The Gravedancers (2006)

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.

Director:

Mike Mendez

Writers:

Brad Keene, Chris Skinner

Stars:

Dominic Purcell, Clare Kramer, Josie Maran

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

After the funeral of a old friend who died in a car accident, former school friends Harris, Kira, and Sid break into the local cemetery after dark, and after Sid reads a mysterious incantation he finds on one of the nearby tombstones, they dance on the graves. Soon, the three of them find themselves haunted by three different ghosts whose graves they desecrated. Harris and his wife Allison find themselves haunted by a deranged female pianist/ax murderer. Sid gets haunted by a child pyromaniac. And Kira haunted by a sadistic rapist. All of them turn to a paranormal investigator named Vincent Cochet and his assistant Frances to try to help them break the curse they imposed on themselves before the next full moon when they will be killed by the ghosts' wrath.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | ghost | rapist | curse | cemetery | 

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Taglines:

Respect the Dead

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong horror violence/terror and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 August 2008 (Philippines)

Also Known As:

Carta para a Morte

Filming Locations:

Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Code Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tchéky Karyo's final line in the film was improvised.

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Goofs

At the end of the movie, the main characters escape the building inside which they have been trapped at what is supposed to be early dawn according to the storyline. However, the angle of the sun and shadows show that this scene was filmed closer to midday.

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Quotes

Sid Vance: You just can't find good paranormal help, these days.

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Alternate Versions

There is a DVD release of this movie, released in 2005, running 3 minutes longer than the latest AfterDark Horrorfest DVD edition released in 2007.

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Connections

References The Entity (1982)

User Reviews

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.