Writer: Eddie Borey, Chris Borey (Screenplay)
Starring: Sharlto Copley, Thomas Kretschmann, Josie Ho, Joseph Morgan, Erin Richards, Max Wrottesley
Plot: A man wakes up in the wilderness, in a pit full of dead bodies, with no memory and must determine if the murderer is one of the strangers who rescued him, or if he himself is the killer.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Untangle the Web
Story: Open Grave starts with Jonah (Copley) waking up from a near dead state bones clicking all around him as he tries to figure out his surrounding in the early stage of a storm. The horror dawns on Jonah when he finds himself inside of an open grave of dozens of bodies along with a gun, he does get rescued by a mystery person on the outside.
Upon reaching the house he finds out the house is filled with Lukas (Kretschmann), Brown Eyes (Ho), Nathan (Morgan), Sharon (Richards), Michael (Wrottesely) , every single person doesn’t remember a thing, know where they are they just have a card that tells them who they are. The group have to figure out what is going on but is the killer really among them or still stalking them waiting to finish off what they started.
As the group start searching for answers they start to discover what was really going on leading us to a place where we have to continue decide who are the good guys and bad guys all while the subjects start fight back.
Open Grave brings us a mystery that keeps us on our toes from start to finish, I do think the film gets hugely miss-sold because it makes it out that we will see a serial killer and the film goes in a totally different direction. I did like how this film ends up going because you never really know where it is going and even with the hints we only end up asking more questions. The overall idea of using the solving a plague idea works because we to wonder about what caused it and how it could really be cured. In the end I found this to be one of the most surprising films I have seen in recent years even if it echoes another favorite film of mine. (8/10)
Actor Review
Sharlto Copley: John/Jonah is the man who wakes up in the open grave, he ends up joining forces with the other members who have no memory a they try to figure out what has been happening but all the clues show he isn’t in the same group of friends as the rest of the cabin. He does start to have flashbacks about what happened before waking up where he was. Sharlto brings his star power giving us a solid performance. (6/10)
Thomas Kretschmann: Lukas is one of the people who wakes up in the house and takes an instant dislike to John as he questions who John is to the rest of them as John is the only one who doesn’t wake up in the house. He tries to take charge of the situation while figuring out his relationship to the rest. Thomas gives a solid performance but never pulls off the full side of his character. (6/10)
Josie Ho: Brown Eyes is the mute who doesn’t understand any of the languages being spoken which adds to the terror for her character as she has no way to communicate her worries about what is going on. Josie works well in the mute but is mostly used to keep everything left in a question about what is happening. (6/10)
Joseph Morgan: Nathan is the man who believes the house could be his, he speaks many languages apart from the one Brown Eyes speaks and tries to keep things together from inside the house. Joseph does a solid job in the supporting role. (6/10)
Erin Richards: Sharon is one that ends up going with Jonah in search for answers but the two only end up find more questions, she can control Jonah’s temper but who is she really related too. Erin does well in this role but only ends up in a supporting role. (6/10)
Support Cast: Open Grave only has a couple more supporting characters that are either the ones that die early or the ones that are already infected with what has been taking over the world.
Director Review: Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego – Gonzalo brings us a fresh feeling horror that constantly keeps you guessing to what is going on. (8/10)
Horror: Open Grave tries to keep the horror back with snippets of gore letting the thrilling side of the story come though strong. (6/10)
Mystery: Open Grave really drops us into a mystery that we have to try and work out as each secret is revealed. (9/10)
Thriller: Open Grave does keep you guessing until the final scene about what has really been happening. (9/10)
Settings: Open Grave puts our characters in an enclosed area that they are trapped in but not sure what is happening. (9/10)
Suggestion: Open Grave is one for the horror fans to watch, I think it does keep you guessing enough. (Horror Fans Watch)
Best Part: Final Twist.
Worst Part: Slightly miss-sold
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: Could have one.
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too: Resident Evil
Oscar Chances: No
Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
Tagline: The moment you wake up, the nightmare begins
Trivia: The screenplay for this film was featured in the 2006 Blacklist; a list of the “most liked” unmade scripts of the year.
Overall: Horror with twist after twist after twist before we learn the truth
Rating