I Sell the Dead English Movie
Cast And Crew
Friday, August 7, 2009 (NY, 1 theater)
Body snatchers Arthur Blake and Willie Grimes have pillaged their last grave. With just five hours before Arthur follows Willie to the chopping block, he recounts his life story to Father Francis Duffy. It soon becomes clear that Blake and Grimes are no ordinary grave robbers. And through Arthur's story the priest learns that not all corpses are equal.
this age of Xerox filmmaking, it's a bit of a miracle to see a film like I Sell The Dead - a refreshingly original slice of indie quirk that manages to pull off the kitchen sink approach on a very meager budget. Sure, we’ve seen other indie filmmakers try their hand at “on-a-dime” period films, but this is the first time where the end result feels genuinely authentic thanks to a superb cast, stylish direction, and some amazing production design.
Dominic Monaghan and Larry Fessenden play professional grave-robbing team Arthur & Willie, who make their living stealing corpses in 18th Century Ireland. The duo start off working for peanuts under a nefarious doctor (played by Angus Scrimm in all his scowling glory) but soon catch on to the huge money-making opportunities behind corpse snatching. Arthur recounts these events from a prison cell to a priest (a very offbeat Ron Perlman) on the eve of his beheading, so the story largely unfolds through a series of flashback vignettes as he and Willie run afoul of rival grave-robbers, vampires, zombies, and several other oddities that would be criminal to spoil.
Debut writer/director Glenn McQuaid clearly loves old Hammer films and EC Comics, and he fills his cinematic canvas with plenty of foggy moonlight and Creepshow-esque comic book transitions. Even more amazing is how this New York-lensed production effortlessly looks and feels like it was shot on the set of an old Jean Rollins movie. Terrific costumes, set dressing, make-up FX, music, and cinematography create what feels like a multi-million dollar international picture.
McQuaid’s script is incredibly witty and played for laughs, and while there are a few moments where the comedy overreaches, the ensemble cast consistently knock it out of the park. All that said, it’s the chemistry between Monaghan and Fessenden that is the heart of this film. They’re not only hysterical to watch, they successfully echo some of the all-time great comedy teams.
While I Sell The Dead is a literal gallows comedy, the tone is surprisingly lighthearted and broad (many at the screening described it as “cute”), but that doesn’t detract from the enjoyment. Like Shaun of the Dead and Trick 'r Treat, this is a film made by horror fans for horror fans with enough fun to please almost any crowd. With any luck, we’ll get to see further adventures from Arthur and Willy.
I Sell The Dead stars Dominic Monaghan as Arthur Blake, an 18th Century British graverobber. He's been arrested for his crimes and is now locked up in prison awaiting his judgement, but before he faces the guillotine a priest (played by Ron Perlman) comes to talk to him. In the guise of confessing his sins Arthur brings us all back to when he was taught all about his morbid vocation by his cockney mentor/partner Willie Grimes (Larry Fessenden) with whom he provided bodies for the local mad doctor, played by one Angus Scrimm....
I really don't have to go on, do I? All the genre fans have already just run and bought tickets after reading that.
But it somehow gets better! Not only does this graverobbing duo have to deal with pissed-off relatives and competing body snatchers, they also live in a world populated by ghouls, vampires and zombies... among other things. This all makes their work a helluva lot more dangerous, but also a lot more profitable. After all, what scientist wouldn't want to have their own Bub to perform tests on? Of course, things soon spiral out of control and our duo goes for one big job too many.
I Sell The Dead is the kind of film you go to film fests for, the kind you can brag about to your friends and anticipate seeing again with them when it's finally released. It's laugh-out-loud funny and quite a change-up from most humorous horror flicks nowadays. It has very much of a comic book feel at parts, which is funny because it's being adapted into one. First time writer/director Glenn McQuaid shows he clearly knows his way around the camera and has a massive love for gothic horror. He's also one hell of a comedic writer.
There's really not much in the way of gore or scares here since this is played almost completely for laughs. It's helped by a fantastic and almost whimsical soundtrack whose violins call back to scores from other classically dark-humored films, like Re-Animator. The movie also oozes atmosphere, and I mean that in the most literal sense. It's clear that there were some Hammer fans in this crew, because there's a whole lotta fog here that gives it a nice, moody look. Even more amazing considering this whole film was shot in friggin' Staten Island! You would never, ever believe it... a credit to some stunning matte paintings.
But what really makes this film work is the lead duo. I'm a huge fan of Larry Fessenden (I believe his film Habit is one of the few that accurately portrays NYC nightlife) and he's really a delight here. While he of course looks like a 18th century graverobber- just give him a top hat and dirty him up a bit, and he lets his crazy eyes and broken tooth do the rest- you can tell that he's loving his accent and completely gets into his character. Just wait till you see when he tests out how a vampire works. He's responsible for most of the humor in the film, although Monaghan's straight man is no slouch in that regard as well. They work so well off each other and are completely natural as two great buddies who love and hate each other at the same time.
Angus Scrimm unfortunately doesn't have much of a role here but every word he utters or angered glance he makes is great, as usual. Ron Perlman's accent slips a couple of times but who cares- he's having a lot of fun and so are you.
To be fair, the film does feel like it's missing something. That might be because apart from the leads the other characters are hardly fleshed out- no pun intended- and the story doesn't really feel complete. Since you're only being told a few tales from these characters' dozens of exploits there's really no big finale or story arc here. But there is the feeling that there's so much more. In fact, while trying to get back together all of these fantastic actors may prove to be impossible, I'd love to see the continuing adventures of this duo. They're just so innately watchable together and it'd be easy to think up new supernatural problems to throw their way.
Is I Sell the Dead a cult classic in the making? Possibly. A movie you'll have a blast with? Absolutely.
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