Prison of the Dead – Movie Review
First Reaction – Prison of the Dead is a basic horror which lacks too many scares.
Director: David DeCoteau
Writer: Matthew Jason Walsh (Screenplay)
Cast
- Patrick Flood (Inside Out)
- Jeff Peterson
- Sam Page
- Kim Ryan
- Alicia Arden (Enemy Within)
Plot: Kristof, an eccentric rich kid, tricks his high school friends into getting back together for a reunion of sorts, under the pretense of a funeral. The group of twenty-somethings is forced to spend the night in an old abandoned witches’ prison. During a Ouija Board séance, the schoolmates accidentally unearth three dead executioners from their graves. A little confused, and quite a bit angry, the Crypt Keepers initiate a killing spree that will only end when everyone is dead. Fortunately, the schoolmates all wore black. Too bad it’s for their own funerals
Runtime: 1 Hour 13 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Prison of the Dead starts when Kristof (Flood) and friends Rory (Guerin), Allie (Ryan), and Michele (Mayer) head to Calvin’s (Page) funeral. However, it turns into a prank by the rich kids getting one over their friends in hopes of bringing them back together.
Meanwhile, they are not alone in the location and both sides clash over what they want. However, it is the bigger secrets for the area that cause the problems, and the evil within the walls gives them a battle to survive.
Verdict on Prison of the Dead
Recap
The movie follows a group of rich kids doing a paranormal investigation in a haunted prison. However, it goes horribly wrong, leading them down a dangerous fight against the undead.
Best Parts
The idea of a paranormal investigation goes wrong is the easy and watchable concept. We get a creepy environment throughout the movie with the storm raging during the night.
Worst Parts
The movie struggles to commit to the bigger, darker storyline, and using the ‘of the dead’ tag makes you think zombie invasion. It is not that more possession of spirits is rising; it is a little bit confusing about what they bring to life. The story takes a while getting going, which holds things back and fails to let the stars give their best performances.
Final Thoughts –Prison of the Dead is a largely dull horror.
