Playing like a homemade short uploaded to YouTube (though with Vimeo levels of sex and violence), TALES FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (or the more long-winded 2 DE NOVIEMBRE DIA DE LOS DIFUNTOS) is mostly shot-on-video amateur hour, though a couple startling moments give it a bit of pop.
Structured as an anthology, the film's wraparound is so half-assed it's almost comic: it's just one guy with a head-scarf and some pasty make-up standing next to a big skull in front of a plain white wall. He tells us three tales of restless souls on The Day of the Dead:
The first finds a woman mourning the loss of her husband who strikes a deal with a Satanic figure to bring him back (despite his corpse's protestations from inside its coffin). This all leads (SPOILER) to a cheapjack but fairly nauseating scene of necrophilia when hubby comes home to bed. For what little it's worth, this is the film at its best - when you've got no stars or budget, as a horror movie, the least you can do is be memorably horrific.
Second story is similar, with a bickering couple stopping at the cemetery to visit the husband's recently departed wife. As the guy's new paramour begins seeing visions of her that drive them out of the graveyard, they head back home to relax and make love, leading to a similar gross-out punchline. (Once again, the film earns goodwill by at least going for the outrageous, throwing in a bunch of gratuitous nudity, sex, and gore.)
The third "story" is a non-starter: a woman buys a Ouija board and summons a spirit which compels her to kill - that's it. No punchline or grossout panache like the first two, just a quick ride to nowhere a la the non-stories in Chester Turner's TALES FROM THE QUADEAD ZONE 30 years prior.
As previously expressed, production values are poor, with the film seemingly shot Dogme 95-style despite coming out decades after that trend went out of vogue. It's a shame, as the makeup FX are about all this film has going for it. The result is not a total wash, but about as close as possible while still having the occasional bright spot.
Structured as an anthology, the film's wraparound is so half-assed it's almost comic: it's just one guy with a head-scarf and some pasty make-up standing next to a big skull in front of a plain white wall. He tells us three tales of restless souls on The Day of the Dead:
The first finds a woman mourning the loss of her husband who strikes a deal with a Satanic figure to bring him back (despite his corpse's protestations from inside its coffin). This all leads (SPOILER) to a cheapjack but fairly nauseating scene of necrophilia when hubby comes home to bed. For what little it's worth, this is the film at its best - when you've got no stars or budget, as a horror movie, the least you can do is be memorably horrific.
Second story is similar, with a bickering couple stopping at the cemetery to visit the husband's recently departed wife. As the guy's new paramour begins seeing visions of her that drive them out of the graveyard, they head back home to relax and make love, leading to a similar gross-out punchline. (Once again, the film earns goodwill by at least going for the outrageous, throwing in a bunch of gratuitous nudity, sex, and gore.)
The third "story" is a non-starter: a woman buys a Ouija board and summons a spirit which compels her to kill - that's it. No punchline or grossout panache like the first two, just a quick ride to nowhere a la the non-stories in Chester Turner's TALES FROM THE QUADEAD ZONE 30 years prior.
As previously expressed, production values are poor, with the film seemingly shot Dogme 95-style despite coming out decades after that trend went out of vogue. It's a shame, as the makeup FX are about all this film has going for it. The result is not a total wash, but about as close as possible while still having the occasional bright spot.
