Review of I Sell the Dead (2008) by Ryan M — 10 Aug 2011

7.7/10.

I didn't like "I Sell the Dead" when I first saw it. I didn't like how it felt and I didn't find it all that funny. But that was then (early 2010) and this is now (mid-2011). I've changed and become more accepting and tolerable. So I was willing to give this indie effort another chance at impressing me; now that I'm more acquainted with this genre and all. I still don't think that the film is made for everyone, but for those it is made for; it's somewhat of a gem.

And a lost gem at that. "I Sell the Dead" is a wicked, ghoulish satire that succeeds on pretty much all fronts, for what it is. There's nothing truly amazing about it as a horror-comedy made on an extremely low-budget, but I feel it's not as appreciated or admired as it should be. If you like zombies, corpses, the undead, or anything pertaining to horror, then this is the flick for you. I suppose it's good for what it is, and this time when I watched it, I found it consistently funny and amusing. There are even some minor "indie scares", if there is such a thing. All-in-all, you need to forgive the flaws and just go with it.

Willie (Larry Fessenden) and Arthur (Dominic Monaghan) are two grave robbers. But they're not nasty like most people in their line of business; they're actually somewhat charming. Willie takes in Arthur as his apprentice as a young age and into adulthood; where they make a killer of a earning with the corpses of the dead; some which tend to....reanimate a bit.

Arthur tells his life-story to a priest (Ron Perlman), who has his own plans in store for the "criminal. While the whole world thinks that Arthur and Willie are murderers, which they very well might be for something that they do later on in the film, we see them as two guys trying to bond through business. The film takes the buddy-comedy route and it's surprisingly good at being one of those films. There aren't many good buddy-comedies nowadays, and the fact that this one works is more than enough for me.

I suppose the reason the comedy between the two characters works is because the two actors are given enough screen time, and enough chemistry, to work flawlessly together. Willie is the most unpleasant of the two grave robbers, yet I find him as funny as he was disgusting and crude. Arthur, however, is easier to like; but somewhat more arrogant than his partner in crime.

I appreciated the quest that the characters went on. This adventure was worth taking. The effects are very, very good as far as low-budget filmmaking goes, and the film even satisfies as a simple zombie flick. It's not full of blood and gore, but it has enough of both to impress some of the most seriously devoted zombie-movie fanatics. Go in expecting the unexpected, and you will not be disappointed, because I know I was not.

I'm wondering what was going through my head when I first concluded that I strongly disliked this film. Perhaps I felt it was tasteless. Perhaps I felt it was too different for my tastes. But now that I'm familiar with the horror genre, I couldn't help but smile at moments such as the ones where corpses leap onto characters and out of coffins, children bite their pet rabbits, and Angus Scrimm makes an unexpected and entertaining appearance. Horror fans rejoice; this was made for us. And it's bloody entertaining.