Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Terrence Krey
Starring: Christine Nyland, Jacob A. Ware
Falling somewhere between MR James and EC Comics, director
Terence Krey's minimalist horror movie
An Unquiet Grave delivers a unique spin on the classic 'Monkey's Paw'
format.
Widower Jamie (Jacob A. Ware) clearly hasn't read WW Jacobs' famous
short story, or even Stephen King's 'Pet Sematary', as he's determined to
resurrect his dead wife Jules.
Working to instructions he gleaned from some ambiguous tutor who managed to
bring their son back from the dead, Jamie ropes in Jules' identical twin
sister Ava (Christine Nyland, who co-wrote the script with Krey), as
the blood of a relative is required for the ritual.
The pair drive out to the isolated stretch of road where Jules met her
demise in a car crash caused by a drunk driver. Ava is blindfolded and told
to wait. What Jamie hasn't told her however is that she's to be a sacrifice,
with Jules returning to life in her sister's body.
An Unquiet Grave gives us a fascinatingly flawed protagonist
in Jamie, a man who loves his wife so much that he'll do anything to bring
her back, even if it means sacrificing her sister. He hasn't put much
thought into how Jules might react when she returns in a body unwillingly
donated to her though.
Some of the film's greatest chills come from putting us in the place of
Jules and her shock at her unexpected resurrection. In a line that sent
chills down my spine, Jules describes inhabiting her sister's body as thus:
"I can feel her skin on me." Yikes! The reality of her resurrection is
nicely conveyed when the prim and proper Jules removes her bra and is
surprised to be greeted by the sight of her rebellious sister's nipple
piercings.
It doesn't take long for Jules to realise that her loving hubby has
changed, driven insane by his quest to be reunited with the woman he
loves.
Nyland plays the resurrected Jules like a millennial Bride of Frankenstein,
initially confused and ultimately horrified by her rebirth. And just as the
bride rejects the monster, Jamie finds himself struggling to connect with
this reboot of his wife.
Like a modern update of one of the BBC's classic MR James Ghost Story at
Christmas adaptations, An Unquiet Grave makes economic use of
a relatively brief runtime (75 minutes) and a lack of special effects. The
sight of a lit cigarette on a windowsill here provides more chills than any
cattleprod scored jump scare of a demon running towards the camera could
ever hope to achieve.
An Unquiet Grave is on Shudder
from June 25th.
