Reviews & Ratings for
The Gravedancers More at IMDbPro »

Page 9 of 13:

[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Bad Script... Bad Direction ... Bad Editing, 9 June 2010

Author: boyd1955 from London

The cast tries its best ... But nothing can save this amusing idea from being wrecked by the usual failures of modern horror films ... The directors are clueless ... The editors haven't got a clue ... And I can't actually believe that a script writer was involved at all Why is it that nearly all these horror films in the last 5 years or so suffer from all the same problems ... There is only one answer ... The new generation of film makers are cretins : ) There's no getting away from it ... Nearly all young film makers are clueless beyond belief ... They've obviously grown up on television and the idea of putting any depth or complexity of character or storyline is beyond them ... A sad sad state of affairs

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Has its moments, but also its drawbacks., 25 December 2009

Author: moviesleuth2

When it comes to horror movies, I'm not very demanding. It probably helps that I'm spooked pretty easily. Rating a horror movie is never done in the way one rates "serious fare," such as "Atonement," or "Casablanca," which is another reason. The rules that govern movies such as my given examples do not apply to the horror genre. That being said, horror movies have to deliver the goods that they promise. "The Gravedancers," one of the "8 Films to Die For" in the 2006 AfterDark HorrorFest, contains some spooky and freaky moments, but it is by no means an unqualified success.

After the funeral of one of their college friends, Harris (Dominic Purcell), Sid (Marcus Thomas) and Kyra (Josie Maran) find a note amongst the flowers with a poem telling the to "celebrate life." To that end, they dance on some graves (all three of them are completely wasted at this point). Unbeknownst to them, they have subjected themselves to a curse by the graves they danced on, which include: a pyromaniac, a murdering adulteress, and a sadist. They seek the help of a pair of parapsychologists, Vincent Cochet (Tcheky Karyo) and Frances Culpepper (Megahn Perry) to help them survive.

Acting is never a definitive requisite for horror movies. Protagonists usually take the form of the "average guy," and this makes less interesting (this doesn't just apply to horror movies; most movies that have "average guy" characters as leads suffer from this problem). Additionally, most horror movie villains don't talk, which eliminates this problem (although there are exceptions). Therefore, acting ability only matters so far as we can care about their fate, or failing that, they aren't so annoying/badly acted that we actively wish for them to die (women have an additional requirement: good looks and the ability to belt out a great scream). The acting in "The Gravedancers" is on the lesser side of the in between. Dominic Purcell is so low-key that he's just dull, and his cursed co-stars don't fare much better. Tcheky Karyo is an interesting character actor in his own right, and would seem to be right at home in his role as the wannabe Ghostbuster. Sadly though, it is immediately clear that he does not want to be a part of this film, and plays his role as if he were forced to do it. The bright spot in terms of acting is Meghan Perry, who is delightful as the somewhat sassy and sarcastic Frances.

The most important part of creating an effective horror movie is generating an ominous atmosphere and properly pacing the story. Director Mike Mendez tries to do both, but fails. He lays the atmosphere on thickly, but it isn't effective. The first part of the film is poorly paced, and that is the film's biggest flaw. In order to generate tension, it must be built slowly. Even the all-out action thrillers like "The Descent" or "Aliens" (which was a sequel, so audiences were already freaked out by the aliens before they walked into the theater) had a starting point for the thrills. "The Gravedancers" doesn't do that. It skips the build-up and goes straight for the scares. Pacing issues are resolved one Vincent and Frances enter the picture, but suffice it to say, the film doesn't get off to a good start. Worse, he uses some quick cuts to "build tension" in some scenes, but thankfully, he doesn't do it often, and never during the action scenes (which begs the question why he would do it in the first place...) Although it's not a classic, it's watchable and contains a few good spooky moments. If anything, it's a outlet for those who like their horror violent, and with actual blood.

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
The Dead Don't Like Dancing and Bad Poetry, 12 October 2009

Author: ThornIs from Canada

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I admit I haven't seen too many of the "8 Movies to Die For" and overall, from the three I've seen, I have not been that impressed. On one hand I kind of like the idea of rehashing some old school horror for the general public, but on the other I felt there's been something missing.

I really tried liking Gravedancers, mainly cause I love ghost stories and this film actually has some pretty good stuff in it.

After a friend's funeral our main characters find a card on the tomb containing a bad poem. Apparently they're just partying next to the grave late at night, or something. I didn't find they seemed that distressed over his loss. Many he was jerk or something? Who knows.. so they do a dance on a few graves, read the poem (which sounds like a spell from Sabrina the Teenage Witch) and end up waking a few spirits, who were all mental patients before they died, of course. You know standard stuff.

