Customer Reviews

Laid to Rest (Unrated Director's Cut)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Okay, let's face it: If you're thinking about watching a horror movie in the slasher subcategory, you're not searching for a think-piece on the dangers of unresolved Oedipal complexes. You're not looking for a movie to challenge your way of thinking. You watch these movies for lots of killing, bad acting, and the plot, well...is there ever really a plot?

It'd be easy to say that Laid to Rest is another dime-a-dozen slasher movie, another entry into a misogynist genre that's been overdone since the late 1980's...but that would ignore the vast efforts put into it by the director, his wife, the cast, and the crew.

The Director: Robert Hall, owner of the special effects company Almost Human, made this film for two reasons. He wanted to make his first horror movie, and his wife needed her first starring role.

The Lead: Bobbi Sue Luther, to me, is known for her role in Star Trek: Enterprise as a green-skinned Orion Slave Girl. She's been in countless men's magazines, and even became the face of St. Pauli Girl beer in 2007. She also co-produced this movie.

The Film:

The movie starts off with a heavy metal riff, and we see an MTV-video style montage of young nubile women getting sliced up in various ways. We see events from the aspect of "The Girl", a young woman who wakes up in a coffin with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Over the course of this horrifying night she forms an alliance with two men, Tucker and Stephen, who do their best to protect her from our unrelenting antagonist, a killer known as Chrome Skull.

I was expecting a slaughter-fest, and I was not disappointed. Chrome Skull got to use a variety of weapons: a steel rod, a shotgun, tire sealant, and of course, his trademark brass knuckle knives. The most vicious kill in the film, by far, is the one against Lena Headey's character Cindy. I was COMPLETELY unprepared for her facial reaction...the knife twists in her temple, her mouth opens and her eyes dart about. As the knife comes out, her right eye is completely bloodshot. I'm used to special effects that cut away and take the cheap way out, but this put it right in my FACE. Bravo!

I got a case of the giggles whenever Chrome Skull came on screen - he looked like Timothy Olyphant from Hitman with a shoulder camera he borrowed from The Predator. That probably wasn't Robert Hall's intention, but it made Chrome Skull a memorable character for me, whether scary or not.

Some things irritated me during this movie, such as the editor's quick-cuts. I'd see a full segment of Chrome Skull killing someone, but if I blinked, I'd miss the 13 clips pasted together of him getting stabbed in the eye at the mortuary (yes, I counted). The dialogue from most of the characters was pretty bad, but then again, I wasn't expecting a David Mamet film.

The ending was a pleasant surprise, giving me some answers but begging more questions. Usually I keep my brain turned off during a slasher film but this one made me switch it on at the end. How diabolical of you, Robert Hall!

DVD Treatment: At the beginning of Laid to Rest, there are a few movie ads:

(1) Lightning Bug (Robert Hall's directorial debut)
(2) The Alphabet Killer (Directed by Rob Schmidt, who directed Wrong Turn)
(3) Crowley (Known as "Chemical Wedding" outside of the U.S.)
(4) Tokyo Zombie

How about them Extras? Well, there's a lot to be found here:

(1) Commentary track with Bobbi Sue Luther and her husband Robert Hall - Robert never tries to hide the fact that he's making a slasher film and doesn't try to build it up to be more than it is. The commentary focuses on him and his wife being able to make a movie with a core group of friends and a non-existent budget. I enjoyed hearing their stories about the use of "Smash! Plastic", the difficulties of a few interior window scenes, and the kindness of Cookie Moreland, among others. The bit about filming in houses with black mold was kind of creepy, though.

(2) The Making of Laid to Rest - We get a brief interview of each character in the movie, and several crew members. Everyone shares their serious and goofy sides while discussing the film. Thomas Dekker even got to compose some music!

(3) Torture Porn - the SFX of Laid to Rest - No, this isn't a segment about Eli Roth: the makeup effects supervisor is named Erik Porn. He showcases the creation of Chrome Skull, the bodies in the film, various head molds for special effects, and more.

