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| Cheapskate Horrorshow |
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| The poster |
Though it is a modern horror
film, ISTD is a period film set in the Victorian era. The film opens on the execution day of grave
robbers Willie Grimes (Larry Fessenden) and his accomplice Arthur Blake
(Dominic Monaghan, he of Lost
fame). While Grimes is dispatched
quickly, Arthur is visited in his cell by one Father Duffy (Ron Perlman, doing
a scene-chewing Irish brogue) who wishes to record a statement from Arthur to
be used as a cautionary tale.
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| The scruffy pair, being scruffy |
Arthur recounts his career of
grave robbing with Willie, which begins in his youth and goes on to fruitful
but stagnant fulfillment under the continual threat of blackmail from Dr. Quint
(Angus “Tall Man” Scrimm of Phantasm
fame), who is using the pair to gain corpses for illegal medical study.
Things take a turn for the better when the
two dig up and release a vampire, which leads to the pair deciding to become supernatural-based grave robbers, a new
apprentice/love interest for Arthur, Fanny Briars (Brenda Cooney) and a confrontation
with a group of vicious grave robbers known as House Murphy, consisting of disfigured
assassin Valentine (Heather Bullock), insane enforcer Bulger (Alisdair Stewart)
and their brutal leader Cornelius (John Speredakos). Under orders from their unseen leader Samuel,
House Murphy tries to dissuade the Blake/Grimes team, leading to an eventual
confrontation over a shipment of crated undead… and things go mightily awry, because
zombies.
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| All in an evening's work |
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| The cast responds to news of a possible ISTD reboot |
I Sell The Dead is a fast-moving and funny movie which recalls the
days of Hammer Films’ period shockers, while at the same time being a loving
sendup of same. For a low-budget
B-picture, it seems to get the Victorian period right simply by not trying very
hard; all the sets, props and costuming have a good feel of hard use and
squalor rather than high polish. Sight
gags and anachronistic humor abound; one standout bit of dialogue in particular
involves Arthur’s sampling of a new invention called the sandwich (“it’s genius”). Monaghan and Fessenden are the perfect pair
of seedy but sympathetic rascals, and the assorted Murphy clan provide a nice
punch of comic-book villainy (helped in no small way by the use of comic-art illustrations
in their introductory scene). The DVD
even includes a mini-comic that tells the movie’s story, and special features
include commentaries with Monaghan, Fessenden and director McQuaid, plus visual
effects and making-of reels. Give this
one a try for Halloween viewing if you want something more modern yet still reminiscent
of horror’s gory-glory days.
Be sure to return for our next
installment of The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en
For Halloween, and don’t forget to tell the
others…
I Sell The Dead is available from Amazon.com and most video rental/online streaming services. Check it out.
