Salutations my screechers, screamers, and scary dreamers,
Tonight’s tale of terror entitled “Burying the Ex” sees a suddenly slayed girlfriend getting out of the grave to stay with her still surviving mate. Matters are made worse when she discovers he’s dating.
The idea seemed to promise a good deal more than what this film had in store, but even with nothing new on the table the characters still made this enjoyable. I have to give this a bit of praise for not packing the roles full of cliches and giving the leads a bit of weight which helped me to better relate. In fact intially I felt sort of bad as our villain’s backstory was pretty sad which painted her in shades of gray even after she began to decay.
Now we get to the real meat as the practical effects are a treat and the makeup also adds a lot as we watch Evelyn start to rot. Those on the squeamish side should know that this movie contains vomiting, neck snapping, and the consumption brains none of which were computer generated so they pack all the punch of effects that were practically created. To be honest, there were not a whole lot of special effects so I imagine this was one of Dante’s lower budget projects, but even though this seems made on a smaller scale what they had perfectly complemented the tale.
The cast was another indication that this was made on a modest allocation since there were only four leads which, to be fair, met the story’s needs. The men turn in performances that are fine but the women of this picture both shine, transforming characters that are a bit conventional into people that feel three dimensional. Since the ladies turn in such stellar work it made the lead actor seem like a bit of a jerk as his character leads them on in different ways and he plays it like he is in a daze. By the end he seems more on his game so the funk may have been part of the aim, but even when he finally becomes a fighter both of the women still shine much brighter.
Story/Concept: 1
Direction/Style: 2
Scares: 0
Atmosphere: 1
Rewatchability: 2
TOTAL: 6/10
In conclusion, while the horror aspects are fairly thin the name Joe Dante drew me in and though this may not be a break through there is enough here to warrant a view.
Stick to the shadows my fine friends.
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