Horror Challenge entry #13: I Sell the Dead (2009, Glenn McQuaid)
Has a curious rhythm where nothing much seems at stake no matter what is onscreen menacing the characters. This could be a side effect of the episodic flashback structure (it really is one damn thing after another) - after all, since we see Larry Fessenden beheaded in the film’s first scene and Dominic Monaghan is clearly alive to tell the story of his and Fessenden’s adventures in the graverobbing trade, it’s not like any major harm is going to befall these two prior to that. But then, menace and horror aren’t this film’s stock in trade; if it feels like there isn’t much to lose and nothing bad will happen to our two ne’er-do-wells, that’s probably because the film is less about the creepy-crawly evil shit they encounter and more about their relationship with each other and the people they encounter as they ply their trade. It’s a cheeky buddy movie in dank Gothic garb. It may be fairly flat as a horror film, but it’s lively as an agreeable character-based comedy. The solid performances help quite a lot; Monaghan is winning as an intelligent and pragmatic sort who sees body theft as just a way to keep food on the table and beer in the glass, while Fessenden steals every scene he can playing the gruff, cantankerous sort of fellow he specializes in but tilted just enough so his growling comes off as humorous instead of menacing. There’s also able support from Ron Perlman as a priest who might be a bit too interested in Monaghan’s tale and John Speredakos as a vicious business rival. McQuaid does right by the tricky tonal balance, keeping the wit bone-dry (the temptation to take this over the top would have defeated many a man), and he also shows some nascent directorial chops. All in all, a ghoulish good time, with a relatively predictable twist in the tail that nonetheless gets topped by a better twist I should have seen coming and didn’t. There’s promise in this debut.
