Dead Love is another offering from Wild Eye Releasing and is hoping to make your heart bleed.
Colin Floom and Greg Nemer’s feature film, Dead Love, makes its VOD debut 8/21 and will be released on DVD in October. It features newcomer Nicole Elizabeth Olson as the breathtaking Fiona, Grayson Low as Brandon, Bob Buckley and Young and the Restless star Kate Linder. Check out the synopsis below:
“Brandon is a young train engineer whose world is upended when his mother suddenly takes her own life. At the funeral home, he meets Fiona, a beautiful and mysterious mortician who takes a strong interest in him. Soon they discover they share a passion for music. And when Fiona serenades him with an ancient folk song, their lives become entwined for eternity.”
As a big fan of supernatural horror, I was intrigued by the setup of Dead Love. Something dark and mysterious and unnamed lurked below Fiona’s red smile. Witchcraft? Possession? Just a plain ole serial killer? The answer isn’t given for far too long, though. What is touted as a horror movie comes off as a romantic drama for easily 2/3 of the movie before it kicks into gear. That is not to say that the cast is incapable of anything. Olson and Low have a clear magnetic energy that makes any of their scenes almost dreamy with the romanticism. The problem is that I have never seen so much meet-cute in a horror movie, and I don’t really think there is a market for such a thing.
My biggest issue, though, is the ages of the characters. At first I believed it was Brandon’s wife, not his mother, who had passed. That made Fiona’s instant attraction and aggressive flirting feel a little crass at times. Fiona’s sister, played by Linder, was also extremely confusing. This time I thought Linder was the mother role, where instead she was the sister to the young, vibrant Fiona. Linder is currently 70 years old, whereas Olson is somewhere in her 20’s. It is never addressed, and not even explained for quite a long stint of time. By that point, I had already just assumed it was awkward casting.
Bob Buckley’s Lasseter is also quite confounding. He is all over the place, calm and lucid one minute, crotchety and demanding the next. One scene later he’s timid and terrified, then he’s standing on mountains like the Highlander. Has age and time made him mad? Maybe. But it is something that is never addressed.
The standout for me was Olson, who smoothly floats between a dewy-eyed ingenue and a tired, old soul smoothly. Her hopeful approach to Fiona makes the suspense last over the long wait for resolution. I just wish there is more given to her true motive sooner. We all know there is a dark secret that somehow involves Brandon, but the audience is left staring at the dangling carrot too long. By the time all is revealed, you are partially tuned out, numbly nodding because you have lost somewhat of your interest on why she wants Brandon at all.
Dead Love reads a little more like a dramatic thriller than a horror movie to me, which isn’t a bad thing. I would appreciate more “movie” itself, which at it’s 1 hour 20 min runtime is something the film needs, and lean into the suspense more. Deepen the lore, show us more of the dark, ancient energy that surrounds this strange family. I was left unfulfilled, simply because I wanted to hear more of the story before it was hastily wrapped up.
Check out the trailer for Dead Love below:
