Search - Dead Mary on DVD

Glad I Took A Chance...

Ron E. Millisor | Columbus, OH | 02/22/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There are lots of low budget horror movies that give the genre a bad name. I had almost given up the idea that any of these sort of throw away movies could produce any real horror or suspense. I'm glad I took a chance on "Dead Mary", and you will be too. It's just the sort of late night spookshow that would be a great addition for anyone's library. You want the real deal?? Don't watch this one alone with the lights out!"

Pretty good movie...

Don Cheeto | Bakersfield, CA | 03/14/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"...this movie was quite a surprise. It is about a group that go spend a weekend in the woods. They play a game of "Dead Mary" and then mysterious things begin to happen. Reminds me of "The Thing" in the sense of paranoia. Everyone thinks they have become a monster and are not sure who to trust. Interesting flick worthy off adding to you r collection."

Dead Mary; who knew?

jbot | Seattle, WA | 02/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Starts off like a sleazy version of Dawson's Creek. We watch as Kim (Dominique Swain) and all her friends set up at a cabin for a long weekend. The first half hour of the film is spent getting to know the characters; right off the bat Kim and her boyfriend Matt are at odds (blah, blah, blah) and that sets the framework for some of the other drama that follows. Bottom line is they're all friends who have no problem with screwing each other over. Kind of illustrating the sort of blank existence I've seen associated with extreme stereotypes of Gen X-ers, cynical to the point of melodrama. However, I did find that it reinforced the feeling of seclusion and paranoia central to the theme of the movie and while slow paced in the beginning it kind of made up for it at the end.



The pace starts to pick up a bit when the group is hanging out having drinks and the conversation turns to Dead Mary. I was happy Kim at least referenced the Bloody Mary urban legend and acknowledged the variance giving the story a small touch of realism(tee hee). After a few of them go into the bathroom to inadvertently conjure a demon, which we later find, possesses or infects a person, then forces the possessed to kill thus spreading said possession or infection, the action ramps up a bit. Fade to black (Literally).



From here on out, I have to say, I loved this film. The subtlety throughout the story was notable; there was never that feeling of any danger until something happened and caught me off guard and also had me saying "Wait a minute what just happened?" This for me made the entire film very worthwhile. An added worthiness was the fact that the supernatural force stalking the group worked more like a spiritual possession / virus enabling the possessed / infected to see and share everyone's darkest secret at the other's expense. Also, the awesome thing about this is that you can literally mangle the person, watch them die, and then a few minutes later they regenerate all while spouting party fouls and faux-paus and this alone made up for the slow character build-up at the beginning of the movie for me. This element would not have worked nearly as well or been half as gratifying when we find out which character banged the other friend's significant other if the viewer had not had some insight into the characters lives and secretly wanted them to die just so they would stop talking.





This movie is definitely achieved cult status in my library. Dead Mary does a great job of building that feeling of seclusion, a common byproduct of paranoia. I'll admit going into this I wasn't really sure about it but I was so pleasantly surprised. There was a decent amount of gore, excellent pacing and some great one liners; "Stop hitting my face with garden tools!!" Ha! Buy, rent, or watch this film.

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Decent for direct-to-video horror

DaveP | USA | 04/16/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"An decent flick for the direct-to-video horror genre. There's a kind of a "The Thing" feel to this with a sprinking of "Candyman" which works (surprisingly) fairly well for the most part, even with the ambiguous ending. It allows for some suspense and a few genuine scares. Pretty good performances from the cast and excellent atmosphere make this watchable."