The Gravedancers

All of the movies in the 8 Films to Die For series are very reminiscent of b-horror films that are low budget and disposable. However, once and a while you come across one that has all of the elements and look of a b-film, but is an awesome ride and truly frightening. And THE GRAVEDANCERS is an example of just that. I’ve only seen a handful of the original 8 Films to Die For and I can tell you that for the most part they are all garbage – DARK RIDE, UNREST (which was good, but not scary in the least), THE ABANDONED, THE HAMILITONS, and PENNY DREADFUL. Not any films that I would recommend. And I actually suggested to my friends that we watch a few together, and I was embarrassed after all was said and done.

The Gravedancers Trailer

So the acting isn’t nothing special to write home about, but it doesn’t take away from the film that much. The storyline is: A group of friends mourn the loss of one of their close friends by drinking late at night in the cemetery around his grave. As they begin to get drunker and drunker they start to dance across other people’s graves in a drunken stupor. Unfortunately for them, those graves housed the bodies of three who were axe murderers, rapists, and arsonists in life. Now they have awoken their spirits and they begin to terrorize the three of them. That’s about it for the storyline. The rest of the film is about the: what will come next and how can we survive/stop this. Pretty standard trajectory for ghost films.

The great thing about this film is that there are some really scary, intense, and psychologically damaging moments. Exactly the things you want from a good horror film. Early on in the film I really like the rack-focus of the phone that gives us a little startle – very nicely done indeed, but I’m a sucker for rack-focuses anyways. The film has some good special effects and make-up – for the budget of course. The judge looks especially creepy and well-suited.

In this film two of the three people terrorized by the ghosts are men. And one of the guys is more of a butchery type of guy. So it’s nice to see that kind of person in this role. Usually it’s the gentle feminine type that is susceptible to attacks by ghosts, or aliens, or monsters, whatever. What it really does is makes the audience more vulnerable because we are not used to this type of situation. One where a strong man is helpless and victimized. Bravo writers, bravo.

One thing about this film that amuses me though is that they can retrace their exact steps to find which graves they danced on. Even though it was dark, they were drunk, and the graveyard headstones all look alike. But I guess suspension of disbelief is almost crucial in horror flicks. Except TEXASS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and THE EXORCIST, to some extent.

Rating: 9/10