(4) Deleted Scenes - I loved the intro with Nick Principe doing Roy Batty's speech from Blade Runner, but this could have gone in the bloopers section. There are only a couple of scenes here - nothing to write home about.

(5) Bloopers - A typical blooper reel, everyone looks like they're enjoying themselves and not getting frustrated.

(6) Trailer - The trailer that piqued my interest in this movie!

You might think independent horror movies are a waste of time, but remember: a filmmaker named Sam Raimi started out shooting low budget horror movies like The Evil Dead, and he's now making multi-million dollar movies about some teenager in Queens who got bit by a spider or something.

Laid to Rest gets 3 stars, but the efforts of everyone involved pushes it to 4.

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What Laid to Rest lacks in terms of coherent story, it more than makes up for with inventive kills and ingenious practical gore effects. Bobbi Sue Luther stars as an amnesiac girl who wakes up in a coffin, only to find herself hunted down by a chrome-skull-faced killer with a video camera strapped to his shoulder. Soon enough, she finds herself taken in by a kindly couple (Kevin Gage, Lena Headey) and naturally, the killer isn't far behind. There are cameos and small roles featuring genre stalwarts like Richard Lynch, Johnathon Schaech, and Headey's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles co-star Thomas Dekker, but what really makes Laid to Rest worthwhile is its no-holds barred attitude and fantastic gore effects that combine to make for some inventive and gross kills. Anchor Bay's DVD features are also worthwhile, including an interesting commentary from writer/director Robert Hall and Bobbi Sue Luther, who also co-produced the film; and a blooper reel that is actually funny. All in all, for die-hard slasher fans that are sick of all the crummy PG-13 teen horror flicks and sadistic but not scary torture flicks, Laid to Rest should definitely be right up your alley.

This horror film was great, it took me back to the 80's slasher heyday. The FX were amazing and amoung the most realistic I have ever seen and I have a horror film collection of 400+ films. Very well done totally classic, don't want to give anything away, I hope we get a sequel dispite the ending. Awesome flick!

I have read reviews that praise Laid to Rest as one of the best movies of its kind, while I have also read those that condemn it as one of the worst. Ultimately, with this movie most especially, it's all about what exactly one expects from a slasher film. If it's an information-rich plot that explains who the killer is, why he's killing and/or specifically why he kills who he kills, you will be sorely disappointed. Otherwise, I think you will be most highly pleased, as I was.

Laid to Rest, quite honestly, has some of the most brutal and graphic kill scenes I've ever seen in a slasher film. What's more is that these kill scenes are given more on-screen time for the viewer than those in most any other I've seen. The camera never cuts away too soon, and, for better worse, little is left to the imagination. For example, when a certain victim gets a knife through the head, the viewer sees a most uncommon amount of detail. When the knife is finally pulled out of the impaled head, the victim appears to be truly real, with bloodying eyes twitching, and skin on the head pulling and stretching, as the knife is removed. To be honest, I'm not even sure how they did it. Yes, one can quickly tell that director Robert Hall loves the genre with a passion, since he goes all out to satisfy his fellow fans. Such exceptional gratuitous detail is dished out more than once in Laid to Rest, as each victim is eliminated by Chrome Skull--the stylishly-masked psycho slasher. In other scenes a victim's head is filled with air, through his ear, via a tire flat-fixer, a woman's head is sawed off, and a man's face is literally chopped off of his head. Don't worry. I won't spoil everything. I'll leave the excessive details for you to witness yourself.

Speaking of Chrome Skull, here is a killer that is as original, vicious, brutal, and scary as he is lacking in personality and/or background. This villain literally comes from nowhere and kills everyone he kills for no particular reason that is ever explained. Chrome Skull has no context. There is not even a hint of who he is and why he does what he does. From the film's very beginning, a woman wakes up in a casket, escapes, and quickly finds that she is being pursued by someone trying to kill her. From that point, everyone with which the woman comes in contact is either killed or meant to be killed by the villain. The viewer never knows why anything is happening, and never has as much as a single clue to make an inference.

