"Dead Still" actually turned out better than I had anticipated, given the less than impressive reviews and overall rating that the movie had received here on IMDb. But still, it is a horror movie, and that alone had me interested. But given the negative vibe to the reviews and such, then I must admit that my hopes for the movie weren't great.
However, I was more than genuinely surprised that the movie was better than I had hoped (or feared) that it would turn out to be. Sure, it wasn't a horror masterpiece, but it still an entertaining enough movie, and it did have some originality to it, which was what kept the movie afloat.
The story was somewhat different from what I had expected and it was that aspect of the movie that particularly turned out to be a fresh addition to the horror genre. The storyline is about a wedding photographer who inherits an antique camera, that has been used previously to take obscure death-scene photographs. And strange deaths starts occurring around the talented photographer, which are tied to the old camera.
I will say that I was actually genuinely entertained by the movie, despite it not being a groundbreaking monument in the horror genre. But it still turned out to be entertaining and it did have a sense of originality to it.
The acting in the movie was adequate for most parts, but I must say that it was especially Ray Wise who carried the biggest part of the movie with his performance and his usual wicked charisma on the screen.
The effects in the movie were actually quite good, especially the creature make-up and designs. I liked those quite a lot. Just a shame that they weren't more actively used in the entire movie.
"Dead Still" is actually a good choice for a movie if you are in for an evening of horror movies. I was more than genuinely entertained and pleasantly surprised with it. Who knows, you might just be as well...
