I Sell the Dead Review

So as we are only a few days from Christmas I've decided to review a movie for a change - just because there's something about the holidays that makes us all want to watch films and also because I've not had much time to read any short stories or novels. :S

So anyway, this week I have been watching 'I Sell the Dead'. This film came out a little while ago but it's existence only recently came to my attention.

It stars Dominic Monaghan (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Lost), Larry Fessenden and Ron Perlman (Hellboy).

Monaghan and Fessenden play two grave robbers in the 19th century who have finally been caught by the law. The movie starts with Fessenden being executed and a priest (Perlman) visiting Monaghan in his last few hours before he gets the guillotine. Monaghan then begins recounting the story of how he first met Fessenden and subsequently became involved in grave robbing to Perlman.

For a long time the two robbed normal graves until a chance encounter with a vampire one night leads them to discover that the doctor they work for and some other unsavoury fellows are willing to pay much more for the remains of the supernatural.What follows is the two grave robbers going after increasing dangerous creatures and monsters just to make a quick buck, from aliens to zombies.

This sounds like quite a good recipe for an offbeat, funny film.

But this is where the movie falls flat on its face. It's not funny, which is very disappointing. Ok, there are a couple of moments where I did laugh but two or three times is not enough to deem an eighty minute movies a comedy.

Don't get me wrong, the acting is solid, with some really good performances, especially from Monaghan and Perlman. I also liked the plot and its shot really well but its the jokes that bring it crashing back to earth.

I give it 6/10.