Review of Laid to Rest (2009) by John T — 10 Jun 2009

Most of the horror movies I have watched over the the last year or so have lacked many things , all of which I have covered extensively in the past but the blindingly obvious one is Gore . When I was much younger, horror movies were renowned for their gory shock value . The Evil Dead films being the best example .

Many of Horror directors today ,cheat by fobbing off the audience with cheap , substandard CGI gore and they seemed to have made the art of geniune horror make up a thing of the past. Although" Laid To Rest " wont be classed a classic movie ,director Robert Hall has made a film that has enough realistic looking torn flesh and ripped tendons to fulfil the most blood thirsty horror fan.

"Laid to Rest," is the terrifying story of a young girl who wakes up in a casket with a traumatic head injury and no memory of her identity. She quickly realizes she was abducted by ChromeSkull , a metal-masked serial killer with the money and means to emulate the 1980s Slashers.

Isolated in an unfamiliar rural town, â??the Girlâ?? and those who have come to her aid must survive the night and outsmart the technologically inclined murderer â?? who video records his vicious killings and is determined to finish his masterpiece tape featuring "the Girl.".

My first impressions of " Laid to Rest" were that this was going to be a low budget , straight to DVD kind of movie . The one you see at the Rental shop that's sits on it's own on the bottom shelf amongst the other Turkeys.

I was wrong.

Although the " The madman on the loose" plot is not very original , this had something about it that I really liked. I'm not sure if it was a deliberate ploy by the director to give this a B movie feel or if this is genuinely a B movie?( What is the criteria for a film to be called a "B" ?) but either way it has a charm about it that's undeniable. The acting is pretty wooden as you would expect but that seems entirely appropriate for this film and it's also funny.

It helps having a gorgeous actress like Bobbi Sue Luther playing the lead . Not the most accomplished performance I have ever seen but perfect as " The Girl" Her character acts as the eye candy factor which helps counteract the extreme violence.

The make up and special affects are outstanding. The gore is of the highest quality and is certainly not short in quantity.

What I like is that this film requires no though process whatsoever ( just a gag reflex!) and is a perfect 90 minutes release from the real world.

Not a film for the squeamish but I recommend it for fans of real gore.

7 out of 10.