I have always thought that more feature films about grave robbers needed to be made. There is so much room to explore the zombie genre with their that I am surprised that the only film to really capitalize on it was Return of the Living Dead II. The characters could practically write themselves! That's why I was very excited when it was announced that Glen McQuaid was going to be directing I Sell the Dead. Then when the cast was revealed.. forget about it. I was totally sold on this and had a feeling this was going to be great picture. However I wasn't aware that the film was going to be so comedic. By reading the issued synopsis you would think this is some kind of horrific film.

I Sell the Dead begins with the execution of Willie Grimes (Larry Fessenden) partner of Arthur Blake (Dominic Monoghan). As Blake awaits his execution he is questioned by Father Duffy (Ron Perlman). Blake first sets out telling how he met Grimes and the very beginning of their jobs as grave robbers. Then he begins to tell different random stories that all have a common link to one another. So will Blake make it out alive? Or will he follow in his friends footsteps and end up on the chopping block?

The entire film is set in 18th Century London and it is meant to be a very light hearted comedy that involves all kinds of zombie and other things that go bump in the night. I really thought heading into this movie that with the impressive cast they lined up including Angus Scrimm that this would be a homerun. Unfortunately I'm not really sure exactly what happened with this project. It seemed like it would have been much better had it been a trade paperback or comic book.

One of my major issues with the film is that the budget was showing almost throughout the entire film. What I am not sure about is whether they meant for the film to look that way or not. You see the entire film has this kind of gothic/Hammer films look to it. Lots of small, mostly black and foggy sets. The problem is they didn't do a very good job of hiding the fact that it was just a couple of actors in a small swimming pool with a black backdrop and some fog.

The acting is very solid and the comedy is always spot on. But when the sets are so amateurish its hard to focus on what is going down. The entire film also gave me this odd feeling that it was a badly adapted attempt of a graphic novel. Luckily the effects were good though as well. So things overall did manage to even themselves out really in the end. I think most fans will probably be able to easily embrace this film as a solid film but in the end I don't think it will be something that you will remember for years to come.

- Luke Franklin