Written and directed by Robert Hall, ‘Laid To Rest’ is a slasher horror about a serial killer called Chrome Skull. He stalks and kills his prey whilst wearing a metal mask, making recordings of the murders on his video camera which he later sends to the police. We learn that he’s done this in several states throughout America, and that he’s a 30/40 something Caucasian male; that’s roughly it though, that’s about all the background that we have.
The film starts with our main lady (Bobbi Sue Luther) trapped inside a coffin, and almost from the very second she escapes from the coffin she witnesses Chrome Skull in killing action. She makes her way to the road, and a man named Tucker (Kevin Gage) picks her up, taking her back to his home where he and his wife Cindy (Lena Headey) offer her shelter for the night. She doesn’t know who she is or where she’s from, all she knows is that there’s a killer on the loose in the area, and she therefore wants to get to the police to tell them about it. The station’s some way away, and they all intend to make the trip down there in the morning after some breakfast; things don’t quite go as planned though, and before long it’s time to take off and run again as Chrome Skull has tracked them down.
Whilst watching ‘Laid To Rest’, I wasn’t really too sure what to make of the film at times. The death scenes are pretty gory and gruesome, there’s no real substance to the film though, and even when the killer claims another victim there’s no real emotional attachment there. The acting quality is okay on the whole, no one puts in a show stopping performance however, and Bobbi Sue Luther is quite weak as the film’s leading lady.
Director Robert Hall obviously has a passion for horror, and this is something that comes through here, the ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ makeup artist should perhaps stick to his day job though, as I’m not too sure that directing is really his forte.
If you like your gore then you should be fairly impressed with the death scenes in ‘Laid To Rest’, the film doesn’t build particularly well though, and whilst it may be gory; none of it is hugely memorable. ‘Laid To Rest’ is lacking in substance, and whilst it’s clear that Robert Hall is pretty clued up on his slasher horror films from the past; this is by no means a slasher classic.
If you’re a fan of slasher horror then it’s probably worth renting ‘Laid To Rest’ for a one-time viewing, after you’ve seen it once the chances are that you won’t want to be watching it again though, so it’s probably best not to invest in this one. I’ve seen worse at the cinema than the direct-to-DVD slasher that is ‘Laid To Rest’, and didn’t feel that it was a complete waste of 90 minutes; whilst it could be worse it’s still no classic though, and not a film that I’m ever likely to be viewing again in the future.
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UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.