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Mini Review
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| Director |
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Alan Rowe Kelly
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| Cast |
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Zoe Daelman Chlanda
Jerry Murdoch
Bill Corry
Renee West
Katherine O'Sullivan
Kristen Overdurf
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| Distributor |
| Redemption Films |
| Running Time |
| 119 Minutes |
| Certification |
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18 / R
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Reviewed By
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Vaughan Dyche
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Buy this film
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I'LL BURY YOU TOMORROW (2002)
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Having wrote, produced, directed and even stared in his own feature horror movie debut, Alan Rowe Kelly has indeed been a busy boy with his 2002 tale of an unsettling passion for the deceased and a small town trade in human remains, the fresher the better, which ends in the kind of messy bloodshed that only a truly independent movie could spawn.
At first glance, Dolores Finley seems a naive and timid girl who's presence could easily be missed even amongst the dead bodies that lie cold in the cellar of the Beech funeral home. Looking for a new life and a job to go with it she attends an interview with the kindly old man who, together with his wife, run the sleepy home of rest. Thanks to the similarities between Dolores and the couples dead daughter, they decide to not only employ her but also offer her a room, insisting that she stay as their guest. But Dolores isn't alone in her funeral duties and soon the makeup-lady-to-the-dead and her psychotic boyfriend who are also employed to assist in the presentation and disposal of the bodies, begin to cause friction as their trade in body parts fuels a disturbing secret which Dolores has kept hidden in the depth's of her sole...........and her suitcase.
If you think that life stops when you die, then think again. With people like Dolores around, you might find yourself getting your rotten leg over more than when you were breathing god's good air. Kelly's movie delves into a blacker than black world featuring those that have either way too much or way too little respect for the dead and, as far as content goes, he doesn't do a bad job. As if necrophilia wasn't bad enough, violent situations crop up throughout to ensure you are surrounded by the dead or dying offering very little release from the depressed nature of the subject. The image of the beautiful Dolores dressed in her flowing seductive nightwear slowly lying down next to a decomposing body is a visually striking contrast between life and death. The brutal murder scenes offer a different type of challenge to those faced by the seduction of the dead and in particular the scenes involving Renee West as she is chased down and attacked with a large axe and the final flash back moment where Dolores is dealing some internal retribution to some dearly departed loved ones.
It's always' so easy to criticise the abilities of those involved in low budget productions and, for me it's something of a cross with which I have to bear as both a film critic and genre fan. A lot of passion goes in to this type of production and whilst they may lack technical prowess, the sheer energy and edginess of the subject matter usually fills the short fall. Also remembering that this is a debut presentation, I shall be kind but fair when I point out that the visual quality is extremely substandard even for video making the DVD experience a bit of a joke. Without doubt the fault of the source footage rather than a problem with the DVD authoring, it produces the kind of soft grain that any baker would be proud of. Poor dubbing (which is most noticeable in the first 15 minutes) add's to a mounting list of issues which also include strained acting and an over ripe running time, makes this a hard sell even if I had given birth to little Alan myself.
Whilst the film clearly has heaps going for it on the horror front, (even though it repulses more than frightens) it's hard to see past the rough edges, and with just a few merger special features including 3 trailers and 25 minutes(!) of deleted scenes, it fails to live longer than the press of the 'Off' button.
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Score
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4 / 10
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