Unrest

Cori English is a new med student working with cadavers who feels there's something strange about the body of a young woman the med students have to dissect. She senses the woman has a back story that involves something evil and with the help of a medical colleague (SCOT DAVIS), she goes about an investigation.

So much for the logic of the plotting before things begin to happen that make no sense whatsoever. The horror depends on whether you're frightened of the undead aspect of the story--supposedly featuring real cadavers for the medical sequences. When the most sympathetic and respectful student dealing with the dead is murdered, you have to wonder what the deal is.

The most professional member of the cast is DERRICK O'CONNOR as Dr. Blackwell, with SCOT DAVIS running a close second. Cori English is a bland leading lady as the investigative med student but the rest of the cast is adequate enough for this low-key horror film.

Summing up: Even a few surprising twists can't save a poorly scripted suspenser. No rational explanation can save the back story about spirits--some nonsense about sacrificial rites to an Aztec God--from being more than a little illogical.

"Unrest" is a film that I had heard about through the horror film community, and I was truly excited about the project. Film-maker Jason Todd Ipson had a decent following, and the buzz about him and this film, was boiling over... When opportunity knocked, I purchased the movie and anticipated an evening of pure terror. First, I must say that the cinematography looks great. Ipson has a keen eye for what makes a scene creepy, with a top-notch lighting scheme and brooding camera angles. The acting is well above average, with solid performances from the entire cast. Yet, the concept is the part that drew me in... The idea of a group on med students whom unearth the dark past of one of their cadavers is both original and scary. Ipson corralled all the right elements, but falls short with the screenplay, which seems to sputter and stall before any real horror transpires. As a whole, I think it has it's merits, and Mr. Ipson should have a promising future.

Unrest focuses on a young girl (very hot young girl) named Alison who is a med student assigned to doing biopsies in the name of education. The problem is the person she is about to work on dabbled into some occult issues and now her soul is not at rest. I really hate when that happens don't you!!! All I can say is as you will see me say about a lot of films at this fest is missed opportunity. This movie had the potential to be a very effective and creepy movie but in the end turns out to be a shallow example of what could have been done with the subject matter at hand. You will see lots of dead bodies in this film, unfortunately they are that way not by a benevolent spirit ripping people to shreds but because we are dealing with a medical school and cadaver carving is part of the studies.

Not to say we do not get some kills as we do and sometimes the film does seem like it may take us to a freaky place but unfortunately it never gets to where you would like it and ends up turning into a by the numbers modern day hodgepodge of ideas. I really was into this movie for the first half but by the time we get to anything really interesting going on (despite the very interesting beginning sequences) most people will have more than likely checked out.

I would have to say that this is a prime example of a rental title. To see this at a theater I felt cheated but to have seen this at home it would not have been all that bad. In the end I give Unrest the infamous: 5/10: Average. It has its ups and downs and a hot lead but even that cannot save it from middle of the road horror. Rental material for all those interested, just do not expect anything great!!!

This is the "8 Films" movie that claims to be the first movie to use a REAL human corpse! Spooky! It's debatable whether that is true, and it's never obvious which one in the movie is a real corpse, so I'm not sure they should have went to the trouble. The "moral" of the story is "don't mess with dead bodies," so this is a rather ironic marketing angle to take. Anywho, "Unrest" takes place in a hospital, where young medical student Alison and her Abercrombie model cohorts are cuttin' up cadavers. Alison lives in the hospital until her financial aid kicks through, and they apparently spend all the time they aren't sleeping (or changing into new scrubs) carving up the same old cadaver. It must be a very resilient corpse! Most of the movie is filmed in the hospital or the confines of Alison's closet-like room. This may just be due to budget restraints, but I thought it created a claustrophobic atmosphere. Considering the lead never leaves the hospital floor and spends half her time with a chopped up corpse and male models pretending to be med students, she has plenty of time to let her mind wander. When random things start happening and she gets a funny feeling in her tummy, she decides that the corpse is trying to tell her something. What, she doesn't know. The evil corpse's alleged antics are amusing, and lead to some nasty killings and bizarre sequences. One of these features our heroes swimming around in a tub of formaldehyde, unaffected by the chemical, even though they're swallowing it and getting it in their eyes. "Unrest" is yet another silly poorly-written movie in the 8 FILMS TO DIE FOR series, but it has its fair share of scares, and is entertaining despite its flaws.

In a medical school, the freshmen students Alison Blanchard (Corri English), Brian Cross (Scot Davis), Carlos Aclar (Joshua Alba) and Rick O'Connor (Jay Jablonski) receive the cadaver of a young woman for dissection in their anatomy class of Professor Walter Blackwell (Derrick O'Connor). The atheist Alison has a weird sensation that the spirit of the copse is trying to communicate with her and tries to unravel who the woman was. Meanwhile, all the persons that handle the corpse mysteriously die.

"Unrest" has a very promising beginning, with a refreshing storyline. However, the screenplay is flawed, with a terrible development of the story of Alita Covas, and the conclusion is totally disappointing. The writer should have made a little research, even in Google, and see that the pre-Colombian civilization of the Aztecs has never lived in Brazil but in Mexico, and they were destroyed by the Spanish conquerors leaded by Fernando Cortez. I have no background in medicine, but my common sense tells me that human beings (alive) jumping or drowning in a formaldehyde tank with dead bodies would have some sort of sequel, if they do not die. The medical students are very skilled, being able to operate an incinerator or to suture a friend. Lots of people die in the hospital-school without any further development of the story or investigation of the police. When Alison drags Alita Covas in a bag through the corridors, there is a track of blood. But the corpse had been prepared for the class; therefore I believe she could never bleed. Again, the writer should have researched in medical schools these (and certainly others) situations. If the viewer does not care to these flaws, the movie is entertaining. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Cadáveres" ("Cadavers")