Customer Reviews

The Graveyard

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Truth be told, "The Graveyard" is better than it deserves to be. Keep in mind that I just popped this slasher film in after watching a truly dreadful slasher concoction called "Motor Home Massacre" so keep in mind that I may just be numb.
That said, the film offered a rather shaky introduction... a group of teenagers get together for a "hide and seek" game in... shock of shocks, a graveyard. One of them ends up dead after a prank careens out of control.
Five years later, Bobby is getting out of prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter and his friends have a trip to the nearby campground that borders the graveyard as a sort of gathering to mend the past and try to get closure. Of course... someone else has other plans.
This film plays like a typical slasher film... complete with characters doing ridiculously dumb things. for example, one victim when confronted by the killer runs away from the camp where her friends are and that dumb act alone seals her fate. Still, stupidity aside, the characters are dealt a pretty interesting twist about 3/4 through and while the viewer won't be thrown off the scent... it is understandable why the remaining survivors would be.
There is pretty decent gore in this film... although a couple of kills could have been more origional. The shower kill for example was a wasted moment where nudity and gore could have met... but didn't. The acting was oddly decent considering the type of film and the fact that it is direct to DVD release and the story, while nothing to get all Shayamalan about... is fairly ok. Throw in an oddball Sherriff and you have the makings of a slasher flick that could at least provide some cool popcorn chatter during a get together on Halloween. Also, the movie picture is crisp and clear... unlike other direct to DVD entries into this genre. Of course, this little slasher number could have been better... I would opt for a better opener and a different twist on some of the lame kills... but it could have been a whole lot worse too.

This movie didn't have enough character to be bad. It was merely boring, predictable, and by the numbers. For one thing, it's only called The Graveyard because that's an interesting title; for another, it's set in---get this-----a summer camp. At night. With a killer on the loose. You have horny twenty-somethings, a nude scene---with a woman and not a man nude, by the way---and a shower scene with still more nudity. The characters have no discernable characters, and the only thing that was missing was a hockey mask. It's like the director and writer didn't even put any effort into it all. Oh, yeah, and there was a bunch of running and yelling and a stupid cop and misdirection and....stuff, none of which made much of an impression at all.

Once upon a time a group of high school campers decided to pull a prank on one of their number in a graveyard when they were playing "run for your life," which is basically hide and go seek for drunken teenagers. The prank worked so well that he ended up dead, which was bad, but at least we understood why this film took all that time introducing the cast by having them go through a hole in an iron gate in supposedly interesting ways. Five years later we learn that despite their collective guilt, only Bobby (Patrick Scott Lewis), the kid behind the mask, was charged, convicted and imprisoned for the death. Bobby gets paroled and Michelle (Lindsay Ballew), takes him back to the place where it all happened so they can be killed by somebody in mask.

Okay, so that is not the real reason that everybody gets together for the first time since the tragedy, but it might as well be. This seems hardly a situation conducive to having a good time, let alone sex, but you know how these splatter flicks go. I have to say my main thought while watching this film was that I miss tan lines. That is because every time one of the young women in this film ends up naked I was struck by their tans. There is something odd about naked women being so tan in scenes shot at night since I tend to associate tanning with sunshine. But I also recall the old days, when women had tan lines and seeing them was something special, especially in the real world where there was an effort to make them go away. After all, this was something a woman did not want you to see, so like all such things, it made it worth seeing. Tan lines are sexy. Totally naked women, not so much.

Despite the ample red herrings, you should know who the killer is and why (actually "why" gives you "who"). We are talking strictly 1980s slasher cinema here, although the cinematography by Hank Baumert Jr. (winner of the Festival Prize for Best Cinematography at the 2003 Hollywood MiniDV Festival for "The Good Book"), is vastly superior to anything from that actual era. Too bad the story and acting are not up to the camera work. There is more gore than nudity, which is how it should be, and the only character who really stands out is the local sheriff (Sam Bologna) who still manages to fall asleep despite finding decapitated heads and an ex-con on parole. I have a rule about only giving splatter flicks only one star, and this film is not that bad and I actually got one good laugh on it (on the line, "Seriously...look under the bed").

My understanding is that "The Graveyard" was originally supposed to be "Bloody Murder 3," a series of camp slasher flicks that got off to a bad start with the original, gave significant signs of hope, and then went back to a lack of imagination for this offering. The common denominator is Camp Placid Pines for what little that is worth (Hey, boys and girls, how many serial killers does it take to close a summer camp?). There is a good horror film to be made in a graveyard, but this 2006 direct to video offering would not be it. So "Pet Sematary" would still be at the head of that small class.

There really is no point to this movie. I mean there is absolutly nothing original to this movie, no surprise there, and i guess a movie doesn't have to be super original to be a good popcorn flick, most movies are rehashes off other movies now adays. But atleast it should have some inovation added to it. This movie is like artificial powdered milk, a rehash of a rehash...oh I guess I could go on for days, but I'll just finish with why watch this when there are a million rehashed horror movies done a million times better.

I rented this DVD and actually really enjoyed the first 30 minutes. The title is misleading as the graveyard is only a backdrop for a sleep-away camp type slasher flick. The characters for the most part are good and the suspense level is more than expected for the first 45 minutes, but then it drops off quick. The killer is known almost immidiately and a few characters never really fit into the plot. Overall, this is no classic, but fits the general mold of 80's slasher flick done 20 years past it time...

1st 10 minutes were all right but it went to nothing but a waste of my time after that!!!!!

AFTER THE GUY GETS OUT OF JAIL,ALL THE FRIENDS GO TO THE GRAVEYARD TO PUT THE PAST BEHIND THEM,AND MOVE ON.AFTER THEY'RE ALL THERE AWHILE-KILLINGS START.NOT TOO GORY.NOT TO MUCH TO SAY.IT'S JUST A REGULAR KILLER/HORROR MOVIE.THE FRIENDS SEE THE PEOPLE DEAD IN DIFFERENT PLACES,AND THEY WANT TO LEAVE.THEY CAN'T BECAUSE ALL THEIR CARS HAVE BEEN TOYED WITH.THE KILLER KNOWS THE GRAVEYARD VERY WELL.NO MATTER WHERE THE PEOPLE RUN-THE KILLER'S RIGHT THERE.A SURPRISE ENDING.

Well my title says everthing this movie was suposed to be bloody murder 3 but because this series of terrible horror movies was so trashed and got such a bad reputation the makers decided that they will .......... * stop production ? * .......... NO ........ they will keep the movie as it is but CHANGE the TITLE ........ OK ....... that solves everthing , this movie is like the other bloody muder films ....... low budget , bad actors , full of cliches , bad script ,and so on ....... DO NOT rent this movie , DO NOT buy this movie if you see this title anywere RUN AWAY fast .

It is called The Graveyard because it the first scene opens in a graveyard where the crime is committed. The following scenes take place in a summer camp and then the movie's final scene close in graveyard where the story trys to come together and end there. There are quite a few big bloopers out in this movie that I cannot believe went by the editting staff. One of the biggest examples is when the cop got knocked over, hit his head on the tombstone, shot and dropped his gun and he was suddenly gone. Not too mention a few others. I seen better acting in Night of The Living Dead zombies than I did in this movie. Most of the script was well written but was ruined by the bad acting.

Seven friends play a cruel joke on a friend in a graveyard and he dies. Years later one of his family members starts killing them off. Cliche, but not bad for low budget.