90-Min Family Video - Laid to Rest: Sloppy in a Good Way

A masked killer(s) maybe the lamest premise for a horror film. If not the lamest, that the simplest and most over done. But, as long as the violence is over the top, the feature has potential. No matter how crappy the editing, a film like "Laid to Rest" has potential.

 

 

A girl wakes up in a coffin at a Deep Southern funeral home. She is able to escape this portable tomb, but murder after vicious murder follows her. All of these killings are executed by a knife-wielding psycho sporting a chrome mask of a skull and a GoPro camera. Where is a amnesiac to hide in a town with no phones, only a few houses, and a convenience store?

Story wise "Laid to Rest" offers nothing new to the direct-to-DVD horror market, but it is so over the top that is easy to enjoy.

The gore is stepped up to a realism only reserved for war movies (or Italian horror). What puts it over the top is that it revels in its tackiness. Sawing off heads with a knife, using tire sealant to kill. Events like those make one wonder if MacGuyver is the guy under the mask.

Obviously, this film cannot be taken seriously for a second. It does hurt the story since we are never given any clues to the killers motives. There is no force of nature trying to balance the world like vibe that a Hannibal Lector or Anton Chigurh possess. He just kills and we are not supposed to ponder why. With that flaw, the ridiculousness of the feature means it can really only be considered comedic. This makes "Laid to Rest" A good B-move, but perhaps a lousy horror flick. Especially when it tries to shock you with the narrative.

Luckily, the film has enough sense to embrace the "unintentional" humor. You may not feel much for the characters, but you will enjoy guessing what their tongue-in-cheek demise will be.

"Laid to Rest" is a DVD whose box art is too intense for its nature. It should not be presented as the next horror franchise, but as a gornographic laugh fest that is in on the joke. If that was the intention, this feature is close to being deemed a classic. If not, then welcome to the made for "Mystery Science Theater Three Thousand" aisle that every video retailer should establish.

 

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