The Gravedancers (2006)

After a drunken wake, old pals Harris (Dominic Purcell), Sid (Marcus Thomas) and Kira (Josie Maran) pay a night-time visit to the grave of a recently deceased friend where they discover a mourner's card advocating 'living for the moment' by dancing on the graves of the dead. The trio decide to do just that, but of all of the plots in the cemetery, they opt to cut the rug on the graves of three rather particularly wicked souls, a child pyromaniac, an axe murderer, and a sadomasochistic rapist, all of whom take serious offence at the desecration of their final resting places.The Gravedancers starts out in routine ghost-story fashion, with its scary supernatural occurrences taking the predictable form of creaking doors, strange noises, and the occasional, briefly-glimpsed spectral apparition; 'Ho-hum', I thought to myself, 'here we go again'. But as the film developed, it took a delightfully unexpected turn, taking an approach that I can only describe as 'Scooby Doo' for adults, with its well realised spooks and the introduction of a pair of 'ghostbusters' (Tchéky Karyo as paranormal investigator Vincent, and Megahn Perry as his sexy Velma-alike colleague Frances).From here-on in, the film is loads of fun, with a hugely entertaining scene in the cemetery where the friends attempt to exhume the ghosts' corpses (during which Kira is trapped inside a coffin and slowly dragged into the ground), a really creepy bit where the friends are drawn into the killers' virtual worlds (the rapists lair being particularly spooky), and an exciting showdown against the spirits in an old mansion. Director Mike Mendez unwisely resorts to a glut of CGI effects for his film's OTT finale, an unnecessary move that ends matters on something of a bum note, but even so, I reckon the film is still well worth a rating of 8/10.

I like horror movies with a preference toward haunted house movie and old school horror, and I like this movie... up to a point. The premise: three friends get drunk after a funeral and dance at the cemetery on graves in the area for the deranged. Afterwards, they become haunted by the psychos over whose bodies they danced. Why? Because a mysterious person left behind a chant which they... just happened to announce out loud. The premise is good, but the why is contrived. The story is scary, the ghosts are casual and the chain of events is preposterous as is the ghost hunters who risk their safety to help them. It is very hard for me to believe that the parapsychologist in the movie would go to such extreme ways and such a leap of faith to dig up some graves and follow a ridiculous mystical ritual instead of just tracking down the person who left the note that starts everything off. What? Did he get his degree out of a box of Crackerjacks? Besides that, several of the ghost sequences are scary, but the climax is a bit anticlimactic. Paranormal accuracy is out the window for sake of story, but the movie is a "worth-see" if you want good to uneven scares.

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.

**SPOILERS** After the funeral of a man three of his buddies--Harris (Dominic Purcell), Kira (Josie Maren) and Sid (Marcus Thomas)--get drunk and dance on some graves in a graveyard late at night. It turns out they unwittingly resurrected some evil ghosts who go after the people who disturbed them.This was barely released back in 2006 but it actually isn't half bad. The bad points are: the movie has those stupid jump scares; some of the acting is pretty bad; it has a totally pointless beginning (which the director rightly protested) and a frustrating ending. The good: there are likable characters; there's some good acting; the story sounds far-fetched but they put it across and it has some VERY scary moments. The ghosts aren't actually even seen till the end and believe me--they are frightening! There are three horrific standouts here: the first view of the ghost in Harris' bed, a sequence in a graveyard halfway through and the all out assault at the end. The special effects are excellent and it truly scared me--there aren't many films I can say that about! Some bad acting by Purcell (who can be good) lessens the full effect but everybody else is pretty good (especially Clare Kramer as Harris' wife). So a good strong ghost movie. Turn off all the lights and pop this into the DVD player! I give it a 7.