Take the classy-yet-creepy
Hammer /
Amicus horror anthology films of the 1960s-70s!
Add some
EC Comics
-style graphics!
Mix with a cast filled with experienced genre performers who are obviously enjoying the project!
What do you have?
I Sell the Dead
!
I came across it yesterday afternoon on cable, and let me tell you, I haven't had an unexpectedly-good time like this in years.
I was expecting
SyFy Saturday Night-level crap, good for a laugh and little else.
Instead, I was treated to a well-written, well-produced, well-acted horror flick, the likes of which I haven't seen in (literally) decades!
The last horror anthology worth a second viewing was 1982's
CreepShow
!
But, this pic, featuring Dominic Monaghan (
Lord of the Rings
/
FlashForward
/
LOST
), Ron Perlman (
Beauty & the Beast
/
Teen Titans
, etc), and Angus Scrimm (
Phantasm
), along with lesser-known, but no less talented, thespians, is an absolute blast!
While it's a "period piece", it's not historically or geographically-accurate. (But then, neither were
Hercules
and
Xena
, and nobody
I know complained...)
What's it about?
About 85 minutes. ;-)
It's also about grave-robbing, zombies/ghouls, vampires, extraterrestrials, insane inbred families, sea monsters, corrupt businessmen, and hot homicidal women.
It's also extremely funny. Not the laugh-at-how-bad-it-is funny of
Plan 9 from Outer Space
, but witty puns, quips and tasteless jokes!
And, there's even a
comic book version
of it!
Watch it! Rent it! Buy it!
You won't regret it!
and first Hulk film
are the most obvious aspects, with sound effects spelled out, and the screen broken into panels.
! 
created by the lengendary Go Nagai
) this flick is just as lunatic, just as filled with visual cues derived from comics/manga and video games as Scott Pilgrim!
is now available as one of MGM-TV's "Manufacture on Demand" DVDs for movies and tv series that MGM feels wouldn't sell as mass-market items, but could sell as limited-release DVD-R releases (like the Warner Archive dvds).
by Mike Hale...
), who gets the right blend of humor and resignation in the Paul Sorvino-Jerry Orbach veteran detective slot, and Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones of Dr. Who
), who covers several bases as the junior prosecutor. "She’s both the minority idealist, played for three seasons by Richard Brooks..."
and Life on Mars
staffer Chris Chibnall.
), Harriet Walter (Lord Peter Wimsey / Harriet Vane Mysteries
) and...
, Survivors
)! (Looks good in her barrister's robes, eh?) 
