March 29, 2024
Title card for the film Dead Body.

Dead Body Movie Review (Bobbin Ramsey, 2017)

Throughout the years I’ve had a serious case of judging a book by its cover. Even when I was a kid the front of a movie was more important to me than the blurb on the back. I’m definitely a first impressions sort of guy in that regard. This is how I came across the horror film Dead Body. I had never heard of it before, but was immediately interested when I saw the cover depicting a board game. I’m a nerd for board games, what can I say? It’s a modern horror film that I’ve never heard of which is a bad sign, but I’ve had good luck with obscure movies lately so I figured it could be worth a watch. Unfortunately I was wrong; Dead Body is a waste of time as a horror film and today I’m here to tell you why you’re better off sticking with something a little more tried and true.

Before I begin I feel I should let you know that Dead Body is a a sort of parody, but it takes itself too seriously. You have the typical cabin in the woods as your setting first off with a very basic ‘whodunit’ scenario with all of the horror stereotypes. Uptight recent graduate and Harvard hopeful Dominic has invited a few select friends to celebrate the end of high school out to his father’s plush cabin. He is immediately annoyed when the small get together is ruined by everyone when they bring multiple uninvited guests to the shindig. You’ve got the pretty boy, his love interest who brings her inappropriately old loser boyfriend, the creepy guy with a heart of gold, the emo girl, and the foreigners that barely speak English. The cast is very typical, but truth be told that seems purely intentional.

A group of scared characters huddle together.

The group starts the night off the right way with a lot of drinking and smoking but they soon become a bit bored. This is when a group activity is suggested, and the name of the game is Dead Body. Here one person is designated as the killer. The group separates to investigate and reconvenes every few minutes to discuss their findings all the while someone pretends to kill them one by one. Sounds easy enough, and for the most part the group is eager to give it a shot. They try a few rounds of the game but nothing seems to happen. Suddenly a dead body turns up, and then another and then one more. The group initially has a tough time separating reality from the game but soon discovers that one among them is killing the party animals off for real. Of course, none of them know exactly who they can trust so strap yourself in for a murder mystery.

Dead Body has a decent enough premise, and alright cinematography. The acting is pretty poor, and the characters unlikable, but in most cases I can look past something like that. I even found myself laughing at some of the purposely generic horror conventions such as when they start handing out weapons that include a nail gun, knife and shovel all the while arguing over who gets what. Moments like that represent good parody. Most of the time these attempts miss their mark entirely and end up coming off as annoying to the point you can almost imagine the writer guffawing while patting himself on the back. The basic premise and scenario, as well as the false hooks to lead you astray while solving the mystery just aren’t as clever or ironic as they should have been. This feels like the work of an uninspired amateur.

A masked man approaches the protagonist of the story.

The horror elements are pretty weak as well. Dead Body doesn’t even try to frighten its viewers by adversely focusing on character relationships. To begin we have a well lit and populated plush lake house as the setting. The outdoor sequences are a little more brood, but the woods here lack personality and flair. The director tried throwing in a few jump scares for good measure with an antagonist whose face you cannot see (but who lacks a mask) but their methods are very typical and uninteresting. If you’re looking for something to watch that will keep you on the edge of your seat there are thousands of better choices out there. By the time the conclusion to the mystery comes (believe you me it’s underwhelming and not clever in the least) I was already checked out of this one. Even the explanation at the end is stupid and makes no sense with the tone of the rest of the movie.

I find it odd that Dead Body tries so hard to be a clever parody. It fails so hard in this endeavor that I forgot what it was going for at several moments and assumed I was just watching generic horror film number three thousand twenty six. It has some good ideas, but these are marred with bad execution, unlikable characters, too much emphasis on relationships, and a conclusion that was clearly not intelligent nor thought through. I could think of hundreds if not thousands of horror films that you’re better off watching so don’t make the mistake of wasting your time with Dead Body. I sure wish I hadn’t. Also, why does the cover advertise it as being about a board game when it clearly is not?

0.00
4

Gore

4.0/10

Special Effects

5.0/10

Scare Factor

3.0/10

Entertainment Value

4.0/10

Pros

  • Interesting premise
  • Decent twist

Cons

  • Tries too hard to be clever