We begin with two dark figures in a dank and shadowy prison somewhere in a southern American town. Then the silence is broken by a husky voice, as we hear of a story of a couple of escaped convicts trekking through swamplands on their way to a graveyard to search out some hidden treasure. Throughout it moves back and forth between the actual tale and that of the narrator. So like others have mentioned, it does have that 'Tales from the Crypt' touch, as it doesn't come any bitterer than this southern Gothic thriller with a wicked sense of black humour and seedy violence. There's a quirky quality about (mainly the characters), but the few macabre and creepy inclusions at times do offset it. However it does what it sets out to achieve and rather well too. Even with its recycled story developments and genre conventions (treachery, greed leading to the true reflection and you know the rest), due to smart flavored writing it's engrossingly unpredictable and razor edged with an oozing, captivating turn of events. The material constantly engages as there's always something going on or references to keep look out for, but there are questionable story details. Being small scale it relied on the script, and also committed performances from Craig Sheffer, Josh Charles, Donal Logue, Anthony Michael Hall, John Diehl and the gorgeous Gabrielle Anwar. In lesser, but highly amusing cameo roles were Eric Roberts, Giovanni Ribisi and Keith David. Location work is authentically picture-perfect. The southern atmospheric tailoring is lush, humid and surprisingly haunting during the night sequences. You feel as if you're right there, because of director Jonas Pete's great sense of place and situation. There are a few inspired set-pieces and vivid images (caught in the graveyard and a torture scene for information). Boldly directed, briskly edited and Alex Wurman's potently racy and twangy southern music score go on to deliver an agreeable mix. A good, quick moving and provocative independent midnight movie.
Review of The Grave