There is a lot of effects, and many of them are well done, considering the budget. They are well executed, well placed and even the CG isn't too bad (from me that's saying something). The ghosts look spooky and there's some good atmosphere. It's a very formulaic film, contrary to other reviews I've read. I was able to predict pretty much every death, every jump scare and even the who will be standing at the end of the movie. But that in itself is not a bad thing. Many horror films are formulaic and still good. Sometimes it's that familiarity that gives some horror movies that level of comfort you need to find them entertaining.

Like I said I tried to like this film. I just hated the characters, and if you don't like the characters in a ghost story your attention begins to wane. It's not like the acting is bad either. Lets put it this way, "there is even a love triangle in the plot". Like come on. Maybe I'm too insensitive about these things, but I just didn't care. I must admit I didn't mind the heroine till she started to act like every other heroine in a modern western horror movie, and the hero just was there. The film could have killed him off on the first scene I would have not even have noticed.

I had other minor complaints, but most of them stems from the characters. If you can't stand the character, or don't care about them, then you start looking for things to hate. It's also not creepy, which for me, a good ghost story should be.

It is exiting, and it never really dragged. There is something to like here. It's one of those, "I didn't like it, but you might" movies. I give it 2 bad poems out of 5.

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Who writes this tripe?, 4 August 2009

Author: bytemovies from Canada

Okay, lets start with the good:

The acting is passable. In fact, I laud the actors here for decently portraying such stupid, cut and paste characters. For the most part, the main three characters do a good job with their respective roles, with the "other two" being much more terrible.

The cinematography. The work done on the visual aspect of the movie as well as the effects are laudable. While mainly somewhat cheesy and very obviously low budget, many times they do a very good job in covering up that fact. In fact, many scenes were enviable of much better budget movies, and I appreciated that

The audio, while decent, was far from great. It was there enough to not be dismissible, but it felt very lacking. It had little to no impact except for maybe one or two scenes.

Now for the bad:

My biggest problem had to be the story. Forget the plot holes galore, forget the ridiculous premise, forget the terrible, terrible characters and their unremarkable lines. No, the biggest part was the entire movie. For an entire hour and a half, you are visually and verbally assaulted with the most ridiculous, phoned-in plot you have ever experienced. Yeah, there's some half baked subplot with the friends, but the overall main story is absolutely bad to the bone. This movie may just make you cry after all.

The audio. Incredibly bad and clichéd at times. Such a mixed bag.

Watch it if you just want some decent, mindless scares, but beware, the truly terrifying part of this movie is the story.

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Suspenseful and good effects despite a probably-low budget,, 27 May 2009

Author: Lawson from Singapore

A surprisingly-good B horror about three idiots who unintentionally desecrate three graves by dancing of them and are thus haunted by the three criminally-insane individuals they belong too. Much credit to the director, Mike Mendez, who manages to create suspense - a rare achievement nowadays - and good special effects for the spooks and scares despite a probably-low budget.

It really makes one think: if the ghosts could look so good on a low budget, why aren't they as such in other B horrors? Is it just the skill of special effects people? Or does some of the credit go to the director as well? It would explain it if the latter, since anyone with vague directorial skills seems to be able to get a horror movie released nowadays.

The more I think about the movie the more I like it, though it's probably because it plays to some my biases. I'm inclined to favor suspense, minimal gore, and spooks that are criminally-insane, though only if they have interesting background stories. It's probably why I really liked Session 9 too, despite most other people finding it too slow.

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Fairly Entertaining Cheesy Horror Crap, 6 April 2009

Author: cheshire551225800 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I wouldn't pay to see this movie, but I watched it on TV. By the way I loved the comment someone made here that only blonde women tend to live in horror movies even when the dark haired girls are smarter or something. There is apparently a Nazi plot, hey that would make a good horror movie.

The acting was O.K. and they had a better cast than I would have thought for your basic cheesy horror crap movie like this one. I guess Kramer and Keryio (or however you spell it) needed the work, but hey that is o.k. too. A lot of good actors have done their fair share of crap when their star fell a bit (Sean Connery did the horrifically bad "Highlander II" and HE has an Oscar). Don't forget Keryio was in the original Luc Besson film "La Femme Nikita".

Really Truly terrifying movies are few and far between so I don't expect much just some halfway decent entertainment and anyway this one is better than stinkers like "Unrest" where they get wrong which continent the evil Aztecs were supposed to live on or "Darkness Falls" with the Evil Tooth Fairy villainess.

Someone here thought it was crazy that the "bad" people would be buried together in one part of the cemetery, but, historically Catholic/Church of England cemeteries often excluded those who died outside of a state of grace to be buried on holy ground so I guess I don't have a problem with the concept of "undesirables" being buried together in a special non-blessed part of the cemetery. Concepts like those are hard for our modern sense of fair-play to understand but I believe suicides are still buried in a special non-sanctified part of some cemeteries.

If people are going to object to something in a movie, perhaps they should know their history before doing so, in this case, the writer was correct. Anyhoo, not horrible, but just the same I wouldn't pay to see this.

