AFTERDEATH. (2015) WRITTEN BY ANDREW ELLARD. PRODUCED BY GEZ MEDINGER AND CAMERON LAWTHER. DIRECTED BY GEZ MEDINGER AND ROBIN SCHMIDT. STARRING MIRANDA RAISON, SAM KEELEY, ELARICA GALLACHER, DANIELLA KERTESZ AND LORNA NICKSON BROWN. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
What do you think happens to you when you die? Some people believe that nothing at all happens and that you just don't exist anymore. You simply cease to be. I was brought up as a good Catholic girl, so I believe in heaven and hell and all that jazz.
My mental picture of how God, Jesus, Holy Mary and even Satan himself look has been heavily influenced by THE SIMPSONS, however, so I don't know how accurate those impressions will turn out to be, haha. In a humorous inversion of traditional norms, God-botherer Ned Flanders usually appears as the devil so, if that's not what Old Nick looks like if and when I get down there, I'm gonna be mightily pissed off...!
There's great scope in this subject matter for a horror film though, as I think you'll agree. A film about what a bunch of people may or may not experience when they wake up dead? Better give Hollywood a call, this stuff practically writes itself!
You could dream up the maddest scenarios for the newly-dead, like a waiting-room where you have to take a number and queue up to see what your fate is to ultimately be. Okay, so that particular scenario might be a bit lame, but you get my gist, don't you? Don't you...?
In AFTERDEATH, the newly-dead find themselves washed up on a creepy isolated beach miles from nowhere. Well, there's one thing nearby, a cabin. It's clear from early on that the four girls and one guy are recently deceased, but the story of why and how takes a bit longer to emerge.
Blonde, businesslike Robyn is the last to arrive at the cabin. When she gets there, the beautiful Onie is self-harming with a knife and Harry Styles-lookalike Seb is shagging Patricia and Livvy on the sofa to the accompaniment of a backing track of clubland tunes. It's all frightfully civilised, as you can see. Exactly how you pictured the afterlife, right? Yeah, me too...!
Robyn has brains to burn and she quickly figures out that they're all in some kind of limbo rather than actual hell. That being the case, she's convinced that there must be some way to escape back to life. Now, personally speaking, I would've thought that when you're dead, you're dead. There ain't no coming back.
Robyn begs to differ, however. She thinks it can be done and she thinks that Onie, who keeps 'coming and going,' as it were, and is therefore not fully dead yet, is the key to the whole group's salvation. They'd better hurry, though. Just like in Stephen King's THE LANGOLIERS, the world they're currently inhabiting is winding down fast. When it goes, it's taking them with it. Aw, what's any movie without a good old race against time?
I forgot to mention their other big problem. There's a sexually aggressive demon in the cabin with them, but as long as they have a box to trap him in and some voddie to splash at him to teach him to mind his manners, they'll be all right. Don't forget to sit on the box, mind you, once you have him in it. Robyn seems to have taken a night course in translating demon-speak, so that's quite handy too.
They're an odd bunch of people. Sex-mad Seb, the Harry Styles-lookalike, is Oirish like me and he has some really bad habits. I mean, really bad. He has a great chest but his sins are definitely going to find him out. Bossy Robyn's kind of a cold fish. The group think she must have worked in management when she was alive...!
The slutty but (oddly) Christian Patricia is played by Elarica Gallacher, a gorgeous young actress whom I recently watched in the best horror film I've seen in a long time, THE FORGOTTEN (2014). She was bloody brilliant in it.
Apparently, she was in HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE as well, but I haven't seen that one. HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE was quite enough Harry bloody Potter for me, thank you very much. Those movies are, like, eight hours long apiece and there's, like, a million of 'em...!
Apparently, she was in HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE as well, but I haven't seen that one. HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE was quite enough Harry bloody Potter for me, thank you very much. Those movies are, like, eight hours long apiece and there's, like, a million of 'em...!
Livvy loves her mum, which is sweet, but the first time we see Livvy she's having sex with Seb and Patricia. Naughty girl! She's stunningly good-looking but she also looks like one of those chicks who get in documentaries on the telly about how the girls of today are drinking too much and shagging guys they've only just met without using adequate protection. You know the type of thing.
GIRLS ON HOLIDAY or GIRLS' NIGHT OUT or GIRLS ABROAD or GIRLS ON A SUPER-TACKY DRUNKEN HEN-NIGHT WHERE YOU END UP WITH YOUR KNICKERS IN YOUR HANDBAG, THAT'S IF YOU WERE WEARING ANY TO BEGIN WITH, that kind of thing. I know I'm being judgemental but hellooooo, total Party Girl alert...! There's not much to say about Onie so I guess I won't. Say much, that is.
The film is a bit far-fetched and confusing at times, but it's basically a fun, imaginative and entertaining watch and it's certainly based on a terrific concept. The good news for all you horror peeps out there is that it's coming to DVD (for your convenience and entertainment, I might add!) on April 18th 2016, courtesy of ICON FILM DISTRIBUTION and FRIGHTFEST PRESENTS. How bleedin' handy's that?
Just to add that the same lovely folks will be bringing out other horror film releases on DVD over April/May 2016 as well, films like ESTRANGED, THE SAND, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEB and SOME KIND OF HATE. They're all well worth a look. You have my word on it, plus I'll keep ye posted. How nice am I...?
That'll give you guys something to look forward to this summer, and something to do when all the 'normals' are out frying themselves to a crisp under the temperamental yellow orb they call the sun. Summer's a rough season for us horror fans. We're basically just holding out for Halloween, which by the way is a mere six and a half months away now!
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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