Unrest (2006)

I think there's something wrong with my corpse.

Could it be that the spirit of a dead cadaver is killing off all those who have medical dealings with her body?

Judging by the unfairly low rating it has on the main internet movie sites, it's very likely that the slow pace and lack of gore has counted against Unrest, which is a big shame. Jason Todd Ipson (director) draws on his real life experiences as a Boston general surgery employee to produce a film of skin itching substance. The premise is nifty and the real location shooting really adds weight to this mortality gone awry tinged horror.

There's a freshness to the film that leaps out, finding a film maker not merely content to pander to the formulaic hordes to win plaudits. Having an impossibly gorgeous female lead (Corri English) as the main protagonist would lend one to think that is not the case, but there's a rawness to English's acting that suits the character perfectly. There's a splendid realism factor to the picture, the blend of the real and the smart effects work nestling nicely together on the mortuary slab.

Atmosphere is a word that has always been key in non blood letting horror parlance, and Unrest has it in abundance. It would have been easy for Ipson to rely on boo-jump shocks, but he doesn't, he uses his knowledge of setting and subject matter to craft a tight and tense thriller that manages to gnaw away at the senses, even ensuring that the cadaver, as dead as she apparently is, is a full and rich character holding court as the body count starts to tot up.

The musical score (Michael Cohen) is a bit intrusive at times, a romantic sub-plot a little pointless, while the finale doesn't quite hit great heights given what has led up to it, but this is a smart dark mood accentuated piece and it is well worth checking out. 7.5/10

Nov 13, 2014