Unrest

This is a solid little low budget horror film with enough tension, humor and gore to keep the horror movie fans entertained. There are strong performances from some recognizable up and comers, including the two leads.

The story is about a female med student who tries to uncover the past of her gross anatomy class cadaver as terror invades the halls of the school. The med student is an atheist, and yet she senses things about the cadaver that lead her to question her own beliefs about spirits, and drive her to find out the truth behind the woman's death.

As she closes in on the truth, the murders increase, making the audience wonder if the cause is really supernatural or if another student or staff member is behind it all.

There are some nice little "gotchya" moments that make you embarrassed that you jumped out of your seat. And some funny scenes when you understand why it's called "gross" anatomy.

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.

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!!!

Let me start off by saying it's not a bad film. I didn't hate it, I just didn't fall in love with it. But I'm glad I watched it.

The cinematography is very good, the whole piece is generally rather beautiful. But can beauty make up for a lack of plot or substance? The first half is very good. Scrap that the first two thirds are very good. The build up, the general air of unease created, spot on. Then we have this particular films 'reveal' and it all quickly goes downhill from there.

Don't get me wrong, if you are a horror fan I would recommend this over any Saw (bar the original) any day, if only for the originality of the setting. I just don't see it going mainstream.

Oh, one more thing; you will never see the phrase 'dipping your toe in the water' in the same light again!

If you're looking for a movie with some good spookiness, then this isn't the movie for you. Although the trailer suggests that the movie is to die for, it's not. There are some times in the movie were one gets spooked, but only by the soundtrack of the film. The movie takes you from one place to another without really being clear on where it's going. Although you might think twice about going to medical school if you aren't ready to face some real bodies, this is the closest you might get to a corpse if they make you feel queasy. This movie is definitely no more than rated 'R' for audiences in general. It's not too violent at all. I was quite dissatisfied with this film.