DVD Review: LAID TO REST  By Dave Dreher	Email this article  Printer friendly page
Source: Mar 30, 2009, 2:34 AM

It's always exciting when you realize that you are witnessing something historic.  I remember the first time I ever seen Jason with his hockey mask or Freddy with his trademark look.  You knew, KNEW you were watching horror greatness and I haven't felt that way in a long time but this weekend it happened.

LAID TO REST is an instant classic, one of those films that decades from now all will be lamenting about the first time they watched it or how it effected them as a horror fan.  Robert Hall proved his directorial chops to me a few years back with his dramatic character driven gem LIGHTENING BUG which is one of my all time favorite films and for a first time director was an amazing achievement.

LAID TO REST is all LIGHTENING BUG was plus 100.  Exceptionally shot, written, acted and technically near perfect LTR could end up being THE horror film of the year.  Lets break it down.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The film opens with a women waking up in a coffin.  Terrified, alone and very confused she escapes the claustrophobic nightmare only to be spilled out into a living nightmare that only gets worse as time progresses.

She doesn't remember who she is or why its happening but someone is after her and he is a badass.  It doesn't take long till we meet Chromeskull and once you meet him you won't forget him.  Creepy, menacing and iconic Chromeskull ends up being the first truly original cinematic monster in years.

No attempt is made to explain who or why he is (which is great) he's just there and he wants you dead.  The mayhem begins almost immediately and this film runs in high gear its whole run time.  There is no time to breathe as our heroine escapes her first run in with old chrommy and meets up with Kevin Gage who is in my opinion one of the finest actors in the biz and Hall seems to know how to get the best out of him.  He has been in both of Hall's films and been superb in both.  Once they meet up  the chase in on and we are led through one horrifying killing scene after another and they feature some of the best slasher horror FX I have seen in recent memory.  The scene where a man gets a huge knife stuck through his head and then has the front of his face  sliced off is both disgusting and awesome.  True horror magic.

As the story unfolds we learn who the lady is and how she came to be in that coffin and Hall easily pulls together the story line and in that course really does lift Chromeskull to an iconic status that should have horror fans buzzing.

We all realize that a great horror film is a perfect storm of writing, acting, directing and fan support.  It doesn't happen often but when it does it's a wonderful thing to behold.  I compare LAID TO REST to Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN as they both are about an unstoppable killing machine that is very human and loose in middle America.  What takes LTR a notch above Zombie's attempt is that Hall knows middle America.  He knows how it looks, how the people act and talk and it just seems more real.  No families sitting around the breakfast table in stained shirts getting pissed off and threatening to skull fuck you if the toast ain't done soon.  Zombie's film looked good it just didn't have any heart.  LTR has heart to spare.  You actually give a shit about the folks on the screen and when they are being chased by this maniac you are actively involved and interested in their outcome.

While the film succeeds on every level as a blood drenched gore fest it is also technically an amazing achievement.  As you know if you read me with any regularity I'm not much of a tech-head and as long as it looks good I'm usually pretty good with things but after watching the special features on this disc I certainly have a new found appreciation for the technology required to make something look so awesome and I loved the explanation of how Hall used all this modern magic in conjunction with amazing physical effects to achieve his ground breaking look.

All involved with this project shine and for me (and once you see it I think you'll agree) this one is the one I've been waiting for.

April 21st is th date it comes out so mark in on you calendar and don't miss this one. 

Here is the press release for the project that holds all the technal info:

My Bloody Valentine. Friday The 13th. Not since the heyday of the 80's has the slasher film seen such a resurgence in pop culture. And as the first decade of the 21^st century draws to a close, Anchor Bay Entertainment proudly unveils the debut of the next great masked serial killer - ChromeSkull! On April 21^st, Laid to Rest, the sophomore writing/directing effort from renowned special makeup effects wizard Robert Hall (Quarantine, “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,� the upcoming Crazies), will be released on DVD. The follow-up feature to his critically acclaimed semi-autobiographical Lightning Bug, and Hall’s first excursion into full-on horror as a director, Laid to Rest stars Lena Headey (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 300), Bobbi Sue Luther ( the upcoming Night of the Demons remake), Lucas Till (The Hannah Montana Movie, Walk The Line), and Headey's Terminator co-star, Thomas Dekker. SRP is $26.97, with pre-book on March 24^th.

 

Laid to Rest is the terrifying story of a young girl (Bobbi Sue Luther) who wakes up in a casket with a traumatic head injury and no memory of her identity. She quickly realizes she was abducted by ChromeSkull (Nick Principe), a metal-masked serial killer with the money and means to emulate the 1980s Slashers. Isolated in an unfamiliar rural town, “the Girlâ€� and those who have come to her aid must survive the night and outsmart the technologically inclined murderer – who video records his vicious killings and is determined to finish his masterpiece tape featuring "the Girl."  Sean Whalen (Never Been Kissed, Men In Black), Kevin Gage (Heat, GI Jane) and veteran character actor Richard Lynch (Rob Zombie’s Halloween, Invasion USA) co-star.

 

Laid To Rest was photographed with the revolutionary Panasonic HPX-3000 high-definition 1080p camera in the AVC Intra Mode - the first ever feature film completed with this technology.  This advance in filmmaking technology parallels ChromeSkull’s penchant for gadgetry, making this unforgettable excursion into technological terror nothing less than the first true digital horror film!

 

Laid To Rest not only marks ChromeSkull’s debut feature, but the DVD cuts straight to the heart of what it takes to create a memorable movie monster. Go behind the metal mask with such piercing bonus features as:

 
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Robert Hall and Actor/Producer Bobbi Sue Luther

Postmortem: The Making of Laid To Rest

The SFX of Laid To Rest

Deleted Scenes

Bloopers

Theatrical Trailer

The film was produced by Bobbi Sue Luther and Chang Tseng. Seth Nagel and Ed Polgardy are Co-Producers, with Kevin Bocarde and Robert Hall as Executive Producers.

Submit your Horror News here. Discuss LAID TO REST in our Forums

All Categories Interviews Recent News Recent Reviews Contests