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Good times ahead, 23 October 2008

Author: dorotka24 from United States

I have been pleased so far with just about every offering from the "After Dark Horrorfest" series of horror movies, and "Gravedancers" is no exception. Three friends mourn the loss of a fourth friend by having a final party graveside. Things turn sour after they recite a mysterious letter and begin to dance on random graves.

The film actually starts off with what were my only criticisms, namely the characterizations and the premise. The three friends did not have very good chemistry together and it was difficult for me to buy that they were all old buddies that used to be very tight. Life had changed since their college days, but I still felt they should have shared a better dynamic. Then there was the premise, which felt a bit contrived, of hanging out at a graveyard and having a party that sets the stage for the rest of the movie.

Once I got past these minor issues, I was taken on a pretty wild horror ride for the rest of the running time. Although the premise was a little hard to swallow (well, it IS a horror movie after all!), it was most certainly unique and eventually segued into a fantastic and interesting back story that wound up being about my favorite part of the experience.

There were some genuinely potent scares served up, some of which took me by surprise. The stylized look of the ghouls/ghosts I found to be very effective as well. I also relished the side characters, particularly the great Tcheky Karyo as an experienced parapsychologist.

All in all, then, Gravedancers was a great horror entry with chills, scares, and fine acting. If you are looking for a great movie time this Halloween, then here's the ticket.

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Once the ghosts show up this film is a great ride, 2 September 2008

Author: dbborroughs from Glen Cove, New York

Three friends who are saluting a dead friend dance in a cemetery and across the grave of three people who's spirits come to haunt them...and try to kill them.

It takes a while for things to get going but once the monsters show up this movie suddenly starts to fire on all cylinders thanks to some really good effects work. The ghosts that appear are scary and will send chills up and down your spine. More a creepy popcorn film then full out scary film (I didn't feel a huge amount of tension just a great deal of unease) its great special effects are what sets this film a part. Its good stuff and a great deal of fun.

Its a perfect film to watch with say the Frighteners.

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A decent homage to Poltergeist movies, 26 July 2008

Author: siderite from Romania

This is a very decent horror movie. The rather linear and passive way of looking at it made me not rate it above average. In both story and directions (as well as special effects, I might add), the film felt like another from the Poltergeist series.

Basic storyline: some live guys peace off (and on) some dead guys. The latter struggle to bring the first to a common point of view. From this great example of miscommunication, horror ensues.

I would say that the script could have been better, as well as the acting of most people. Except Tchéky Karyo, who probably has to make an effort to play badly. His character was sadly underdeveloped, I believe it could have added a much needed touch of humorous empathy to the film.

Bottom line: one of the better horror movies of late, but not great.

0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Better than it should be, 28 June 2008

Author: tawdry_hepburn from United States

All the crap that After Dark has put me through is officially forgiven. Seriously, all the atrocious marketing BS and even worse movies (Dark Ride, here's looking at you) are officially forgiven in light of "The Gravedancers." The movie is that good.

It's hard to make an effective and scary ghost story. So many have already been done and the whole genre feels tired. Even the gimmickry of exotic Asian takes on the genre is beginning to fade. One needs look no farther than this years sole major release ghost story, "Dead Silence" to see how dire the situation has gotten.

But somehow Mike Mendez has taken a tired conceit and knocked it out of the park.

"The Gravedancers" tells the story of three friends who sneak into a cemetery after a friend's funeral. While there they find a mysterious and poetic letter that tells them to dance in the hallowed ground. They do so and soon discover they have placed a curse on themselves to be haunted by the ghosts whose graves they defaced. Of course, this being a horror film, they were dancing in the section of the cemetery reserved for "undesirables." The characters in "The Gravedancers" are all well drawn and filled out by the actors and the ghosts are each iconic with unique back stories. Also, the characters act like real people. They look for help and make intelligent decisions. This grounding in reality allows the film to really go off the deep end in its final reel without leaving the audience feeling insulted.

Though one matricidal phantom seems a bit too much of a coincidence haunting the married couple, the film rarely strains credulity and manages to wrap up almost all of its plot lines into one fulfilling arc. Characters die in surprising ways and the gore, though minimal, is done excellently by the team behind "Hellboy." And then there are the scares. I don't scare easy. I've seen hundreds and hundreds of horror flicks and I've taken enough film theory classes in college to know structurally when the jump scenes are coming, but Mendez flips the script and managed to make me squirm with tension and even surprised me more than once. There is one scene with a character waking up in bed that ranks amongst the most unsettling things I've ever seen.

Sadly, the ghost makeup is too cartoony to be effective when seen for any length of time and the film's micro-budget leaves the grand finale awash in sub-par effects that detract from an otherwise exceptional whole. But, because the 80 minutes leading up to the finale are so strong, the audience can easily forgive these short comings.

Page 9 of 13:

[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Add another review

Related Links