UNREST
© Lionsgate
Mania Grade: C
Rated: R
Cast: Corri English, Scot Davis, Joshua Alba, Jay Jablonski
Writer: Chris Billett, Jason Todd Ipson
Director: Jason Todd Ipson
Distributor: Lionsgate
Original Year of Release: 2007
Extras: Audio commentary with director Jason Todd Ipson andeditor Mike Saenz, Behind the Scenes Feaurette, Trailers
Buy it now!
Rated: R
Cast: Corri English, Scot Davis, Joshua Alba, Jay Jablonski
Writer: Chris Billett, Jason Todd Ipson
Director: Jason Todd Ipson
Distributor: Lionsgate
Original Year of Release: 2007
Extras: Audio commentary with director Jason Todd Ipson andeditor Mike Saenz, Behind the Scenes Feaurette, Trailers
Buy it now!
UNREST
By: Tim JansonReview Date: Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Of all films released thus far in the After Dark Horrorfest series, the one, which I thought had the best premise, was Unrest. The story of first year medical students, performing their first cadaver dissections in an eerie hospital morgue seemed to have all the makings for a terrific horror film. Unfortunately the delivery didn’t match the premise.
A select group of students is welcomed by Dr. Blackwell into the morgue for “Gross Anatomy” and split into teams of four to perform their first dissections. Pretty Alison Blanchard (Corri English) is teamed with Brian, Carlos (played by Josh Alba, Brother of Jessica Alba), and smart-ass prankster Rick. Alison got notification of her acceptance at the last minute and therefore, has to live in a small dorm room down the hall from the morgue. Their cadaver is revealed as a fairly young woman, whose face is deeply scarred by self-inflicted wounds. Alison promptly throws up and feints but what the others view as first-time jitters, Alison feels something more…that there is something wrong with their corpse. Against the protests of her partners, she sets about trying to find out whatever she can about the woman.
Meanwhile, it seems as if anyone coming into contact with the corpse begins turning up dead. Alison is not a spiritual person but she has definite empathetic abilities and senses. Blackwell thinks the whole matter is nonsense, even after a couple of orderlies who first unpacked the body turn up dead. Alison begins to turn of secrets about the woman that should have been better left alone and she soon has to find a way to stop this spirit before it claims her and Brian.
I’m not normally one to point out continuity gaffes in films but there are so many that stand out in Unrest that its hard to ignore them. One of the orderlies, Malcom, is the first victim of the spirit near the start of the film, yet his body is not discovered until close to the end…in the shower of the bathroom that Alison uses. Now we are at least a couple of days into their time at the hospital…are we to assume Alison has been walking around stinking without taking a shower?
At one point, another victim lies bleeding to death, and Alison wakes up, as if she were having a nightmare. Did she just dream the whole thing? It’ll be several minutes before you actually find out what happened. On top of that, there are several others who are killed offscreen and you don’t know they are dead until their bodies are discovered. Did anybody tell these guys this was supposed to be a horror film? Once the secret of the corpse is revealed, if you’re still interested, it’s really pretty ridiculous, almost as if the writers and director thought of it on the spur on the moment.
Editing is something you rarely notice unless it happens to smack you in the face as it does in Unrest. Scenes shift abruptly leaving the viewer completely in the dark as to what is happening. Ironic then that the editor is included on the commentary track…
The film does make great use of the gloomy, hospital morgue setting. Long, dark, empty hallways abound with motion sensor lighting. The cadavers also look extraordinary so I must give credit to the makeup and prop designers.
The performances in Unrest were Ok although most of the cast was playing one-dimensional characters with the exception of English, who did get to stretch herself somewhat. No one was bad really, but no one was all that interesting either.
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Oh well, hopefully the next one I watch will be better.