Laid to Rest DVD Review
80’s Slasher Homage Fails to be More Than Passably Entertaining
Robert Hall is a veteran special effects designer who is taking on writing and directing duties with Laid to Rest. While obviously trying to pay homage to the slasher films of the 80’s with a masked killer pursuing fairly stupid prey, Laid to Rest fails to generate much excitement beyond a few nicely done kills, some great special effects, and an incredibly cool killer. The script is just too terrible, and manages to drag the whole movie down.
Laid to Rest Plot
After an impressive opening credit sequence, Laid to Rest begins with a woman known only as The Girl (Bobbi Sue Luther) waking up in a coffin at a mortuary. She breaks free, only to find she has amnesia and is being stalked by an omnipresent chrome-masked killer known as Chrome Skull. Chrome Skull has been killing women all over the country, videotaping the murders, and then sending the tapes to the police. And now he wants The Girl. She flees and ultimately enlists the help of several people to stay alive. Unsurprisingly almost all of them become fodder for Chrome Skull’s knife.
Director Hall has a solid grasp on camera movement and shot composition. Laid to Rest is actually far more visually interesting than typical films of this ilk. The opening credits montage, showing off Chrome Skull’s handywork is stunning. The kills are nicely done, and unsurprisingly, given Hall’s background, the effects are excellent. The acting is generally acceptable with genre veteran Kevin Gage going above and beyond as the first man to help The Girl.
By creating Chrome Skull, Hall has created a masked killer that almost lives up to Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees of Halloween and Friday the 13th fame, respectively. Further, Chrome Skull is not an unstoppable monster like those two. He can be hurt and he bleeds quite a bit throughout the movie. He is definitely the high point of the movie.
The problems with Laid to Rest are in the script. Hall the director was let down by Hall the writer. Slasher movies are not know for their subtle and nuanced writing, but Laid to Rest’s script is excruciatingly awful. Characters act in ways that are astoundingly stupid by even slasher movie standards. There is no logic to their behavior, and the staggering stupidity they are required to display just to keep the plot moving eventually grates on the viewer. Ultimately one wishes for everybody to die and for the movie to just end. Further, the big reveal teased throughout the movie turns out to be completely bland. The writing in Laid to Rest can only be described as awful, and that ultimately is what keeps the movie from being recommended.
Laid to Rest Video Quality
Laid to Rest comes to DVD from Anchor Bay, and the video is top notch for a direct-to-video horror film. Colors are nicely represented, there is minimal artifacting and blacks are clean. Laid to Rest is primarily shot at night, but detail is visible throughout. A solid presentation, especially for the kind of movie it is.
Laid to Rest Audio Quality
Laid to Rest has a very aggressive Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The industrial rock soundtrack is placed front and center in the mix to great effect. In spite of this dialogue is clear throughout. There are really no complaints about the audio
Laid to Rest Extras
Laid to Rest isn’t fully loaded with extras, but some of them prove to be worth a look. First is a commentary track by Hall and Producer/Star Luther. The two are a married couple, and their enthusiasm for the project makes this a fun and interesting track.
The disc also has two behind-the-scenes featurettes, some deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and the theatrical trailer for the film. Last up is a collection of Anchor Bay trailers. The commentary is nice, but nothing else is particularly special.
Laid to Rest Final Thoughts
As a throwback to 80’s slasher films, Laid to Rest has some promising elements. Chrome Skull is an imposing killer, and Robert Hall proves to be a competent and visually interesting director. Unfortunately he also proves to be a completely incompetent writer. It will be interesting to see what film Robert Hall directs next, but hopefully he will have someone else handle the writing for him. As it is, unless one is an ardent fan of slasher films, Laid to Rest is not recommended.
Final Rating (out of 5)
Movie: **
Video: ***1/2
Audio: ****
Extras: ***
Rated R
90 Minutes
Laid to Rest Poster
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