The Gravedancers (2006)

Director: Mike Mendez

Writer: Brad Keene, Chris Skinner

Tagline: Unrest In Peace

Actors: Dominic Purcell, Josie Maran, Clare Kramer, Marcus Thomas, Tchéky Karyo, Megahn Perry

Runtime: 1h 35m

Category: Curse, Ghost, Horrorfest, Revenge, Supernatural

Synopsis: Three friends, Harris, Sid, and Kira, after the wake of a friend, go to a local dive for some drinks and reminiscing. They decide to go back to the cemetery to pay their personal respects when they find a card on their friend’s gravestone. The card is a poem of sorts about dancing and living for the moment. Very inebriated, they start dancing wildly and Harris (Purcell) ends up passing out. In the days to follow all three friends begin to notice strange things going on. Sid enlists the services of Vincent and his assistant Culpepper, paranormal investigators from the local college, to help them figure out what’s going on. They find out that, while they were dancing in the graveyard, the act desecrated the graves of three ghosts, who are now after them. Now trapped inside a mansion, they are all on the run from the ghosts who are trying to kill the three friends. Can they find a way to stop the curse before they are all savagely killed?

Review: Part of the “8 Films To Die For” put out during the After Dark Horrorfest, this movie belongs in every horror fan’s collection. Even though I built it up in my own mind, I was still very impressed. The story was very well written and very well executed. I love it when some one comes up with new ideas for ghost stories. Anyway, the story itself is not a new concept; it is very commonplace among some cultures that anything done to a grave, other than burial (and probably forensics now-a-days), is considered desecration. And that any desecrated grave would result in the revenge of the person buried there. Although it is a new cinematic concept, I thought that it was done very well.

The make-up and prosthetics where a wonder in themselves. There was no real animation except for the end, and I think that that made it even scarier. The faces of the ghosts are something that I will not soon forget; and that was the intention. I read that Mike Mendez came up with the idea for the faces of the ghosts in a nightmare he once had. He felt that there was something more disturbing about a malicious being that was happy to see you…as opposed to the more traditional irate appearance. I think that that is a profound realization that will not soon be forgotten. It makes the ghosts more malevolent-looking and gives you the feeling of pure, unadulterated dread.

The script was actually pretty good for a ghost story. It made sense and was well acted by the cast. I was kinda nervous to see Purcell in this because of his part in Blade Trinity (2004) (although I have not seen his performance in FOX’s Prison Break). But I was very pleased with all of the acting and was happy to see no nudity. This is old-school terror the way it should be! Thank you Mike Mendez!

Rating: 22. Although I loved the movie along with the concept, I would have liked a bit more story on the three ghosts. I loved the stories they gave us but I would have liked I bit more. Other than that this movie was fantastic and should be viewed by everyone, even if you don’t like horror. SEE THIS MOVIE! (22of25).