Dead Mary (2007) (V)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Robert Wilson

Writers:

Peter Sheldrick (writer)
Christopher Warre Smets (writer)

Release Date:

20 February 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

You always hurt the ones you love.

Plot:

Kim and her boyfriend Matt have just broken up, but they travel together to a cottage nearby a lake to spend the weekend with their friends Eve...

Plot Keywords:

Tied Up | Blood | Possession | Supernatural | Secluded Cabin

Cast

Dominique Swain	...	Kim
Marie-Josée Colburn	...	Eve
Steven McCarthy	...	Baker (as Steve McCarthy)
Maggie Castle	...	Lily
Michael Majeski	...	Dash
Reagan Pasternak	...	Amber
Jefferson Brown	...	Matt

Runtime:

USA:103 min | Argentina:103 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | South Korea:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:MA (unrated version) | Italy:VM14

Filming Locations:

Cedar Point, Tiny Township, Ontario, Canada

Company:

235 Films

Trivia:

The script originally featured an actual Bloody Mary who, when summoned by the mirror game, rose from the depths of the lake to murder the characters one by one. Director Robert Wilson decided that it would be more interesting if the evil force was never seen, but instead could manifest itself in any one of the old friends gathered at the cabin, thus making the film more a creepy paranoia piece and less a supernatural slasher film. However, many film websites still make reference to the film's original (and now incorrect) synopsis.

Goofs:

Continuity: As the girl (Amber) is about to burn her possessed boyfriend in the shed, she turns back in to the shed from the rain - from a face dripping with water to dry skin within a few seconds and proceeds to light a match taken from a box that was equally doused with heavy rain water moments before.

Quotes:

Dash: Hey Baker!
[punches him in the face]
Dash: What did that thing say about you and Amber?!!

Movie Connections:

References "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (1999/I)

Soundtrack:

Watching You Play

Is this a horror movie or a soap opera?

Alright, so I really wanted to prove the other comments wrong and write a review supporting this film. I assumed it was going to be somehow connected to the legend of Bloody Mary and that we were going to see a nice film based upon the well known urban legend. Sadly, this film not only mocks the previous mentioned legend, but also tricks the audience into seeing something that has nothing to do with either Bloody or Dead Mary. Exactly, the cover shows the image of a ghostly woman behind one of the characters, with a threatening attitude and it's a deception in a way, because even though the films deals with a supernatural "villain", the image we see in the cover, is just a way to give high hopes about something that never really appears throughout the entire film. As a matter of fact, "Dead Mary" in a way desperately tries to imitate "The Evil Dead", but the results are not even comparable, as it is expected. The idea of a group of friends going to a house in the middle of nowhere for vacations has been done several times before, but these friends, are possessed by an evil force that makes them act evil and kill each other as the movie goes. Does this ring any bells?. I don't know if I'm the only one, but this looks like an evident resemblance to Sam Raimi's masterpiece to me. In "The Evil Dead", the possession starts when the friends invoke the spirits after playing a tape and in this movie, the friends invoke the spirits after calling "Dead Mary" three times in front of the mirror. So yeah...it's a rip-off. Like I said before, I really wanted to like this film, in spite of the harsh reviews, but it seems like there's little to contradict. One of the things that annoyed me to death about it, besides the fact that the alleged villain never really shows up, is the fact that the film mostly focuses on the love relationships between the characters. Frankly, for a second I felt like I was watching the Halloween episode of "Dawson's Creek" or something. A horror movie is not supposed to focus on the "high school sweethearts" aspect so much. I'm not saying it should be all about evil spirits, murderers, zombies, vampires or whatever it is that they choose as a theme, but making 80% of the film about love relationships, betrayal, lies, ruptures and things related to couples, is completely out of place. Even the final lines are related to that and it was completely uncalled for.

If I have to point out the good things, I guess I have to say that even though this is a b-class horror flick, the photography was very well developed and it didn't have that inexpensive quality look that most people would expect in a b-class movie. For the contrary, the image looks really good and the shots are not nearly as unprofessional as I thought they would be. The movie is very well filmed and it didn't look like a low budget product. Unfortunately, good photography and mildly decent shots are not enough to save the film. God knows I tried to be positive, but I really didn't like "Dead Mary", due to the endless chats about love, that reminded of those obnoxious soap operas for teenagers. If you're in the mood for real horror, watch "The Evil Dead" again. Or even "Urban Legend 3: Bloody Mary", at least THAT movie is more related to the legend than this one.