After a night of drunken exploits, Allison, Harris, and Kira are chased and terrorized by the ghosts of a child pyromaniac, an ax murderer, and a rapist.
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Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
A solid premise, some decent twists, OK visual effects, and a very sexy female cast. On the flip side, there's the cheesy dialogue that alternates between unfunny intentional "humour" and almost funny unintentional humour.The other downside is the same thing I can say about the vast majority of horror films these days: the damn lack of colours.At some point about 10-15 years ago it became hip to make greenish-blueish movies devoid of reality-based colours. The look of most horror films nowadays is depressing, gloomy, unappealing, and unrealistic. Dark-blue, filth-green and pale-yellow seem to dominate; other colours are a no-no. This destroys the visual fun of watching movies. Compare the typical lively-coloured 70s or early 80s flick with almost any made this century, and the huge quality drop becomes even more apparent. Hopefully, just as cheesy 80s synth-pop went out of fashion eventually, perhaps film-makers will finally realize that they don't HAVE to apply new computer software gadgetry to EVERY damn movie they make. Just because a new technology is on offer doesn't mean it should become your only bread-and-butter, while ignoring all other options and avenues.
This movie is pretty inventive, and it takes its time setting up the scenario. Naturally that's important because if a film features characters disrespecting the dead and dancing on top of graves, it takes some effort getting the audience to invest in these people.Therefore they get significant character focus though admittedly the lead couple receive the most focus. Kira soon gets found in terrible condition by the leads and therefore she isn't seen much under normal conditions. Actually their personalities don't stand out much although they are pretty likable characters, particularly Vincent.The ghosts stand out from many recent ghost-related films, they have strangely odd eyes, demented grins and sometimes their limbs bent oddly (that might only have been one in particular, I'm not sure). Their attacks are based on their own crimes in their lives, giving them individuality."The Gravedancers" is a very story-dependent horror film, and therefore there isn't much gore, for those interested mainly in violence. There are several attacks but because the ghosts usually intend to torment their victims instead of immediately killing them, the (onscreen) violence is quite tame compared to films focused primarily on a high body count.
I like horror movies with a preference toward haunted house movie and old school horror, and I like this movie... up to a point. The premise: three friends get drunk after a funeral and dance at the cemetery on graves in the area for the deranged. Afterwards, they become haunted by the psychos over whose bodies they danced. Why? Because a mysterious person left behind a chant which they... just happened to announce out loud. The premise is good, but the why is contrived. The story is scary, the ghosts are casual and the chain of events is preposterous as is the ghost hunters who risk their safety to help them. It is very hard for me to believe that the parapsychologist in the movie would go to such extreme ways and such a leap of faith to dig up some graves and follow a ridiculous mystical ritual instead of just tracking down the person who left the note that starts everything off. What? Did he get his degree out of a box of Crackerjacks? Besides that, several of the ghost sequences are scary, but the climax is a bit anticlimactic. Paranormal accuracy is out the window for sake of story, but the movie is a "worth-see" if you want good to uneven scares.
I admit I haven't seen too many of the "8 Movies to Die For" and overall, from the three I've seen, I have not been that impressed. On one hand I kind of like the idea of rehashing some old school horror for the general public, but on the other I felt there's been something missing.I really tried liking Gravedancers, mainly cause I love ghost stories and this film actually has some pretty good stuff in it.After a friend's funeral our main characters find a card on the tomb containing a bad poem. Apparently they're just partying next to the grave late at night, or something. I didn't find they seemed that distressed over his loss. Many he was jerk or something? Who knows.. so they do a dance on a few graves, read the poem (which sounds like a spell from Sabrina the Teenage Witch) and end up waking a few spirits, who were all mental patients before they died, of course. You know standard stuff.There is a lot of effects, and many of them are well done, considering the budget. They are well executed, well placed and even the CG isn't too bad (from me that's saying something). The ghosts look spooky and there's some good atmosphere. It's a very formulaic film, contrary to other reviews I've read. I was able to predict pretty much every death, every jump scare and even the who will be standing at the end of the movie. But that in itself is not a bad thing. Many horror films are formulaic and still good. Sometimes it's that familiarity that gives some horror movies that level of comfort you need to find them entertaining. Like I said I tried to like this film. I just hated the characters, and if you don't like the characters in a ghost story your attention begins to wane. It's not like the acting is bad either. Lets put it this way, "there is even a love triangle in the plot". Like come on. Maybe I'm too insensitive about these things, but I just didn't care. I must admit I didn't mind the heroine till she started to act like every other heroine in a modern western horror movie, and the hero just was there. The film could have killed him off on the first scene I would have not even have noticed. I had other minor complaints, but most of them stems from the characters. If you can't stand the character, or don't care about them, then you start looking for things to hate. It's also not creepy, which for me, a good ghost story should be. It is exiting, and it never really dragged. There is something to like here. It's one of those, "I didn't like it, but you might" movies. I give it 2 bad poems out of 5.