Sleep in Heavenly Peace (2007)

It's the day before Christmas and Calvin Jackson has a problem: dig a proper grave in the frozen ground for his family's dead dog...or risk the wrath of his wife. But when Calvin starts up ... See full summary »

Director:

Jeffrey McMahon

Writer:

Jeffrey McMahon

Stars:

Bowd Beal, Don Hany, Brandon Killham

Cast

Credited cast:
Bowd Beal	...	Calvin Jackson
Don Hany	...	Trent Partridge
Brandon Killham	...	Tommy Jackson
David F. Park	...	Mitch
Andrew Ross Wynn	...	Ricky
Anastasia Zavaro	...	Teresa Jackson

Storyline

It's the day before Christmas and Calvin Jackson has a problem: dig a proper grave in the frozen ground for his family's dead dog...or risk the wrath of his wife. But when Calvin starts up his high-powered drill, he unleashes a chain of events that go from bad to worse.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | snow | satire | religion | near death experience | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy | Horror | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 August 2007 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Inyo National Forest, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

University of Southern California (USC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

16 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Dark comedy shows real potential

This sick comedy of errors and accidents takes a real-life incident and turns it on its ear. It's the sort of story (involving a grisly accident and a desperate survival attempt) that could be -- and probably has been -- turned into a treacly, uplifting TV movie; but the execution here may remind you of the Black Knight Sequence in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It would seem far-fetched if something very much like it hadn't actually occurred and been well-documented.

Production values are surprisingly decent (props include an ambulance and giant drill-thingy), makeup effects are sufficient to pull off the necessary illusions, and the acting ranges from competent to very good. Fortunately, the best performance is by the actor who's on screen for the entire runtime. This guy's a trouper, and pulls off a couple of pratfalls Bruce Campbell would be proud of.

(This is not some over-the-top, "splatstick" gorefest, by the way, contrary to another reviewer's comments. You'd see more grue on the average CSI episode, and the humor here is mostly derived from the situation rather than spurting karo syrup.) Good score and nice crisp cinematography, particularly for the outdoor scenes.

The ending threw me at first; I expected a final capper, some kind of dark joke to top the previous ones, maybe an E. C. comics sort of twist. The actual conclusion is more subtle. It struck me as ambiguously bleak, and goes for pathos and irony rather than an in-your-face "gotcha." On those terms, it works quite well.

Good, economical visual style, great use of real snowy locations and some laugh-out-loud funny moments (watch out for that fence!) make this one worth your time. I'll be keeping an eye on Mr. McMahon.