“Book of the Dead”
Movie #14 of the 31-Days of Horror
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A group of university students visit an old villa in the countryside to complete a school research project. Hidden within the mansion, they find an ancient demonic text.
I was immediately annoyed by the AI intro. Just throwing that right out there. Although I recognize that this is supposed to be an Italian Evil Dead homage set in 1988, it is much less a period piece than modern with retro elements. What is a little distracting is that the hugely stereotypical characters act like a bunch of high school kids rather than college students. This is either because they don’t have an understanding of what young Americans were like in 1988 or because they were setting up a Breakfast Club type scene before jumping into the actual story. Actually, they referenced and recreated versions of scenes from a bunch of movies in the first 30 minutes and then throughout, ending with a nod to The Walking Dead. Anyway, they never get around to explaining the research project that brought them to the villa.
Good grief! The worse this movie gets, the more I like it! About half way through the movie I forgot it was supposed to be a period piece, largely because all the music is modern. The snarky Book of the Dead, which straight up talks to them, was amusing, but not as funny as I’m sure was intended. The monster was pretty good, though. Great mask/make up design. And full credit for some really good gore effects.
This movie was full of potential, but it was lost. I’ll be generous and say that it was lost in translation. I want to give it another chance and if I do I’ll update this entry.
