Slamdance Film Festival 2009

Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and Dominic Monaghan (Lost, Lord of the Rings) star in this nicely orchestrated little indie comedic thriller. The concept is deceptively simple, perhaps one of the reasons why it is so fun and easily enjoyed: two grave robbers are imprisoned for murders they claim they didn't commit. The film begins in Arthur Blake's (Monaghan in a spectacular non-Hobbit role) cell and spins backward in a series of revelatory flashbacks as he converses with a priest (Ron Perlman in a decidedly non-red demon role). The gents held for their parts in a supposed murder are just your average 18th century blokes who rob the dead, until the dead start wanting more than rest. Vampires and zombies begin to attack them from their coffins and the robber's business picks up in the black market for the living dead's supposed secrets to eternal life. But their good business plan begins to run afoul of the wrong crowd when they start poaching on another gang's undead turf. Perlman does a great job as a holy man, with a twist, and doesn't slaughter the accent too much. Monaghan is fully legit, of course, and his spot-on brogue is exactly what saves the others from bad-accent land (in between Jersey and Philly, if you were wondering). I'd say this is one of the better creature features that I've seen, mainly due to the starpower and chops the leads bring, and I wouldn't be surprised if it did very well in the cult movie scene. There's still time to catch it at Slamdance though, and I would if I were you.