice jumping moments. For once instead of just remaking it, an western director has decided to employ a similar style to that of the more commercial successful Asian horror movies (Ringu, Dark Water etc. etc.). There are some very nice scenes that keep the viewer on the edge. The effects are nothing to brag about but still reasonably well done considering the not so high budget. Keeping to its corny name the ending looks like something out of a cheesy over the top horror movie, but by this point the final conclusions are already made so it doesn't really ruin the experience.

"The Gravedancers" is unlikely to cause any shift on the current direction of American horror movies but it is still a nice change from the never ending wave of remakes and weak teen slashers that over-flood our screens.