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I’m just going to get this out of the way before I trash: I liked The Living and the Dead for what it was. A simple, psychological horror/drama that was brilliant and did exactly what it set out to do. So why the low score? Because as brilliant and disturbing as it was, there was nothing really special about it. It was short film turned into a full-length movie. It fit more into the “that’s cute” category than the “I got my entire money’s worth here” category. That was the major problem I had with it: it wasn’t anything that deserved a full-length movie, necessarily. If the runtime and price were both cut in half, this would have gotten a much higher score for me.
I guess I’ll just start out with saying that this was one of the few movies I’ve ever seen that genuinely disturbed me. There was little to no blood, but the subject matter gripped me emotionally and hit home and it disturbed me. Will it disturb everyone? No. Will it disturb most? Maybe, but I doubt it. It’s an acquired taste. The movie banks on you being emotionally affected, and if you’re not, there really is no point in watching it because you’ll be bored out of your mind. The Living and the Dead is relative in every aspect of the word, and I can’t give it a definitive “this sucks” or “this was good” because it varies person to person. That isn’t true about most movies, unlike what people want to believe, but that does apply here. It’s your call.
As for the aspects of the film that aren’t relative: The acting is pretty good. The story isn’t entirely original, but it isn’t typical either. The camerawork is well-done for the kind of movie it is. The pacing gets a little bloated, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been. Everything was well-done in the technical stance. The story was borderline brilliant, though I can see why people would disagree.
Overall, if you’re looking for a psychological movie that will disturb you, this is worth a shot. I haven’t seen a truly disturbing movie in years, but this was almost a little too much for me to handle. Almost. But that was based on my emotional engagement, and that is relative. Just watch it and make up your own opinion.
I liked this film but I do have problems with it. Mainly editing, ( and I'm not being this super picky film snob when I say this) the was it was edited was choppy and lackluster. Almost to the point where it was annoying. Simon Rumley(director) also has an obvious thing for Darren Aronofsky.
I loved the story and the relationships. All in all I dig this independent film.
WTF?? Ok I watched this so called artistic horror film last night and all I can say is WTF??? It was retarded, stupid movie with a stupid script full of plot holes! I found this movie to be so unwatchable that I couldn't even finnish watching it!!! Both my husband and I hated this movie and we're truly disapointed in it's lack of well......everything horror. This no scary movie not even a little bit, I more frightened my Hanna Montana then by this steeming pile of celuloide!!! I do not recomend this movie for horror fans but if you enjoyed movies like BUG and IN MY SKIN you might enjoy this one. I give THE LIVING AND THE DEAD, 1 Half eaten human brain out of 20 fully eaten brains!!!