Yes, this lack of context is one of the main criticisms about which I've read from many others. However, in all truth, exactly how much of a difference does context ever make in such movies anyway? So what! If anything, we get the clichéd, dicey background about some vengeful social misfit who vents his rage on those who arguably deserve it and/or society in general. Yes, is it ever that much different, and how much of a difference does it ever really make? Is that really why we watch such movies anyway? Of course not! In reality, we mostly watch slasher films for the very things that Laid to Rest concisely and copiously delivers--blood, guts, gratuitous gore, and killings galore! No pedigreed gorehound can walk away from this one without at least being satisfied on that level. If you want more, maybe you're looking for something different anyway. Maybe wanting more and watching Laid to Rest is like watching a movie you know you won't like, just wanting to gripe about something. Well, from this point forward, let it be known that you have been warned about what exactly this movie is. From this point forward, if you watch it anyway, spending your time and money on it anyway, then maybe it's really you who should be criticized.

Laid to Rest is much like a bad dream, if that's not exactly what it is meant to be. The setting is almost surreal at times, the inhabitants don't always act as they should, and reality is not always what it should be. No, the movie doesn't make total sense, it doesn't answer enough of our questions, the logic is not always what we want, and even clues are nonexistent. However again, like a bad dream, it is sufficient to accomplish the goal it pursues. It delivers, very concisely and thoroughly, one very effective nightmare of a movie.

This movie is nothing more than a steaming pile of crap. By far the worst horror movie I have ever seen. It sucks, don't waste your money!!

I don't mind bad horror, I find a lot of it to be quite enjoyable. What I don't like however is mindless horror. Slasher flicks are not typically known for their strong story lines however it's nice when they at least attempt to add one in. This movie is nothing more than running and killing with a dash of bad dialogue tossed in. Some of the death scenes were pleasantly graphic but hard to enjoy considering how RIDICULOUS the killer looked with his shiny skull mask and shoulder mounted video camera. I was hoping for more out of this one but sadly it was not much more than a waste of time. Not recommended.

'Laid To Rest' is killer. Do you love gore? Lots of bloody gore? Do you like your horror with practical effects? Do you hate crappy CGI? Then this movie is just the ticket for you then.

The story is simple: a chick wakes up in a coffin with amnesia. Chrome Skull, who is easily the best slasher villain in a decade(shove it, Jigsaw), starts hunting her down. She befriends a couple who help her but unwittingly become targets of Chrome Skull as well. There's plenty of cameos throughout that genre fans will appreciate as well.

As I said before, the story is simple. The acting is pretty good, a few notches above typical horror fare. The villain is totally sweet. But the real star of the show is the effects. They aren't crappy CGI effects that litter movies nowadays. These are old school, practical effects. Totally awesome, totally brutal, and totally worth the price of admission.

If you love slasher movies, gore, and metallic skulls, then 'Laid To Rest' is the flick for you.

A young woman awakes in a coffin with no memory of who she is, and shortly after getting free from the box, finds herself desperate to escape a mortuary with a chrome skull-masked killer on her heels! She manages to get a ride with a kind man who wants only to help her, but everyone who attempts to do so only puts themselves in the deadly path of Chromeskull, the depraved murderer with a shoulder-mounted video camera to catch all the action!

I love horror films, but slasher flicks are not my preference. Still, I watch them and enjoy many of them. Sounds disturbing to say you enjoy a slasher film, but you know what I mean. Anyway, the majority are too much of the same ol' same ol', especially the current stuff. "Laid to Rest" is a special new entry in the subgenre because of the story told about the heroine's search for her identity and the Wizard of Oz-like friendships she forms with those she meets along the way. Add to that the fact that the kills in this movie are unique and nasty (which really does it for a lot of horror fans, though I'm no gorehound myself) and the film is so well-paced, and you've got something that is definitely a cut above the rest. Granted, it still had moments where I felt characters were making bad decisions, but, hey, some people make bad decisions. If you're into the Jason, Michael Myers, etc... types of films, this is worth checking out, and this killer is actually more grounded in reality, so far anyway. It's also fairly unpredictable I'd say. For one thing, anyone is fair game! "Laid to Rest" has a great cast with some recognizable faces and fantastic effects for a low-budget film, and the DVD comes through well too with commentary from lead actress Bobbi Sue Luther and writer/director/husband Robert Hall, the film's trailer, a great behind the scenes featurette, an effects featurette, a blooper reel and deleted scenes. Well worth the affordable price tag it usually carries!

