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$13.49 - The Gravedancers - After Dark Horrorfest
Product DescriptionA group of friends' lives are invaded by a trio of hostile ghosts after they engage in a drunken bout of gravedancing during a wake for an old chum.
Most Recent Customer ReviewsDate : 2009-11-07
Summary : Intense And Original Horror
The Gravedancers is an original and frequently scary horror tale about a group of friends set upon by three vengeful spirits awakened after the friends danced on their graves. Okay, after 'a night of drunken gravedancing', as the back of the DVD case puts it - sounds like it has potential but also sounds pretty campy, right? Well, it turns out there's a bit more to it than that.
The formerly close friends had drifted apart over the last few years, but were drawn back together for the funeral of another member of their old clique. Their reunion brings back all the old feelings - the torches still carried in some cases, and all the memories of their good times together, and all the questions of why they ever let each other drift apart. In the middle of the night, the trio makes its way to the grave of their recently deceased friend with a bottle of wine to toast their friend and the old times. As the night goes on, they reminisce and drink too much and end up wanting to celebrate life and their friend's memory, and that's why they end up dancing, even though they're aware it's a rather bizarre place for a celebration-of-life.
In the days following the midnight celebration, strange and terrible things begin happening, and when the group is desperate enough to seek the help of a team of paranormal investigators, the 'dance in the cemetary' thing comes up, and the researchers are immediately horrified, as this is said to have the potential to anger and awaken old spirits. It gets even worse, though. On a trip back to that graveyard, it's discovered that their friend was buried in a part of the cemetary close to an old, long unused portion of the graveyard that the trio wandered onto in their dances - a section from decades ago that had been reserved for the burial of the worst criminals and psychopaths in the community, ones that nobody wanted buried alongside their own loved ones. And it's these human monsters that have come back, and have to somehow be exorcised quickly, as the longer the full cycle of the moon goes on, the stronger the spirits become.
The movie plays itself seriously and successfully, and the occasional moments of humor work surprisingly well but don't detract from the overall dark tone. Fine acting job all around; the most well-known member of the cast is supermodel Josie Maran who turns out to have a lot of acting talent (it makes me wonder why she's had so few movie roles). Josie plays Kira, one of the three 'gravedancers', the other two are played by Dominic Purcell (Harris) and Marcus Thomas (Sid); Harris's wife Allison (Clare Kramer) also finds herself haunted by one of the specters. The ghosts are abominable, sadistic creatures, and the visual appearance of one in particular are utterly ghastly. The special effects at the climax of the movie, with bigger, bolder supernatural happenings, aren't as strong, but that one ghost - hideously creepy and realistic.
Very intense and frightful, definately recommended for fellow horror fans.
Date : 2009-09-02
Summary : Good Scares!!!
This movie had some pretty good scares in it. It was like a funny scary movie! I liked it. A lot of people talk about how the CGI this and the effects that. If you just watch the movie and are into it then you dont notice all of that. I didn't I still dont see what people are talking about, maybe i will rewatch it and look for the flaws. But to me it was good. The ending was ok, if they all would have died that would be better.
Date : 2009-05-22
Summary : Scary Enough
This movie is by no means terrifying, but it has its moments. Its definately scary enough. I liked the effects.
Date : 2009-04-28
Summary : Another movie I ended going "I need to own that DVD!"
Of the original After Dark Horrorfest films, only two of the eight were any good in my opinion. Those two were Unrest and The Gravedancers.
Although a lifelong horror movie fan, I don't recall anyone using this particular plotline before. Dancing on graves makes the spirits furious? It's so intuitive, but somehow, either no one else picked up on it, or I just missed those movies. The way the writers handled this story was fantastic! The movie started slow, but once the three had committed the offense, the pace picked up VERY quickly. Everything moved in a pretty fluid manner with some genuine scares along the way. The actors were great in their roles and their reactions were believable. Good dialogue too. The CG was a bit crappy at times, especially when we saw the kid at the climax, but the special effects in other areas made up for that.
I have many criteria for what makes a good horror movie. Besides the usual acting/dialogue/pacing/effects/scares, I also look at two other things. If I end the film going "That was awesome! I want to see it again!", then that is a high mark. If I end it announcing "I'm going to have to buy this DVD!", that's the highest mark. And if I can watch it multiple times and see some different nuance each time, then I am totally sold on the film. All three of those criteria were met with this film. I saw it, had to own it, and I get something new from it with each viewing. This is one of the favorites in my collection.
Date : 2009-04-17
Summary : ONE OF THE BETTER ONES IN THE SERIES
THE GRAVEDANCERS
I was a bit surprised way back when I bought this and finally sat down to watch it, compared to the previous ones I had seen this one wasn't that bad. I have come to find that most of the films in this series are decent while only a few are really good. This one falls kinda in between as it is just good not real good but good none the less. It is actually very creative because the story line I find really intriguing. Imagine saying good bye to a friend and in the process unleashing evil spirits upon you by dancing on their graves, sounds like a good time. That is exactly what happens here and other then a few missteps this is a pretty good flick that I found entertaining.
The movie follows three friends who come together once again for the funeral of a friend; two make it there the other stays away. That is until later that night when he makes the suggestion that they go to the cemetery that night for one last good bye to their departed friend. At first the disagree but soon they all make their way there and happen upon a note, a note that says they should dance, and dance they do. Each grooves on top of one grave each it seems, thus unleashing whom ever it was they were on top of upon them.
This movie really feels like a really good made for TV movie to me, I think because of the way it was shot [especially the opening credit sequence at the cemetery]. Writers Brad Keene and Chris Skinner did a good enough job with this film since the idea behind the movie is actually pretty cool; I think the budget was the biggest enemy of this movie. Director Mike Mendez seems like he could make a really good flick if he had a better budget, this is apparent in the last third of the film. The best example of this is the Ghostbusters style large ghost head chasing the car; once again the budget must be to blame. Also the ghost of the wife beater guy I believe it is looks like an anorexic Pumpkinhead, kinda cool. But aside from that this is a pretty decent flick.
Acting wise I think the entire cast did well enough and pulled of believable enough performances. Dominic Purcell, Josie Maran, Clare Kramer, Marcus Thomas, and all the rest of the cast do good jobs on this film and pull out some believable performances even when the effects are not as good. Even the ghost's are cool in this one, one is a little fire starter maniac while another is a vicious wife beater. Then of course there is the crazy lady bent on cutting you up, or at least in that scene she was. All of them were cool and the actor played well off of the idea of these spirits. Of course like I said not all the special effects were so good, but that is a budget thing I assume.
Over all this is a worthy addition to the series and may be one of the best over all. Still it falls a little short of classic status even though it is original. I guess it will be a while before I dance on graves again, man that used to be so fun.
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