Other movies in this series:
None

Rish's Reviews
Exhumed is a good title, I think. Touted as "an epic anthology of the undead," it's a no budget production that apparently drew some attention at a film festival or two, but is not something you'll see at your local Ballbuster Video.
It tells three stories. The first is Shi No Mori (The Forest of Death), the first Japanese samurai zombie movie I'm aware of, but hey, I haven't been around. Because it was subtitled, I've no idea if the acting or dialogue is any good (or even if it's convincing Japanese), but it had really impressive effects, music, and a nice story. This is an example of what can be done with dedication, thought, and talent in place of money.
Shadow of Tomorrow! was the second tale, and it was old Film Noir . . . and very noir. It tries to emulate the fast, stylish talk of women in Forties films, but it's not entirely successful.. This would be really hard to pull off, as it's a low budget period piece, and video doesn't look right in zero light black and white. I didn't intend a rhyme there, actually. Unfortunately, this segment is long, dull, and rambling.
The third story was called Last Rumble, and was set in a neat fascist future made up of vampires, humans, and werewolves, and some kind of gang war involving mods and rockers (that they called themselves that was a bit over-the-top, but ah well). In fact, this whole segment suffered from a lack of subtlety. The girl in this third story was actually quite attractive . . . but she would've been more so if she didn't have that metal shit in her face, pardon my French. Also, it had a nice werewolf/vampire lesbian subplot . . . not bad.
A Canadian production, you'd occasionally hear that odd pronunciation. Clearly, this was a labour of love, with its low, low budget put together by asking for loans and maxing out credit cards. I try not to be hard on films like this, and the script was pretty good, though it could have used some tightening. That's probably a big stumbling-block in short films, student productions, and non-professional works, that they're hesitant to cut out things they've worked so hard on. There were a lot of good ideas here, but it really exceeds its grasp. The more ambitious Exhumed becomes, the weaker it gets. You've got to keep it simple, I guess. Still, I'd probably give this guy Brian Clement a shot, if I were a studio exec. Who knows what he could do with a million dollars?
I'd Recommend It To: If you're a student of film, really dig anthologies, or want to be the one person in your city to have seen this.
Posted: June 20, 2005

Total Skulls: 19

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?