Release:
February, 2007 Directed by: Robert Wilson Written by: Peter Sheldrick, Christopher Warre Smets and Patrick
Cameron
Starring:
Dominique Swain as Kim Marie-Josée Colburn as Eve Steve McCarthy as Baker Maggie Castle as Lily Reagan Pasternak as Amber Jefferson Brown as Matt
A meeting of friends in an isolated cabin in the woods is a
tried and true horror movie scenario. What better
place for possession, zombification, flesh-eating disease or general
psychosis?
Dead Mary takes full advantage of the horror
possibilities of the cabin-friends scenario through a reunion of sorts.
A group of friends that were once very close (presumably in college)
decide to get together for a long weekend in the sticks
to reminisce about old times and bask in the glory of their
accomplishments and ambitions.
OK, not quite like that, but you get the idea.
Kim (Dominique Swain) is not looking forward to the weekend at all. She
and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Matt (Jefferson Brown) are
off…again. The drive to the country cabin is a long one of
Kim and Matt bickering and rolling their eyes at
each other. Finally they arrive.
Once everyone is together hugs and declarations of how much they miss
each other are exchanged, and the reunion goes downhill from there.
They don’t seem to have much to say to one and other. As the boredom
takes hold one of them suggests that they play a game
– “Dead Mary”. They take turns bringing a
candle into the bathroom and chanting “Dead Mary”
into the mirror. Urban legend has it that chanting her name in this
fashion will conjure the evil spirit of a crazy woman with evil
intentions.
Well, it
does. Instead of showing herself directly, however, Dead Mary possesses
each of the friends one by one and causes them to reveal dark
secrets and expose their past treachery and indiscretions
with each other’s boyfriends and girlfriends – and
then go for the kill.
Dead
Mary uses a tired concept that has been around for ages. I
always thought it was “Bloody Mary”, but the idea
is the same. Dead Mary also seems to drag a bit
– not nearly enough action to keep my ADD brain occupied for
a full 103 minutes.
Still, the acting is pretty good and the film quality is high. The lack
of direct gore and the simple location shots betrays the low
budget for Dead Mary, but director Robert Wilson
didn’t let that show through in the movie experience.
Overall Dead Mary gets a “not
bad” from me. Light years from a classic, and I
won’t watch it again…but there were a few scenes
that made the whole thing worth watching. I think that the revelations
that these “friends” were busy back-stabbing
each other before they became possessed were the best parts.
If you
plan to rent or buy Dead Mary for personal viewing,
make sure that you don’t have to forego something else to do
so. Any hard-earned income spent on Dead Mary
should be completely disposable. Questions
or comments about Dead Mary? Contact us!
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Kim (Dominique Swain) is not looking forward to the weekend at all. She
and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Matt (Jefferson Brown) are
off…again. The drive to the country cabin is a long one of
Kim and Matt bickering and rolling their eyes at
each other. Finally they arrive.
Dead
Mary uses a tired concept that has been around for ages. I
always thought it was “Bloody Mary”, but the idea
is the same. Dead Mary also seems to drag a bit
– not nearly enough action to keep my ADD brain occupied for
a full 103 minutes.
