Digging to Death (2021) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
40 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
5/10
A watchable but generally unimpressive entry
After attempting to repair his yard, a man uncovers a strange box filled with money and a dead body inside, and after spending some of the money finds himself haunted by the figure found with the money which causes him to question his sanity as the events begin to disrupt his life.

This was a pretty decent but highly flawed effort. Among its better qualities is the rather fun nature in which this one comes about setting up its premise and eventual setup to be put in play later. The innocent nature of the discovery of the box and its contents, uncovering them while preparing a section of the yard during a fi-up session, comes off quite nicely and believably since there's not anything unnatural or impossible about it. The circumstances are anything any homeowner could potentially come across and experience. When this in turn leads to the fun discovery of the series of hauntings and encounters that come about with him believing that the corpse found inside is still alive creates a highly impressive atmosphere as he becomes increasingly frazzled and paranoid following each of the encounters as they build up in intensity. It does enhance the tempo of the final half rather nicely, but it's all that really holds this one up. There are a few issues here. The main problem is the fact that so much of this one is dependent on the idea of him hiding the money with a guilty conscience about reporting it and the dead body that anything that occurs around him is supernatural. So much of this one is based on him being jumpy at shadows or cats screeching off in the distance or even more innocuous aspects that it just wears thin after a while with so many of these false jump-scares turning out to be nothing that it lessens the impact of the actual scares later on. Even worse, because of the repetitious manner of these scenes playing out the film's first half is quite dull and predictable even with all these supernatural hauntings taking place. The other issue here is the rather bizarre structure that tends to highlight several factors that expose his plans. The constant back-and-forth nature of constantly burying stuff inside the box only to have to dig it back up several times over meaning it would've been obvious what he was doing to his neighbors constantly seeing him have to dig up the same part of his yard.it makes sense that he has to keep doing it due to his mental snap but the fact that no one notices this factor is quite strange. As well, there's also the issue of the finale making no real sense, injecting a rather odd amount of action that comes off somewhat oddly with little point and context which highlights a highly underwhelming and confusing ending that doesn't come off with any kind of explanation for what's happening. These all end up lowering the film for the most part.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.
5 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
4/10
What The Crap!
slapdog315 October 2021
Not Horror Nor Thriller...Comedy/What The Crap, Good For a Laugh Or Two Like I Did Then I Decided To Not Watch ANYMORE!!!...If You Like To Watch Horror Movies Or Thriller Movies, I Wouldn't Suggest This, Now For a Nonsense Comedy Flick, Well You Just Go Right Ahead And Enjoy It!
6 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Fraud of the 10's
baxter_clete27 October 2021
If you click on the user names of the "10 rated" reviews you see that all their reviews are for independent low budget flicks, they're all rated 10, and they're all identical reviews and titles. Everyone has been copied and pasted. And they all say how great the acting is. Lol.
18 out of 23 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Not very good
jhr201222 September 2021
Had potential, but eventually spiraled out of control into a nonsensical mess.

You'll keep expecting it to go in one direction, but it never does.
12 out of 17 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Ignore all the high ratings.... Especially the 10's
mcooknoe4 October 2021
There are B movies then there's this... which deserves its own designation of an F movie. Bad acting.... Bad writing.... And all those 10 ratings must be associated with this mess of a movie in some way!
13 out of 19 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Basic premise is interesting, but everything else sucks.
ranwulfs18 October 2021
The idea starts well, but soon spirals down the drain. It's easy to lay the blame for things like that at the feet of the director, but the issues with this film are the fault of everyone involved. The acting is subpar, the writing comes off like the group effort of a middle school drama club, and the directing is all over the place. But hey - let's talk about those "10" reviews. Read them, because they're hysterical: most of them are semiliterate in any language, and clearly bogus. I'm pretty certain there are shady companies that can be hired by desperate film makers to boost their crappy film's ratings by employing dozens of shills (at a pittance, no doubt) to register accounts and rave about how great it is. How else explain so many badly written, two sentence reviews in broken English for a movie *in* English? Whenever I see this happen, I make a special note to try to avoid anything that comes from this production company in the future (assuming they can get another one of these turkeys green-lit, which would be terribly disappointing). Stacking the deck to fool potential viewers is tantamount to fraud, in my book. Hard pass on this one.
10 out of 16 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Hmmmmm......
neverdie214221 September 2021
A solid two stars....no fault of the actors...but the storyline was not very good.....I made it through to the end...Barely...
4 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Money Corrupts Sanity...Or Does It?
spookyspice3 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Digging To Death is an indie film about one man's descent into madness.

