Directed by Robert Hall
Review based upon a preview screening in 2009
After all these post-modern reinventions of key themes, it’s refreshing to come across a back-to-basics gem like “Laid To Rest”. Very much an old-school slasher flick, this is a nice low-budget chiller with superb effects, a surprising cast and inventive kills.
The film opens as a young woman (Bobbi Sue Luther) wakes in a locked casket, with no memory of where she is or how she got there. Managing to break her way out, the girl finds herself trapped in a funeral home with a man wearing a metal skull mask and a shoulder-mounted video camera. Barely escaping with her life, she is picked up by Tucker (Kevin Gage) and Cindy (Lena Headey), who swear to protect the amnesiac from harm at all costs. But their masked pursuer is known as Chrome Skull, a serial killer who videotapes his kills and sends them to the police. As the bodies pile up in his wake, it all seems to point back to the girl. But why does he so desperately need to kill her, and what can’t she remember?
“Laid To Rest” was written and directed by effects guru Robert Hall, and it’s fair to say that the story is clearly designed to play to his strengths. This is a very gory flick, leaving a myriad of decapitations, stabbings and crushed skulls in its visceral wake. Hall has
many original ideas however, and there are several shock moments that are bound to leave a strong impression. A key sequence in the final third where a chemical reaction literally takes place in someone’s head is a stroke of genius, and gives the whole piece a professional coat of crimson.The performances and casting choices are interesting, but do tend to bring a certain amount of baggage with them. As Robert Hall is one of the key effects staff on TV series “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” and this slasher flick is obviously low budget, Hall has called in several favours. The two “Terminator” leads Lena Headey and Thomas Dekker are present here, and this choice is interesting given the brevity of their appearance time. In the key role of the girl (she has no name throughout), Bobbi Sue Luther is solid, but her lack of acting experience does become obvious at times. Nevertheless, as a standard ‘scream queen’ she acquits herself well.
The cinematography of “Laid To Rest” is suitably moody, with a great deal of wide eerie locations and dark spaces to serve up some good jump moments. This is where Hall works best, stretching the budget limitations to make everything seem as polished as the killer’s mask itself.
Unfortunately the biggest obstacle to full success is the rather clunky dialogue, which is a little underdeveloped. The moments where Tucker experiences outbursts of grief and anger appear inconsistent, making his character less sympathetic and more irritating than he deserves to be. There are also some terrible clichés delivered through lines like “no one else is going to die tonight”, at which point I was fully expecting the masked maniac to appear in the background shaking his head.
The figure of Chrome Skull is not as iconographic as Jason Vorhees or Michael Myers, but he certainly has the indestructible physique and plethora of weapons at his disposal to compete with them. The audience never really learns a great deal about him though, and based on the final few frames of “Laid To Rest” it certainly seems that a sequel is likely. Hopefully it will focus more on this intriguing figure and his motivations next time.
A violent, grimy and old-school way to spend 90 minutes, “Laid To Rest” is a change from all the remakes and genre lore changes that fans have been subjected to. This is a by-the-book slasher picture, which is worth seeing for the original kills and atmosphere alone.
7 out of 10
A no-frills horror flick in the mould of “Friday the 13th”… recommended to those who like their blood by the bucket-load
