June 15, 2009
Robert Hall, director of Laid to Rest, sure worked wonders with a budget of this kind. Even for being shot on digital, the cinematography was tight. The lighting was top-notch, everything so dark, and atmospherically creepy. I'm not sure if this film was blown to 16mm in post, bu...( read more)t in many aspects it sure as hell looked that way, and even 35 in some parts(especially near the end inside the grocery store). I was also a fan of Robert Hall's previous film, "Lightning Bug", which is completely different from Laid to Rest, but it seems his budget decreased immensely this time around, and although Lightning Bug was low budget as well, production value just seemed to be lacking in comparison. And that's no complaint on my part at all, but someone please give this guy a chunk of change quickly! I'm sure any production company would be in good hands with a man as quite as talented as this.
The acting here was as good as it could've been. And I'm surprised the cast took this movie as seriously as they did. This could have easily been another cheap hack job, given it's budget and predictable storyline, but on the contrary everything was handled very professionally. The director must have been very passionate about his work, and good performances only come from good direction, which most certainly shows in the outcome. Not to say that the performances were fantastic, far from it actually, but it wasn't unbearable, in fact, it was fun and delightful. Not flawless of course, and like most horror films, done on a more cheesy level, but keeps your eyes peeled and not sighing with utter disbelieve. It was decent all round, but given the material that was laid on the table, they did a fantastic job at it.
The gore in this movie is ridiculous. Laid to Rest is a bloodbath, with some insanely inventive kills. It was also refreshing to see that they didn't use much CGI at all. They kept this shit old school. My type of horror movie! The only part to my recollection where CG was used full throttle was the scene in the grocery store where oxygen like fluids were pumped into a guy's skull, making his head explode. Sounds delicious doesn't it? Well it is. One CG boo-boo, but no big deal. It looked good enough and this movie was a blood filled, fun, all-out gore fest.
The killer himself was badass and I really dug his chrome skull mask. He was unapologetic, smart, quick and violent. I can see them making his character as part of a franchise. Although it was later explained he had some sort of reasoning to his madness, a full motive and back-story were never really offered, and I wish it would have been. Even still, he was one evil maniac. Maybe a few sequels to follow will acquaint us more with this psychopath. I sure hope so, cause I really dug this movie. Even with all it's flaws, it's still fun as hell!
I highly recommend Laid to Rest to all die hard horror fans.
"Laid to Rest is a fast paced, gore drenched slasher that exists solely to show off some truly impressive death effects. God bless it for that."
- Upcoming Horror Movies
"While Laid to Rest does have it's flaws, it's a horror film that is very entertaining and does have it's fare share of scares and plenty of blood, guts and gore. I had a fun time watching it and I think the majority of horror fans will enjoy this one as well."
- The Horror Review
"With Laid to Rest he's delivered a movie that is a masterpiece of mayhem and carnage. It's wall-to-wall blood, grue, and good times! Highly recommended!"
- Dread Central
"Hall pulls out all the stops on what has got to be one of the most violent slasher films in decades. Make no mistakes about it; if you?re looking for cutting edge (literally) brutality then look no further than Rob Hall and his team at Almost Human. These guys are killing it on screen. I almost needed a shower after I was done watching every blood soaked frame of this film."
- Bloody-Disgusting
"Even if the slightly artsy stuff doesn't thrill you, you can take comfort in the fact that Laid to Rest is actually pretty creepy. And quite impressively gory."
- FEARnet
"Laid to Rest is a wild ride from start to finish. Delivering more than enough gore to satisfy genre fans and with Hall continuing to show a real talent behind the camera, it represents the kind of visceral thrills which have sadly only too often been missing in horror films of recent years."
- Beyond Hollywood
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