Following a divorce, our main character David moves into a new house (a fixer upper if you will) we're introduced to his Daughter who is helping him move in and that's where we find out his daughter has health issues, David is up for a promotion and says he'll take care of her expensive medicine so she doesn't worry.

Within the first half an hour or so, we know he's under a lot of stress (he doesn't have the promotion in the bag and he's just found a buried dead body in his backyard with a huge sum of money next to the body).

The rest of the film plays out focusing on David losing his mind, but I think he was already going crazy and perhaps the divorce was the catalyst that broke him. He talks to himself in the mirror and his reflection answers back, he zones out (useful scene jumping to visualize this) but when he goes full on crazy, it feels out of place and almost comedically violent and awkward. Violent for violence's sake.

The body count starts piling up and anyone else who is in this movie is on the basement floor.

I'm assuming the main plot was money corrupts, power, sanity, relationships, everything. But this main character was going off the deep end too quickly for it to be the money, or seeing the dead guy every night.

I did enjoy the score and the cinematography, yes it's an indie film but it's done with real equipment, it doesn't look like a terrible phone quality film.

The way this film is paced just felt very off to me, awkward like. But that is just my opinion, feel free to check it out for yourself and see if you like it.

Digging to Death is out now on VOD platforms and DVD.
6 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
"There's a body in a box in my backyard."
classicsoncall1 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This was a decent attempt at a horror thriller, and with a little more work and a bit of finesse, could have been something special. The concept was good, but the direction is erratic and the choice of some actors for their respective roles don't quite work, like Richard Riehle as the landscape guy Allen, and Ken Hudson Campbell as the best friend of David Vanowen (Ford Austin). There are a couple of quite noticeable continuity problems, like the time Vanowen moves the money back into the box in the backyard, bundled into a black garbage bag. He nails the box shut, but when he opens it back up, the money can be seen loosely stacked. The next day the money is back in a garbage bag. Even more apparent is the time David disposed of his bloody clothes in the dumpster after he got fired. He's wearing a clean, white t-shirt, but when he gets back into his car to drive away, the shirt is blood soaked at the right shoulder. These instances were just too glaring and spoke to the carelessness of the film makers.

What I think the impression they were trying to go for was the idea that David Vanowen was always a mental case. It's pretty much confirmed when he brings his 'first' body down into the basement of the house, and there are already a handful there. You're left to wonder if they were put there by the prior owner of the house, but if he was the dead guy in the box, then how did HE get there? You try to wrap your head around the inconsistencies in the story and they point to David being insane. After he gets fired of course, then the mental breakdown becomes all the more evident.

There are a few unanticipated jump scares in the story, particularly the ones involving the corpse, which pops up now and then to create havoc with David's mental state. The paranoia over losing the money if someone found out he was a millionaire appeared to be the catalyst for his rapid decline, but if he were rational to begin with, why couldn't he have put the money away in a safe place and called authorities to deal with the dead body. It's not like he could have been the murderer if he had just bought the house and telegraphed his intention to put in a new septic. When you go full circle, you almost have to consider that the dead guy in the box was David himself to begin with, and the film played out as a recurring nightmare of a dead man.
5 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Absolute nonsense!
oohahcantona25 April 2021
Do not waste even 5minutes of your like watching this utter garbage!
10 out of 18 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
what would you do....?
ops-5253525 February 2021
If you found a puddlestack of money dug down in the backyard of your newly bought house, and it becomes clear that these money are pretty haunted and malificently printed values with serial number F... Y..666, with the reaper man on the reverse side where the white neckline says''its a human number, the number of the beast''.

well do as the grumpy old man did and watch and learn how to overcome the burden of getting rich in an instant. and if you like the acts of Rich-ard Riele, you will be pleasantly surprised he is still alive and kicking in his 418 th feature film entry on the imdb's actors list.

its a small cast comedy with a horses kick of human deprevation and desperation , with twists and turns that makes you laugh before they come, alla good old situation comedy. the sast is clearly b- division professional actors, with loads of experience, the production are quite original, very frank and easy and very well plotted. musical score is bullseye, and overall pretty seamless, though some sound flaws here and there.

so if you need a little macabareic dark comedy, then its a recommend, with a strong 8
10 out of 25 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Interesting
BandSAboutMovies1 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
We just moved into a new house on October of last year. It's a rough experience, as you go from the expected to the unknown and every step of the way, you feel like you're on your own, as everyone takes advantage of you.

