Review of Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles (2011) by Josh B — 28 Jan 2013

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles is just about the best documentary ever... perfectly paced and building to a moving, yet enigmatic conclusion. A very real mystery based upon unusual phenomena - tiles with a cryptic message "Toynbee Idea/In Kubrick's 2001/Resurrect Dead/On Planet Jupiter" have been found for decades embedded in the pavement on streets in Philadelphia, Boston, and cities all across the northeast; also in St. Louis, Kansas City, even in South America. What is going on?

A trio of misfits set out to solve the mystery, and their detective work leads them to strange and frightening places. Though the few clues are cryptic, intrepid research, good detective work, interviews and persistent vigilance lead them closer and closer to a possible solution, but as in all great mysteries... the journey may be worth more than the destination.

The camera work, music, evocative drawings and historic photographs combine to create a unique and whole experience, and the film makers have a sure and steady idea of what needs to be seen and what's best left to the imagination. Several times I felt the hair rise on the back of my neck, and my eyes tear up with a sense of frightening awe. This strange world never felt stranger. Highly recommended.