"Dead Awake" is one of the strangest movies I have seen in quite some time. Obviously, it was inspired by "The Sixth Sense", though the mystery angle has been increased, as well as with its strangeness. It's directed in a really bizarre way, in an anonymous style (and with anonymous locations) that for the longest time made me think the movie was shot in a foreign country and the filmmakers were trying hard to disguise things. Stranger, however, is the screenplay. While the big questions the movie brings up are eventually answered, there are several minor questions that remained unanswered, like the mysterious policeman character at the beginning as well as the status of Nick Stahl's character at the end of the movie. While the movie is offbeat enough to make its ninety-two minutes never boring, in the end I feel most viewers will be unsatisfied because it doesn't quite give enough explanation.

The only thing I can say about this: random. The story is pretty random and the execution is pretty poor. The story skips and jumps around like a rubber ball and there is no consistency in the characters. The acting is so awful that the makers had to resort to in-your-face scoring to push the viewer into the mood they couldn't achieve through good story telling. Nothing adds up in the end and you're left with a feeling that neither writer nor director have have any idea about how to make a compelling movie.But what really ruined the movie for me were the two Irish characters. Brian Lynner as Decko was just as untalented as a B-class actor can get and his Irish accent was a completely annoying farce. Mixing Scottish and a few local Irish accents just made me want to turn off the sound every time that guy opened his mouth. Who ever casted him should hang their heads in shame. Same goes for the character of his wife, whose name I am too lazy to look up.Do yourself a favor and skip this one. This movie is boring, unimaginative and annoying.

Ever wonder who would show up at your funeral? After attending a funeral for an old high school friend and running in to his ex-girlfriend (Amy Smart) Dylan (Stahl) comes up with a plan to stage his own death and hold a funeral for himself. When a strange crack addict (McGowan) shows up to see him his life takes a strange turn and nothing is what it seems. This movie is hard to explain without giving anything away, but the best way I can put it is that it is a cross between the "Sixth Sense" and "After.Life". I really enjoyed the movie and I'm not sure if it was because I had no expectations heading in or because it was actually a very good movie (if that makes sense). This is more of a drama then horror, in the same way the "Sixth Sense" could be categorized either way. I really liked the twist at the end, I honestly can predict about 95% of movies made lately and this one got me. I was very surprised at how much I liked it. I surprisingly give it a B+.Would I watch it again? - I would, if only to catch clues I missed the first time.

Dylan O'Rourke ( Nick Stahl ) is a young man living in a state of depression after suffering the loss of both of his parents in one fateful night ten years prior. Unable to cope with the weight of his guilt, Dylan retracts from society, unable to continue with his girlfriend Natalie (Amy Smart) again and worse...unable to bring himself to visit his parents' grave. He now spends his time as a recluse, working in perhaps the most depressing environment of all - a Funeral Home. While overseeing a packed funeral for an old high school friend, fate takes it's course and he comes face to face with Natalie. His boss - a burly Undertaker named Dekko ( keenly played by unknown Brian Lynner ) inspires him to stage his own funeral to see who would show up. He tells Dylan "You can tell a man's character by who shows up at his funeral." Sadly, just two people show; Natalie and a crack junkie named Charlie Scheel (Rose MCGowan in her strongest performance yet.) Regardless of the small turnout, Dylan is set on a path to reconnect with his long lost love and Charlie. He eventually finds Charlie in the seediest of crack dens and after revealing himself, he inadvertently forces her to believe that he is an angel that has come to take her away from this hell she lives in. Moments later, Charlie's drug dealer / pimp puts two slugs into Dylan at point blank range but the bullets pass through him in divine intervention. Dylan befriends Charlie but cannot get her to believe that he is very much alive and not the angel she believes him to be. She tells him "The walking dead are all around us and that there are dead who are in an unbreakable state of denial. They so strongly believe they are alive, that they become visible and real to those in the world of the living." She asks him "what is is like when you die?" And tells him "I'm not ready to go just yet because I have to get clean first and when I get clean, then you can come and take me." Days later, Dylan finds Charlie OD'd in her crack den. He brings her to the hospital and into a heavy blanket of coincidence - or perhaps something else - when Natalie arrives on the scene as Charlie's nurse. Dyalan and Natalie reconnect on old times while Charlie recovers in bed. Dylan tries to find purpose in his "wasted life" and takes his entire savings to the man - an aging gangster - who owns Charlie. He ultimately frees Charlie by paying off the gangster and settling her $20,000 debt. Upon doing so, he spots an unmistakable Claddagh Ring an and among the gangster's collection of stolen items laid out on the table before him - a ring that belonged to his parents. Dylan storms back to the hospital and forces Charlie to admit her guilt - that she was the one who brought the ring to the gangster. But Charlie goes further, admitting that she was the driver of the cab - one that she stole to feed her drug habit - that killed his parents. Dylan explodes and storms off, not wanting anything to do with Charlie for the most obvious of reasons.Charlie leaves a voice mail with Dylan, telling him to meet her on the roof of the hospital. Charlie goes there and finds Charlie about to commit suicide. He attempts to talk her down from the ledge but Charlie refuses until Dylan admits his love for Natalie. Dylan professes his everlasting love for Natalie just as she arrives on the rooftop as Charlie's other invited guest. Their everlasting love now realized, Natalie dumps her unloving husband for Dylan. They visit Dylan's parents grave at the cemetery with Dekko and Dekko's wife (unknown Kim Grimaldi in a strong performance) before setting out on a new beginning together.The film concludes with the revelation - a solid twist - that Charlie has been dead all along and is actually Dylan's guardian angel. Unwilling to accept her death as it occurred in the cab with Dylan's parents, she had become the walking dead. From here, we surmise Detective Milano was also the walking dead, a guardian angel. He tells Dylan "I'm just here to look after you is all." If you feel the need to give a helping hand to those who need it most and / or have ever experienced true love, love lost, loneliness, desperation, isolation, doubt and fear among all that life brings, then you will find a resounding, strong and uplifting message within Dead Awake. This piece rises above the negativity that incorrect audience expectations tend to invite with them. I'd give this a 9/10 if it weren't for that over cooked, cringing music score that almost swallows the last half. Man...that score sets the bar low. It's almost as if the composer locked him/herself in the editing room without a key. Dead Awake is a great story that is well written and well told. Omar Naim's direction is solid overall. Forgiveness is easy to grant on the choppy and confusing flashback sequences and I'll even add some additional applause for the stylishness behind Charlie's POV - what I believe is her guardian angel aura? I'm certain it was. When all is said and done, this is the type of movie that will always give you more every time you sit down with it. You can't expect more than that from a low budget effort. Well done!