Not only is From The Grave a movie unsure of what it wants to be, distributor The Asylum seemed unsure how to market it slapping such lines as "In the tradition of The Others & The Sixth Sense" on the box. Watching the movie it's not hard to see why as the script by Charles Buchanan (who also directed) is structured in such a scattershot way to be off-putting as well as it tries to make the movie fall under various different genres (supernatural horror, suspense thriller, and drama) pretty much failing at them all.

Clemency Burton-Hill plays Emma, a young wannabe artist who's just moved into a cottage out in the countryside after a messy split with husband Martin (Jamie Bower). But the split is considerably harder for her when Martin finds out her new phone number and continues to harass her saying how much he wants them to get back together. Since he was abusive towards her in the time they were married, Emma wants nothing to do with this and accepts support from long-time friend John (Gyura Sarossy). Things soon turn serious as John's unrequited love for Emma comes to the surface, much to the anger of Martin. Martin's constant threats of killing himself if Emma doesn't go back with him seem to have come true when he dies in a car crash - and that's when Emma starts seeing weird, supernatural visions that may just be her dead husband.

From The Grave is one sloppily put together movie. While it plays out like a competently made TV movie for the most part it's pretty light on the "haunting" elements promised on the box as early attempts to build a suspenseful mood are quickly pushed aside as Buchanan decides to build-up a story, told in flashbacks that leap all over the place, and show us how Emma, Martin, and John were great friends since their early childhood of playing games and reading Lord Of The Rings together. While that's not particularly a bad thing and the actors do their best with the material, it's just too bad that you as a viewer are likely to be sitting their trying to piece together a timeline to all the events that are being thrown at you. And to add insult to injury the "big twist" Buchanan tries for is way too obvious and any attempts at actual suspense are not only silly ("oh no, there's a metal detector leaning on the wall, Martin's been here!!") and weak as Hell but they're also accompanied by an overly dramatic musical flourish.

From The Grave is a movie that'll piss off horror movie fans as it's just a weak drama posing as a horror-thriller. There's almost nothing here to interest the audience The Asylum is trying to bring in and while it's not the worst "jilted lover" movie I've seen it's certainly on the lower-rung. It's made alright and the acting is generally acceptable (except for those kid actors who pretty much suck), but it's too muddled in its execution and, in the end, it's a dull time with an unsatisfying pay-off. However if you must watch at least you can have a good (unintentional) laugh when Bower's character rides away from a big explosion on a kid's bicycle.

Visit The Asylum for more info. (Chris Hartley, 11/12/05)

Directed By: Charles Buchanan.
Written By: Charles Buchanan.

Starring: Clemency Burton-Hill, Jamie Bower, Gyuri Sarossy, Margaret Tyzack.

aka: Until Death.

Picture Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: There's a few moments of fuziness (especially evident when one colour is dominating the picture), but the clarity here is generally acceptable.

Extras: All we get here is a trailer and trailers to other Asylum releases (Monster Hunter, Murder By Design, and Four Play).