The Living and the Dead

This film initially promises to be a straightforward, if self-consciously arty exercise in psychological horror, but turns unexpectedly into something more ambiguous. Facing bankruptcy, desperate Donald Brocklebank (Roger Lloyd-Pack) conducts business outside his English estate, unaware that son James (Leo Bill), a schizophrenic man-child, has experienced a fit of dementia and has locked out the nurse who has been tending to his seriously ill mother (Kate Fahy). James’ inability to distinguish fantasy from reality has tragic consequences, but not necessarily along the lines most viewers will expect. Well-made enough to be profoundly disturbing, this film starts off depressing and only gets worse.

Shelf Talk: Not a conventional horror film, The Living and the Dead nonetheless must be marketed to genre devotees if it’s to have any real chance at success. A handful of award wins (including Best Picture) at the 2006 Austin Fantastic Fest won’t amount to much in terms of marketing, but TLA’s ads in such fright-film mags as Fangoria and Rue Morgue will help.