Nowadays horror movies are either hit or miss, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Nevertheless the cover of this DVD, a metal skull with two blades seemed pretty alluring, so I decided to give it a shot.

The plot of the movie is rather simplistic; a young woman (played by the very pretty Bobbi Sue Luther) wakes up in a casket in a funeral home. The casket is locked and she manages to break herself out, only to discover she can't recall who she is. What she soon discovers is that she is being stalked by a serial killer who is dressed in all black and has a metal skull mask on his face. Hence the serial killer's name Chrome-Skull.

This amnesic girl, who ends up being called Princess, not worth explaining right now, manages to gain some support/help from two other people in this movie. The way she is able to bring two guys along to help her escape a metal faced serial killer is nothing short of a "Wizard of Oz" comparison. This produces some creepy and interesting mishaps.

"Laid to Rest" didn't reinvent the wheel on the slasher/horror movie genre. In contrast, it follows the "scary movie stereotypes" to a "T", for instance why do people still split up, or why is it always so hard to find a working telephone (or in this movie, cell phone), there is also no explanation whatsoever why "Chrome-Skull" loves video taping the macabre.

Therefore if this movie is taken a face value, it is a great viewing experience. Mainly because it doesn't try to be anything it is not. There is plenty of gore, violence, brief nudity, creepy situations as well as funny ones. Another thing about this movie that is great is it isn't slow paced. Once the movie starts, there really isn't any lagging with the action. As for the acting, it really isn't that bad. I have seen a whole lot worse. Oh look for Richard Lynch, B movie hero, in a very, very small role.

I feel that for a modern horror movie, this was pretty darn good. I dare to say that it might even have "multiple viewing" capabilities. The DVD has a bunch of extras on it, which is always a plus. One of these extras is a mess of trailers/previews for other horror movies, great stuff. So wait until the night arrives, turn off the lights, grab a snack and spend the night with Chrome-Skull.

It's hard to be entirely critical of a film such as "Laid to Rest," for the movie is simply what it set out to be. True, it won't win any new fans over to the slasher genre. And it lacks the creativity or uniqueness to rise to the top of that field. But, it is a reasonably accomplished film with multiple killing and much bloodshed. So if you're a fan of such things, "Laid to Rest" is a mildly entertaining film with no lofty aspirations.

A mass murderer, ChromeSkull, pursues a young woman with a dubious past throughout the film. Anyone he encounters along the way is likely to fall victim to his very big knife. That's really all the plot you're going to get!

Among one of the film's major drawbacks is its complete lack of interest in the actual character of ChromeSkull. The FBI conjecture that he is a doctor, he has some good technological equipment which indicate that he is successful, and he seems to have the ability to lure and attract women. However, none of the information seems to influence the man we see who is shacked up in a barn, glues a metal skull to his face, and has seemingly made it his life's work to relentless mutilate his victim's corpses. Similarly, our heroine is presented as an amnesiac with no knowledge of her past and how she fell into her present circumstances. Anyone awaiting a clever resolution (like, sadly, I was) about the relationship between victim and psycho will likely be underwhelmed by the throw-away explanation that adds nothing to the narrative. The murders themselves, also, lack a certain creativity one might expect in this type of film. Most people are dispatched one of two ways--head impaled by a big knife or head cut off by a big knife.

All that said--I couldn't really hate "Laid to Rest" because it doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't. The cast is game and likable and the performances are better than you might expect. The film is shot well and the momentum is kept up. So if 90 minutes of mayhem--that you will instantly forget--sound like fun, you can certainly do worse. And if this doesn't sound like your cup--than it isn't! KGHarris, 04/09.