There are just some things you don’t do in the horror movie universe. And, heading to a cabin in the woods with a group of friends ranks at the top of the list, right next to repeating the proverbial boogeyman/woman’s name in a mirror three times. Next thing you know, the survivors will all be moving to a quaint house on Elm Street!

At first glance DEAD MARY might have been called Dead Horse—for all the beating the typical genre clichés take over the course of 90 minutes. But, even with every conceivable card stacked against it, the film manages to pass by with a fairly inoffensive ease. In actuality, the same thing could be said for the other productions lensed by a ragtag group of bloody Canadian filmmakers.

Collectively the crew behind DEAD MARY —led by Director Robert Wilson’s production company—have worked in some respect on LIVING DEATH, 5IVE GIRLS, UKM: ULTIMATE KILLING MACHINE and WARRIORS OF TERRA in the past 2 years. And, while each of those films has a noticeably low budget, they all manage to offer a slick—if sometimes utilitarian—approach to genre filmmaking. All-in-all they’re not terrible projects, just missing some spark.

DEAD MARY is no different. This time a group of twenty-somethings including Dominique Swain (LOLITA) and Maggie Castle (THE WOODS) gather their old friends together for a weekend getaway. After some tense beginnings involving some “who might have been sleeping with who” drama and the groups distain over one pals new girlfriend, the gang decides to let off a little steam by slamming back some liquor and playing a little truth or dare. Pretty soon they resolve to up the ante as the members head to the bathroom, candle in hand, to recite the name of DEAD MARY in the mirror.

I’ll bet you can guess what happens next.

Wrong! Instead of the rotting corpse of Mary taking each of the self-involved buddies out, a spirit possesses them and an interesting game of cat and mouse begins as the crew tries to discover who the killer might be.

The film has two things going for it in the plot department. First up is that it tries to emulate the kind of closed-set tension that worked wonders in John Carpenter’s THE THING—in that respect the film succeeds, albeit only sporadically. The second is that the filmmakers never specifically pin the possession on the conjuring of DEAD MARY. Instead, they allude to the idea that the woods are cursed and that the spirit was already there, just waiting for any poor fool who came along. This idea is pretty solid since it illustrates the utter hopelessness of anyone surviving the weekend.

Problematic in virtually any character-driven horror film is our ability to identify with the leads. This is where the film fails most. Everyone has one dimension and that dimension is—prick. No one is likeable. No one is trustworthy. And, although that flaw makes the dissention all the more believable; it still doesn’t help the audience to sympathize with the victims. As the gang is knocked off one after another, the thing that kept me transfixed to the film was in seeing where the director was headed with the story. Unfortunately the sudden ending offers almost no resolution—and, I’m a big fan of ambiguous story telling. But, when the credits started to roll, my jaw almost dropped…was that it?

DEAD MARY may not have ever had the chance to be a great film, but it offered a lot of interesting ideas, even if the execution of those ideas were never fully fleshed out. Most of the cast hit their marks, but reactions to supernatural situations that were beyond the scope of their everyday realities seemed a touch unrealistic. I mean if your friend were still exhibiting signs of life—even if those signs come in the form of calling out your dark sexual secrets in a demonic voice—would you really roast the poor bastard alive? I guess I’ll never know. Why? Cause I’m never going out in the woods with a group of friends and I sure as hell don’t repeat creepy names into bathroom mirrors!