What price would you pay for immortality? This is one of those questions which often forms the basis for a good supernatural yarn, and there are many of those. So, if Dead Love were to ask that very same question it would need to be something quite special to set it apart from the multitude of stories that came before it. Co-writers Emanuel Isler and Chad Israel do their very best to achieve just that, but what new twists can be wrung out of this age-old plot device?
Dead Love is a film about love and loss. How we deal with great emotional turmoil, and what lengths we would go to in order to carry on after the death of a loved one. A promising yet familiar premise, to which somebody somewhere felt like taking a gamble on a largely inexperienced cast and crew, in the hope of injecting some fresh twists – and I am happy to say that the end result is a mostly positive one.
The film begins with a woman committing suicide. We discover that she is the mother of Brandon, one of only four main characters in the story. Soft-spoken Brandon played by Grayson Low, in his debut feature film, is a man, deep within the clutches of mourning, having recently lost his beloved mother. He is a largely two-dimensional character, displaying very little emotion despite being deeply depressed, yet strangely not adverse to occasionally bursting into song. Whilst choosing a suitable coffin for his mother, Katarina, the funeral director played by Kate Linder (The Young and the Restless, 1973-2018) attempts to set him up with her younger sister, Fiona (Nicole Elizabeth Olson). However, Brandon is not an easy man to win over but does reluctantly agree to go for dinner in exchange for a heavy discount on a coffin. Fiona’s pursuit of Brandon is merciless, but he has other things on his mind, namely the nightmares that plague him every night – some of him killing himself, others of his own mother conducting a living autopsy on him. So yeah, not really in a romantic mood.
Dead Love is a very slow movie, and you are kept waiting before the truth of the matter is revealed and indeed the pursuit of immortality is the order of the day. However, in order to achieve said eternal status requires you to eat your own mother. Didn’t see that coming, did you? No points for guessing what Brandon is served up for dinner. Mmmm.
[Related: The blood doesn’t wash away with ‘Dead Love’ – Trailer]
Dead Love is written by the novelist Emanuel Isler and Chad Israel, who together also co-wrote The Charnel House, 2016. Directing duties fall to Colin Floom and Greg Nemer, and although there’s not much else in their back catalogs other than short films, they surpass the IMDb listings for the majority of the other cast and crew. Indeed, for 3 of the 4 main cast, this is their debut feature. However, in this reviewer’s humble opinion, it is one of these newcomers, Bob Buckley as Lassiter, that absolutely steals the show. His portrayal of a love-scorned jealous husband, is a level above any other performance. He is a name I will definitely be looking out for in the future.
Cinematography comes courtesy of new-comer Luke Askelson, and the score is wonderfully composed by Alexander Seminara and Malgorzata Wacht. All three of these rising talents really hit the ground running, providing atmosphere and an overall engaging viewing experience.
Dead Love offers a fresh, yet not always compelling tale of supernatural love, with some really promising performances both in front of and behind the camera. It won’t set the movie world alight, but it’s more than capable of holding its own against bigger budget movies.
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