Review: Dead Bride

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

Dead Bride
Directed by Francesco Picone
Metrovideo; Breaking Glass Pictures
83 minutes, 2022
www.facebook.com/deadbridemovie/

Who doesn’t love a ghost story. That is not a question. Yeah, let’s just get that out of the way. Right from the prologue, this film makes itself known for what is the backbone of the story. But, of course, there is so much more, like revenge, jealousy, sleep paralysis, and generational terror.

Jennifer Mischiati

Filmed in Italy but spoken in somewhat accented English, the prologue is short and sweet, and spooky. After, we meet the main cast, which is a family of three: Alyson (Jennifer Mischiati), her hubby Richard (Christoph Hülsen), and their infant son, Seth. They move into the house of her biological father (David White) after his suicide. Her mom (Duné Medros), a seamstress, had become deranged, so her father put her up for adoption in the United States at a pre-teen age.

The dynamics between Alyson and Richard are interesting from the start, but not uncommon for these kinds of film: they move into the house due to financial constraints, and there is definitely tension between the two thanks to his past. Richard does not come across as a decent human, again, which is pretty common as he goes away on a business trip (alone or with a work “friend”?), which gives the house a chance to have its influence on Alyson. I can see where this may be going, but I hope I am wrong, as it is too cliché. But, hell, I am only 15 minutes in and we are still in exposition mode.

One of the things I find relatively consistent in these films is someone will live in the haunted abode for years and nothing much happens except for little things here and there, and then the main story family moves in and bam it is poltergeist city with mysterious and/or dangerous events occurring nearly right from the beginning.

Sean James Sutton

Because this was filmed in Italia, you know the priests and exorcisms are going to be involved, even though the story is about a vengeful ghost, Mary (Francesca Albanese; the name Mary means “bitter”), seeking revenge on the family through a few generations. The main priest, Father Elbert (Sean James Sutton) looks eerily like Rod Steiger in The Amityville Horror (1979), albeit without Steiger’s massive scenery chewing.

But the film picks up quite a few notches with the arrival of a questionable psychic, Dave (Douglas Dean), who sends Alyson searching into a dreamworld. This starts a sequence that is fun and interesting, and gives this a whole different mood as it transgresses time and space.

Mischiati and Douglas Dean

The acting in this film is actually quite good, which helps move it along. Mischiati more than holds her own, as does Dean and especially Sutton, who seems very natural. I can easily see him as a British gangster.

There are a number of “borrows” from other films, such as an infamous moments from The Conjuring (2013), [*REC] (2007), The Exorcist (1973), Poltergeist (1982), etc. The SFX is decent, and there are a couple of nicely done quick gore shots. There are also a number of enjoyable jump scares scattered throughout.

Some of the story is quite predictable considering we have seen bits of it before, but the plot moves along quite well and one may just consider the influences of other films as a drinking game. A shout-out should also be mentioned for the cinematography by Marzio Mirabella who makes every shot look amazing and giving it a nearly gothic texture in the modern age, and also the director for the editing, especially the whole dream sequence.

Oh, and I was not wrong.

IMDB listing HERE