Director: Don Coscarelli
Year: 1979
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: The Never Dead
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
After his brother's disappearance, a young kid teams up with his best friend to find out what happened and learns of a strange cemetery worker controlling beings from another dimension helping him recruit dead bodies into an army to take over the world forcing them to stop his deadly plans.
Review:
One of the most unjustly overlooked classics in the genre, this is one of the best genre films. Most of this is due to the film's singular best decisions of centering on one of the most original, engaging, and thrilling villains ever. The Tall Man here is a creepy, unique, and wholly intimidating figure with a fascinating mythology about his true origins while is the build-up about the otherworldly beings under his instructions is a pretty good addition to the mystery utterly interesting and fascinating as well. Coupled together with his behavior that makes some of the most banal scenes somewhat chilling and creepy, like the casket removal after the funeral or the manner in which he appears around town being quite shadowy which is really well-explored here and it all manages to make for some rather interesting and enjoyable scenes.
Also, this one has some truly enjoyable action scenes that are quite unexpected here as it manages to mix together horror and action in a nice manner as the minions try to overcome the group in several extended scenes. Most of the chasing scenes in the second half come from this tactic, including everything from car chases filled with gun battles and high-speed crashes to several assaults on their secret hideout in the mausoleum and encountering the creatures. Of course, the most famous aspect of this one is the fatal Flying Silver Spheres, as nasty a weapon ever devised for cinema and providing enough awe and terror, as well as bloodshed, to make this a winning entry just by themselves. Aside from the action, the dream-like nature of it all when it plays out is just captivating and really makes these scenes all the more thrilling, as it seems to play like the events are in a dream-reality due to the freaky occurrences of what's going on, yet the fact that they're not by being rooted in reality is just really fun and enjoyable which tends to make them all the better by forcing along plenty of stellar jump-scenes.
Alongside one of the finest endings to a film and some solid gore, there are a ton of elements to really like here as this one has only a few minor, barely noticeable flaws. The biggest problem with the film is that most of the scenes are at night, resulting in very dark images that ruin key parts of the film where the print was so bad that several scenes were never visible. Making it dark for suspense is one thing, but to do it in scenes that should be lit is a big gripe. While some will find this one a little tedious because of the low body count keeping the film from really delving into the pacing that it can really employ to its best, overall this is an unquestionable classic that deserves to be viewed by every horror fan around.
Overview: *****/5
One of the greatest genre efforts of all time, there's so little to dislike here and tons of positives that allow for one of the strongest experiences in the scene overall. Give this one a look if you're a fan of these kinds of genre efforts, intrigued by what this one offers, or appreciate the positives featured here while only those who don't like this style or genre should take mild caution with this one.
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