The Gravedancers starts as three close friends Harris McKay (Dominic Purcell), Kira Hayden (Josie Maran) & Sid Vance (Marcus Thomas) mourn the death of friend Devin Lansing who was buried earlier that day. For some reason Sid suggests that they all go to the cemetery, break in with lots of booze, sit around their Lansing's grave & get drunk which Harris & Kira surprisingly agree to. While at the cemetery Sid notices a note & starts to read it as Harris & Kira randomly dance around on graves while drunk. Two weeks later & the three friends are experiencing supernatural phenomenon, they see ghost's who try to attack them & notice things moving on their own & general spooky stuff. Sid contacts paranormal investigator Vincent Cochet (Tchéky Karyo) who quickly realises that they are dealing with a bad case of burial desecration, with the vengeful spirits of an arsonist, a axe murderer & a rapist trying to kill them Harris, Sid & Kirra must lay the ghost's to rest before it's too late...Directed by Mike Mendez this was one of the so-called Films to Die For at the 2006 After Dark Horrorfest or whatever it's called along with the likes of Wicked Little Things (2006), Unrest (2006) & Penny Dreadful (2006) & isn't the worst of the bunch but The Gravedancers isn't the best either, as a straight supernatural horror film it's watchable enough but it's by means any sort of masterpiece. The script is a mixed bag really, the tone is very serious & I just couldn't get over how three grieving friends would break into a cemetery in the middle of the night & get drunk while dinging & dancing, you know I just didn't buy it & these are supposed to be adults with one a respected lawyer. The first hour or so of The Gravedancers is quite slow, doors open by themselves, the pet Cat goes mental & strange noises are heard but it's all pretty standard dull haunted house horror stuff. Then the final thirty odd minutes is a roller-coaster of effects & set-pieces as we get rotting zombie ghost's, possession, an obvious plot twist, giant screaming ghost heads, & fires popping up all over the place as it feels like the makers wanted to cram as much in as they could during the last thirty minutes to compensate for the none event of the first sixty. To be fair to it The Gravedancers is alright, sure there are elements of Poltergeist (1983) & any Japanese-Asian ghost horror you can name but it's watchable & it competent if not amazing.Ther's not much gore here, there's a cool slit throat & some blood splatter but nothing else really, the body count is low & all the death's happen during the final twenty minutes except one during a seemingly unconnected opening sequence that was included against the director's wishes apparently. The special effects are pretty good actually, the giant screaming ghost face that chases Harris & Alison through the house is actually quite impressive. While the first hour or so goes for suspense & cheap scares the final thirty minutes goes all out for spectacle, as I said it's just rather uneven & why didn't they dance on graves belonging to nice people?Probably shot on a low budget this was apparently meant as the start of a trilogy & the script was around as early as 1999 but didn't get made until 2005. Filmed in Greensboro in North Carolina. Apparently the actor's didn't meet each other until two days before filming, while it's not great I have seen worse acting I suppose.The Gravedancers is an alright supernatural haunted house horror that has obvious influences, the whole story is silly yet it takes itself very seriously which gives it an odd vibe. Worth watching as a cheap rental or if you can catch it on telly for free but otherwise you can easily skip this one.

Well I was expecting worse, but that doesn't stop this entry (out of the 'Eight Films to Die For' collection) from just being an accommodatingly so-so effort in the paranormal field. Going against it was that the story was so telegraphed and formulaic, which led to many dull passages and hot air build ups. The idea is fine (which has some drunken young adults who were college buds disturbing the peace of the dead when reading out some card they find at their deceased friend's grave, while dancing on their graves. Now they're haunted by those spirits, and race against time with the help of a parapsychologist to end the curse before they take their lives), but the situation's progression is thinly stale and the execution is all flash, but colorlessly achieved. It's subtle build up kind of works when they encounter their unusual ghostly shenanigans, though it grows a bit tired… however the last half hour doesn't work with its hysterical charge and overblown special effects. I thought the FX was well used during stages when it was focusing on the spirits, where the images of their sunken faces and flowing movements were effectively creepy. The performances by Dominic Purcell, Clare Kramer, Marcus Thomas, Josie Maran, Tchéky Karyo and Megahn Perry stand-up, if a little black and white. Director Mike Mendez overdone style etches its way in and takes away from the suspense, where he demonstrates a drearily cold atmosphere and lasting visuals caught by expansive photography. A ho-hum low-budget supernatural thriller.

I saw this based on some positive reviews just in case it really was a more serious movie that wasn't based on blood and gore like most "horror" today. Well, there wasn't much blood. The "impressive" ghosts were roughly leftover props and effects from "Ghostbusters", the plot was barely noticeable and they found the most annoying actor available for the male lead. Well, maybe it did match the character. And the "twist" wasn't too overplayed. Barely competent work but pointless and tasteless.It does deserve some kind of award for the most ludicrous title ever, though.

A surprisingly-good B horror about three idiots who unintentionally desecrate three graves by dancing of them and are thus haunted by the three criminally-insane individuals they belong too. Much credit to the director, Mike Mendez, who manages to create suspense - a rare achievement nowadays - and good special effects for the spooks and scares despite a probably-low budget.It really makes one think: if the ghosts could look so good on a low budget, why aren't they as such in other B horrors? Is it just the skill of special effects people? Or does some of the credit go to the director as well? It would explain it if the latter, since anyone with vague directorial skills seems to be able to get a horror movie released nowadays.The more I think about the movie the more I like it, though it's probably because it plays to some my biases. I'm inclined to favor suspense, minimal gore, and spooks that are criminally-insane, though only if they have interesting background stories. It's probably why I really liked Session 9 too, despite most other people finding it too slow.