A Place Among the Dead

I've never seen a more truthful brave film. I can't emphasize this enough.

You go into this movie expecting a horror and leave baring your soul to whoever will listen. Artistically inventive by sewing genre's together with care. Rather than boxing herself into a style for convention sake, Juliet chooses instead to tell her story the way she wants to. From the onset of the film you know exactly what truth she wants you to hear, and then from there she guides you through all the reasons why. Though the undead do walk in this film, this isn't a reimagining of Drusilla, the Sid & Nancy hybrid vampire from Buffy the Vampire Slayer that Juliet is rightly famous for but instead gives you a study on the diversity of evil.

Interwoven throughout this fictional thriller story are some familiar faces of Hollywood's vampirical elite giving their perspectives on evil. These documentary style interviews offer thought provoking moments to the story being told.

Juliet makes the case that some people raised by evil become a reflection of those that raised them, while others become emboldened to be anything but that reflection. The film illustrates the challenges one can face when struggling to fight those demons that take root as a child and grow along with you into adulthood.

I'm so moved by this film that I'm reminded how incredibly brave Carrie Fisher was with her autobiographies after her Star Wars fame. Inviting the world to see not everything in Hollywood is glitz and glamour even if you're on top. I think the world adored her more for it. In similar fashion I believe this film will have Juliet's fans adore her more for making it.

Juliet Landau's directorial debut is a fantastic take on narcissism, using vampirism as the ultimate metaphor to address this all-too-overlooked issue. Landau also gives a stunning, emotional performance as Jules - a version of Landau herself that reflects her upbringing as the child of celebrities. The film's atmosphere is quite Lynchian (think Mulholland Drive). While it is entertaining and will appeal to Landau's 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' fans, the themes speak to a much wider audience. Having seen this mesmerising film several times (and discussed it with Landau), I still have questions - which is good, because this is a thought-provoking film that should be pondered and discussed.

Juliet Landau's feature film directorial debut explores some dark themes. It's a raw look at narcissism and how one can lose themselves when they find themselves consumed by darkness. Juliet's performance is brilliant. She really opens up and lets the audience see her at her most vulnerable. The cinematography is beautiful. Great cameos by some famous faces playing themselves. The interviews were so natural i thought they were excepts from Landau's unreleased companion project The "Undead" series which features interviews with writers, actors and directors who have worked on vampire driven projects. But, it turns out, the interviews in the film were actually scripted and performed by the celebrities who were playing hybrid versions of themselves. Sheer brilliance.

This film expertly uses the vampire genre to explore the repercussions of growing up under the sway of narcissism and evil. It is a revealing and often terrifying meld of fact, fiction and the fantastical. If you have ever suffered the under the control of a narcissist this film is a must see. I have seen it 4 times and each viewing has revealed more and more layers it is a powerful piece of film making.

I really didn't wanted to miss this movie and did two premieres and I am waiting an other opportunity to watch it again because at every watch you discover things you didn't the previous one. A movie that make you ask yourself a lot of questions, and really unique in the way it deals with narcissism. I really enjoyed this movie and give it a deserved 10/10.