That's the situation David Van Owen (Ford Austin, who is amazing in this) finds himself in when he buys a new home and can barely afford a contractor to fix the septic line. Handling it himself, he finds a box buried in his backyard with $3 million dollars and a corpse.
2 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Solid no.
icemaciop9 May 2021
If I could give 0 star rating it would be a solid choice. Definitely not something to waste time on.
7 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
0/10 is too good for this movie
mycull-231-12290813 December 2021
Everyone involved should NEVER work again.

Poor writing, poor acting, not a horror but just plain horrible.

Hopefully, the actors were paid well, because I'm sure they will not find any work for a long time.
4 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Worst movie I've seen in a long time
lisamcullo30 October 2021
I usually don't take the time to review movies however this movie started off with a lot of potential and a good plot potential then turned completely and utterly ridiculous and unbelievable.
3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
90 minutes you'll never get back
davelagrande1 November 2021
This was easily one of the top 3 WORST films I've ever seen. What a complete waste of time. Outside of the premise of the story - which was thought provoking, everything else about this was terrible! This isn't even what I'd consider art. Shame on Amazon for even listing this piece of crap. The End.
2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Waste of time
fabimed22 February 2022
This movie it's not worth your time, it's all over the place, tries to be funny but fails, tries to be horror and fails again.

Starts off as interesting but the storyline somehow go down the drain after a few minutes.

The actors not delivering.

All and all disappointing.

It's my fault after reading reviews I gave it a try.

Don't make the same mistake!
2 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
A Macabre Dark Tale of Greed.
jhmoondance4 January 2022
Well......that was a weird tale of money n greed with a thriller twist. The story was authentic n mind blowing. There were some tense moments n some good suspense scenes all basically shot in one location.

The acting was really good n the characters were brilliant.

The ending had a great twist n was unexpected.

I recommend this movie especially if you like dark macabre thrillers n I wouldn't put this in the horror genre.
3 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Fabulous movie !
zeeking18 March 2021
This movie is so awesome. The lead acting is very good. Good and unique plot. Much better than many other horror movies. The movie is funny as well as scary with its moments.
8 out of 21 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Never boring but quite disturbing later
catfanatic8889 October 2021
I can't say much without giving too much away. It starts out somewhat plausible but goes WAY dark in the last 30 minutes. Interesting but SO dark later...
3 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Pretty Deep For A Horror/Thriller
yrkvbynq27 June 2021
The movie was pretty good for the genre. There were a few weak moments such as the boss' acting, but overall I was on the edge of my seat and felt tense most of the movie and didn't know what was coming next. This movie was a pleasant surprise and worth the watch.
2 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
OMG, what a B-type horror.
lovnajing8 June 2021
Yes, this is it. What can you do if you have tons of money deep in your backyard? The main character, he is the one who carry this film at the end. You can enjoy it!
4 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Surprisingly Entertaining
johnbamber-543-3905051 November 2022
I like movies like this; the ones that make you think about what you'd do in that same situation. Would you call and report what you found, or do what David does and lose your marbles with that dilemma.

The actor who played David really performed his descent into madness very well. He was very convincing. The other actors were descent, but not terrible.

This very much checks all the boxes for a cheesy horror movie, but also leaves a few unchecked. I didn't find the movie to be predictable, I thought the cinematography and editing was on par, and the dialogue/script was honestly not the worst.

Are there better horror movies out there? For sure. Should you skip this one? I'd say no.
1 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Ugh!! Love /hate
bonkalove-6336930 December 2021
Why do I keep watching? I think I love the main character. But everything else is bad. Writing, viewing (covers all editing, audio, video) reminds me of decades old scary movies. Cheesy. I think that's why I LOVE it!.
1 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
So, this movie is surprisingly funny
dan-dubya20 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Definitely a B movie. We stopped watching after 30. Read some reviews on IMDb. Decided to skip ahead a bit because it progresses so slowly. There are some funny scenes. Probably be absolutely hilarious if we were high. When he walked on the broken coffee cup from days prior that he didn't pick up for some reason, and he was dragging his foot on the filthy walkways like his entire leg didn't work, we were laughing and laughing and he screamed in pain. It was pretty funny. Him going to work bloodied up and acting all nonchalant - comedy gold.

Bludgeoning is daughter was kinda mad - bit of a bad look.
1 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
An error has occured. Please try again.

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed