Laid to Rest (USA, 2009) - Color, Director(s): Robert Hall
MPAA Rating: R
[UK: 18]
Approx. 90 min.
Z-rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars for a totally original and gory as hell Slasher
Cheese Factor: 2 out of 5 stars for bad acting and bad dialogue
Laid to Rest is a very original horror movie. I had heard a lot about this movie when it was releasing but was never interested enough to sit through it. Something about it really put me off and I think it's what put most people off this movie. The killer with a chrome mask that calls himself ChromeSkull sounded like it'd be too lame of a concept to actually work. Well if everyone's always complaining about remakes and how Hollywood recycles old movies without coming up with any new ideas, why weren't more people supportive of this movie? The guy dresses like he's in MiB and walks around with a camera attached to his shoulder like a parrot. He looks like some sorta tech pirate walking around with two big ass knives carving up pretty girls. What's not to love?
After an incredibly gory opening credits montage of girls being cut up and open, the movie starts off with some chick waking up to find herself locked in a casket. (Interesting way to start a movie!) She finds her way into the next room and tries to call for help. This is where you first get a sense that there's something wrong with her, like maybe she has brain damage from being locked in the casket for too long. When she peaks out the door, she sees a man wearing a chrome mask in the form of a skull. This is the first time we see our killer.
Now, he's not your average slow moving dumb beast of a killer. Aside from his attire, he drives around in a nice car with vanity plates and carries a chrome briefcase with him that has medical supplies as well as the glue he needs for the mask. YES!!! This killer will stop in mid-kill just to reapply his mask before continuing to kill. I thought that was absolutely hilarious.
The rest of the film just involves the girl trying to survive and everyone around her becoming a victim of this lunatic. The acting in this movie is mediocre and the lines of the girl with head trauma is just downright annoying. I understand that she's supposed to be have brain damage, but the way she talks drove me absolutely insane the first time I watched this movie. Also, why does every computer they use look like it's running Windows 95? The gore effects are what really steal the show. As cheesy as the rest of the movie might seem, the gore is top notch and is pretty brutal to look at. And in any Slasher film, the star should really be none other than the gore effects. I give them kudos for getting that right.
Nudity: The other half of the equation that seems to be missing here. Whenever I think Slashers, I always think piles of dead bodies and boobies. Where are the boobies?
Gore: The gore effects in this movie are FANTASTIC. Absolutely top notch. Like I said before, they absolutely steal the show. I love that he walks around with two big ass knives and just cuts people into pieces. ChromeSkull is such a bad ass.
Awesome: Totally. Definitely one of the better slashers to come out recently. The last movie I saw with effects of this quality was Hatchet (2006), which is one of my all time favorites. This one is likely to be overlooked and I want to make sure I recommend it any slasher fan. In fact, I highly recommend putting it into the queue for Halloween this year.