The Gravedancers (2006)

Director:

Mike Mendez

Writers (WGA):

Brad Keene (written by) &
Chris Skinner (written by)

Release Date:

27 August 2008 (Philippines)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Unrest In Peace

Plot:

After a night of drunken exploits, Allison, Harris, and Kira are chased and terrorized by the ghosts of a child pyromaniac, an ax murderer, and a rapist.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Curse | Rapist | Cemetery | Tombstone

Cast

Dominic Purcell	...	Harris McKay
Josie Maran	...	Kira Hayden
Clare Kramer	...	Allison Mitchell
Marcus Thomas	...	Sid Vance
Tchéky Karyo	...	Vincent Cochet
Megahn Perry	...	Frances Culpepper
Martha Holland	...	Emma
Oakley Stevenson	...	Haunted Woman
Samantha MacIvor	...	Nurse Jenny (as Samantha Twyford MacIvor)
Jack Mulcahy	...	Police Officer #1
Jim McKeny	...	Doctor
Geneva Avarett-Short	...	Nurse Brolin (as Geneva E. Averett-Short)
Bob McHone	...	Priest

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence/terror and some language.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Germany:16 | Australia:MA (2008) | Netherlands:16 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Finland:K-18 (self applied)

Filming Locations:

Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Code Entertainment

Trivia:

The character of Vincent was originally written as a college student but re-written when for Tchéky Karyo.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): After being attacked in the hospital, Kira is visited by her two friends. When they go into her room, she is sitting on her hospital bed smoking a cigarette. There's no smoking in any U.S. hospital.

Quotes:

Sid Vance: I'm not going anywhere unless something is chasing me.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Spider-Man 2 (2004)

horror fest

Mike Mendez's follow up to his kick butt movie The Convent is a mixed bag of tricks. some work, some don't. Gravedancers tells the creative and original story of a group of friends reunited by a funeral. On the night of the occasion they get drunk and accidentally dance on some graves releasing the evil spirits in the wrong side of the cemetery. The spirits of a rapist/murderer, a pyre maniac and another murderer. The friends are haunted by these ghosts according to the curse for a month. And as the month comes to a close the paranormal attacks become stronger and stronger as the ghosts try to take the people with them. It's an intriguing concept and much fun is to be had with it. The performances are all decent, the story is creative and the movie is a little slow at the start but is wildly inventive and macabre once it gets going. Everything in the film is done with a winking eye so you can appreciate the film without feeling to guilty about it. The makeup is cartooned and freaky while the cgi is a little fake looking but an understandable necessity with a low budget especially in a film of this caliber. My main gripes however don't come with the film, it's more with the way it was released. You know i didn't mind shelling out 9.50 for this movie but I'm mad as heck that the film's sound transfer was messed up and sounded mono, and the film quality was amateur looking. It wasn't even fine tuned or polished by After Dark. what could've been delightfully freakish come across humorously because of the films lighting. It's dreadfully bright which kind of kills the suspense of a horror flick. The film looks like a rough cut and should have been really touched up before getting a theatrical release. Because they had a good product but ruined it with no effort at all. This doesn't bode well for their film company or the continuing success of a festival of this sorts. But in conclusion I would just like to say although not on the par of a worthy theatrical release this is definitely worth a look on DVD.