Now available on DVD
Cast:
Bobbi Sue Luther as The Girl
Kevin Gage as Tucker
Lena Headey as Cindy
Sean Whalen as Steven
Richard Lynch as Mr. Jones
Johnathon Schaech as Johnny
Thomas Dekker as Tommy
Nick Principe as Chrome Skull
Directed by Robert Hall
Review:
Sometimes I worry that I blindly accept any slasher movie that comes along as being worthwhile, regardless of the film’s actual quality. Admittedly that’s not a great deal to worry about but I as I eagerly embrace one slasher film after another as other fans and critics jump to pick them apart, I do have to wonder if my misspent adolescence in the ’80s made me too fond of the slasher sub-genre for my own good. But thankfully, Laid To Rest is the exception that proves the rule. I unequivocally disliked this movie, which leaves me relieved to know my objectivity is intact.
Written and directed by Robert Hall, a renowned special effects artist whose previous writing and directing effort was the 2004 drama Lightening Bug, Laid To Rest seems like it ought to be a fast-paced good time. It hits the ground running with an amnesiac woman (Bobbi Sue Luther) waking up inside of a casket in a funeral home. Upon escaping from the casket, she immediately finds herself pursued by the diabolical killer known as Chrome Skull (Nick Principe) and is forced to run for her life. With no memory of who she is or why this killer is targeting her, she has no choice but to stay ahead of Chrome Skull at all costs â seeking help wherever she can find it.
In praise of Laid To Rest‘s technical attributes, this is a sharp-looking movie. The cinematography by Scott Winig is excellent, as are the elaborate splatter effects (courtesy of Hall’s FX company Almost Human), and slasher fans will take enthusiastic notice of Laid To Rest‘s villainous Chrome Skull. With his gleaming skull mask, it’s as though he stepped off the cover of an early ’80s heavy metal album. As soon as you see a still of this character, you want to see him in action. But while he does get in some amazing kills, as a whole, Laid To Rest is a slightly tarnished debut for Chrome Skull.
What keeps the film from really taking off is its characters. Specifically, Bobbi Sue Luther (the wife of writer/director Hall) as The Girl is not a great slasher heroine. An appealing heroine is as important to a slasher film’s success as an indomitable villain and Luther’s portrayal of The Girl doesn’t have that ability to instantly draw the viewer to her in the manner of Jamie Lee Curtis, Adrienne King, Amy Steel, or Heather Langenkamp. One element working against Luther’s performance is that because the film begins with her being terrorized by Chrome Skull, there’s no chance for the audience to slowly warm to her character or to see The Girl make the transition from normal person to screaming, panicked victim. Traditionally, it’s in the final chase that slasher fans tend to revolt against even the most sympathetic heroine. That’s where the audience starts yelling at the heroine for every stupid choice she makes â “don’t drop the knife!”, “don’t turn your back!”, etc.
Having said that, Luther’s character really does come across as someone who doesn’t have the skills she needs to live through this ordeal. For my money, she’s the most unlikable slasher character since Wendy Kaplan’s infamously grating portrayal as Tina in Halloween 5. Rather than evincing the kind of resourcefulness and self-sufficiency that one wants to see in a slasher heroine, Luther brings a lot of whimpering and crying to the table. Along the way, The Girl also ropes various characters into helping her in her attempts to escape Chrome Skull’s clutches and it’s annoying to see these people sticking their necks out so selflessly for someone who doesn’t seem to rate that kind of personal sacrifice. Maybe if The Girl had been cast as a much younger, frailer actress, it would’ve been easier to accept the instinct of strangers to be instantly protective of her but Luther is far from an ingénue. She’s old enough to do a better job of fighting her own battles.
As for those corralled into saving The Girl, most notable are Kevin Gage as the gruff Tucker and Sean Whalen (best known to genre fans as Roach from The People Under The Stairs) as computer nerd Stephen. Both give decent performances but as their characters are called on to behave in ways that run counter to their own survival when better options are often readily at hand, it’s hard to see them as real people rather than characters artificially manipulated by the needs of the script. Even characters in slasher films have to have a modicum of common sense if we’re going to go along with their actions.
By far the most capable customer in Laid To Rest is Chrome Skull himself but had Hall chose to throw his character against any real opposition, he would’ve seemed even more impressive. As is, every kill seems like a cakewalk for him (this is a killer so cocky he drives a car with a personalized ‘Chrome Skull’ license plate!). Even when Chrome Skull does receive his comeuppance, it’s much more of a “D’oh!” moment on his part rather than a blow inflicted by a would-be victim. If any characters in this film were equipped with a working brain then Chrome Skull’s reign of terror would be laid to rest itself.
The amount of bloodletting on display here might be enough to warrant a cursory glance from slasher fans but while Chrome Skull’s metallic mug is an undeniably cool sight; Laid To Rest‘s characters and plotting could’ve used a buff and a shine.
