Missed it! I Sell the Dead
Missed it! is an editorial topic designed to present thoughts, ideas, and analysis on horror films that the writer has personally let slip through their fingers with no valid excuse anywhere in range. We all have movies that we haven’t seen for some reason and this is a segment that aims to take into account hype, time, word of mouth, and plain old intentions and applying them after the movie has finally been viewed.
For the newest installment of Missed It!, I caught up with a movie I had all but completely forgotten about: I Sell the Dead (Dir: Glenn McQuaid).
I know that it is kind of cheating since I Sell the Dead still has yet to be released in the states (Lucky Brits got this back in October of 09, Canucks got it on November 24th), but the film has taken a certain path to release that has left it almost completely in the darkness. With absolutely no marketing whatsoever, the film was released in a staggering 2 theaters in August of 09 where a two week run netted the production 8,000 dollars. While this is definitely the smallest release I remember in a while, the film was also available prior to the theatrical release via IFC’s OnDemand program for a limited time. Of course, since there were never any commercials or promotions for it, the film pretty much went unseen in America, which is an absolute shame.
I Sell the Dead is about two grave robbers in 18th century London named Arthur Blake (Dominic Monaghan) and Willie Grimes (Larry Fessenden). When they get framed for murder, poor Willie gets the gallows and Father Francis Duffy (Ron Perlman) comes to speak with Blake in the last hours before he heads off to the guillotine (HA! GET IT!?!?!?). The movie is then laid out in front of us as Blake tells his story of friendship, betrayal, and some good old fashioned body snatching.
I Sell the Dead, at its heart is a dry comedy with a few sparse horror elements thrown in for good measure. Blake and Grimes take to their jobs as grave robbers and thieves as if they were punching in for their daily 9-5 grind. The morals and ethics of digging up a corpse and selling it for medical research are completely thrown out the window and never given a second thought. At no point does this count as a strike against the story, but rather as an important element to explain these two main characters to us. This is their job. This is what they do. They are very good at it. When another colorful gang of grave robbers lead by the mysterious Murphy start to take away some of their business using scare tactics, Blake and Grimes stand aside. Their job is important to them, but their well being (and their lives) is much more important. They shrug off any static and go on with their lives holding no ill will. They are happy being two bit grave robbers.
Interestingly, the boys stumble upon a fewer… well let’s say stranger corpses during their nightly trolls. When they realize that people will pay top dollar for these weird cases, the money starts flowing in and business is a boomin. The boys even have enough money to hire and apprentice named Fanny (Brenda Cooney) who turns out to be more destructive than helpful.
When a young lady is introduced into the group (and becomes very friendly with Blake), she convinces the boys to go up against Murphy for a big score. I find this interesting because the inclusion of a girl into their business turns them into something that they are not. They leave the comfortable confines of their adequate work and explore new and dangerous territory for a chance at making more money. In many ways, Fanny is the snake in the Garden of Eden, convincing both Blake and grimes that they are unhappy where they are and if they just take a chance, it will all pay off. However, we the viewers realize through the previous told stories of the Murphy clan that they are a force that is not to be crossed. We all know that this is a bad idea, but everyone goes ahead with it anyway.
Aside from just moving the story along, this arc does seem a bit out of place. Coming in at around 84 minutes, the entire movie is a fast paced slow movie, quickly moving from one scene to another before the audience really has any time to get comfortable with the given situation. This may be because some of the actions and set pieces are a bit flimsy as far as motivation goes. However, this strike against shouldn’t be taken as a deterrent to see the film. In the world of corpse reassignment, these two oddball men find humor wherever they can within an extremely depressing and gruesome job. We don’t however spend hours talking about ethics because we are too busy getting bombarded by plot development and Evil Deadesque action. And you know what? It all somehow works.
I Sell the Dead was shot on a very small budget, but comes alive with its writing and performances. Of course there are many things about the film that could have used some improvement, but at the same time, this could have ended up much worse than it did. I enjoyed I Sell the Dead very much, and if you are into dry comedies, horror, and some good situational humor, than this is a movie you should check out.