Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Art of the Dead’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

It has long been said that artists at just about every single level, inject a piece of themselves into their respective creations, and that’s a notion that truly has some weight to it. After all, writers often speak to how they put elements of their life experiences into a novel or a screenplay, so it would make sense that photographers find a way to integrate something about themselves with their respective photo shoots and that artists, find a way to capture parts of their lives on the canvas. What that is exactly, will often remain a mystery since the art in question is a personal experience for the creator, but sometimes they’re more than willing to share the most intimate secrets about their work with the rest of us.
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When that happens, it means that the artist in question truly wants you to understand their emotions in that particular moment, and that allows for the work to take on new life and new meaning and that’s why art in any form, offers up a true beauty through and through. But, since stories love to play the game of ‘what if’, sometimes creative folks like to look at the dark side of intimate experiences, and recently, I had the distinct opportunity to indulge in a horror story that just so happens to examine what might happen, if an artist injected nothing but hate and darkness into their work, all in the hopes of sharing that same kind of negativity with an audience, in Art of the Dead.

Now in this particular film we are introduced to the Wilson family, an average, everyday upper-class clan that are honestly good people through and through. For the father of the family, Dylan, does his best to offer up some of the good fortune that’s come his way to charity and his wife Gina, has a big heart and does everything she can for her family. But when the couple decides to buy some unique yet beautiful art, they quickly come to regret their purchase. For the seven paintings that now hang in their home were crafted by a demented painter named Dorian Wilde, who designed every last one of them to do more than just represent the seven deadly sins, their purpose is to make their owner act out the sins in question and now it will be up to a broken priest and a potential new addition to the family to save the Wilsons and their souls from the evil they’ve unintentionally invited into their home. 

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So, let me just go ahead and say it right now, I loved this movie. Simply because, this is one creative horror flick. Because rather than go the traditional route and provide us with a simple and fast paced story where possessed objects turn their owners into bloodthirsty monsters, and never explain once what the heck is going on, this movie takes its time to properly world build. Which means we come to learn how the paintings are created and we are able to see exactly how they influence evil within the hearts of men and this honestly leads to some unique moments and visuals. Which is something that is taken to the next level in magnificent fashion during the film’s third act and I truly appreciated the fact that this movie provided its audience with some fresh twists in regard to the possessed object trope that the genre loves so much.
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Yet, what truly impressed me about this film was its characters. Because everyone you meet in this story is a well fleshed out character, and their depth and realism allows for the audience to genuinely care about them and what happens to them and thankfully that care is extended to our villain as well, which helps us to understand his evil and root for his downfall when all is said and done. But, make no mistake about it, this is still a horror film through and through. Which means you’ll find plenty of blood and guts and monsters in the story, both of the otherworldly and human kind since really, this is a story that explores the duality of man and the evil that lurks within all of us and how the right kind of circumstances can bring it out of us, if we let it.

If anything, this movie was just a pleasant surprise through and through. One that kept my attention with its unique storyline and its quality acting. Which, we need to take a moment to discuss since everyone here turns in a wonderful performance, and several actors had to play dual versions of their respective characters and that’s no easy task, but the cast pulls it off nicely here. Plus, you’ll also find a couple of cameos from horror vets Richard Greico and Tara Reid and really in the end, this is a horror film that I absolutely recommend that you see. In large part thanks to the creative story that it tells, but also because, it’s just a lot of fun, and you really cannot go wrong with settling in to watch a scary story that ignites your imagination, all while staying true to what makes the genre so great to begin with.  

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