'I Sell the Dead' review

Larry Fessenden and Dominic Monaghan (Credit: Lee Nussbaum/Glass Eye Pix)

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As he’s held under suspicion of murder, 19th Century grave robber Arthur Blake (Dominic Monaghan) relays the tale of his innocence to skeptical Father Duffy (Ron Perlman). Through flashbacks we see Arthur’s adventures in the resurrection trade, from his beginnings as a young boy to his partnership with Willie Grimes (Larry Fessenden). And we discover that not all people believed to be dead stay that way.

The buzz: After working in the visual effects field and crafting the grave robber short “The Resurrection Apprentice,” writer-director Glenn McQuaid makes his feature debut with this throwback to the kind of old fashioned Brit horror popularized by Hammer studios. In addition to his co-starring role, cult filmmaker Fessenden also serves as a producer.

The verdict: McQuaid lovingly recreates all the trappings of Gothic horror (on location in New York, no less) and immediately establishes a light tone that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but “I Sell the Dead” is the sort of movie that was probably more fun to make than it is to watch. The choppy narrative keeps losing momentum (even with a running time under 90 minutes the film feels sluggish), the characters never distinguish themselves in any special ways, and the initially effective musical score becomes tired and repetitive. There are a few solid zombie/undead effects that would fit perfectly into an “Evil Dead” movie, but “I Sell the Dead” otherwise lacks the energy and wit that marked those films (or similarly-minded efforts from Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg).

Did you know? Most of the movie was filmed in May 2007, but the scenes with Perlman were shot months later, in December 2007, in order to accommodate his shooting schedule on “Hellboy II.”

[“I Sell the Dead” is also available through “IFC In Theaters,” a video on demand service from select cable providers.]

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