Movies
Beyond The Grave
*Reviewed by Lauren Taylor*
Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro’s Beyond the Grave aka Porto dos Mortos is not a zombie movie. Hell, it’s not even really a horror movie. What it is is a movie full of references that only film buffs will truly get. And by film buffs, I don’t mean those people from almost 20 years ago that thought Tarantino was so cool that they began to watch and worship everything he liked – and then, in turn, became douchebags, thinking anyone who didn’t see those films, and understand references to said films, were complete losers. However, I’m afraid that’s where the cult following of this film may begin.
Let me take a step back. I understand and respect where Beyond the Grave is coming from. The idea that it creates this ambiance around it that reminds me of when I was 16 and working at the local video store – trying to appear ‘cool’ to the failed filmmakers that worked there – actually makes me smile. There are so many references – from Fulci’s The Beyond to Stephen King’s character Randall Flagg– that their obscurity to an everyday person makes it easy to argue they are just the filmmaker’s homage to the things he loves. They are not put there to be cool.
My first thought was the film was El Mariachi meets “The Dark Tower” series. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, The Officer is on the hunt for a possessed serial killer – The Dark Rider – a storyline that is hard to decipher if you aren’t paying close attention to every detail thrown at you. Along the way he meets a pair of teenage lovers, a pregnant lady, and more. There are some zombies mulling about, too.
From the opening sequence of The Officer gunning down some crooks in their hideout, the cinematography grabbed me. Silhouettes on walls framed out just perfectly were only the start; the film itself is incredibly well shot in general. Add in some choice music – edited again in a way that hits hard – and the film flows in such a manner that indeed makes it memorable. Perhaps having to read along at the same time as trying to capture every detail of the imagery killed part of the experience for me. I found myself confused as to exactly what was happening – especially with the main plot of The Dark Rider. Throughout the movie, the dialogue of a radio DJ cannot be ignored. In the end, it made complete sense what was heard at the beginning of the film.
Overlooking obscure references and other elements lost in translation, Beyond the Grave is an art house film that won’t exactly change your life, but will culture those who watch it.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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