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The Nightstream Film Festival is a virtual film fest that saw five genre film festivals come together. The end result was some genre film offerings that may have not been seen otherwise.
One movie that screened at the event was AN UNQUIET GRAVE. The movie is about a man who lose his wife in a car accident. One year after her death, the man and his sister in law decide to perform a dark ritual to bring her back. It is a good idea that is rife with possibilities. Danny, Blake, and Nathaniel talk about the difficulties in making an indie film, the importance of taking time, and how sometimes it is not best to leave things to the imagination.
Adventures in Movies! is hosted by Nathaniel Muir, Blake, and Danny. You can find Nathaniel on Instagram at nathaninpoortaste. Danny can be found on Twitter @default_player and on Instagram at default_player. Blake can be found on Twitter @foureyedhorror and on Instagram at foureyedhorror. You can reach us personally or on Twitter @AiPTMovies.
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0:00
Welcome to another episode of Adventures in Movies
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Looks at Dot, Dot, Dot. My name is Nathaniel Mere, and I'm the movie editor at AIPT
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Joining me on this episode are the host of AIPT, or Adventures in Movies as we normally call it
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Yeah. Yeah, wait, do we? Yeah, we do, huh? Sometimes. Well, we get it right, we do
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We got a special treat this week. So we are looking at an unquiet grave
0:41
It just screened, a world premiere, actually, was just at the recently concluded Nightstream Film Festival
0:47
The Nightstream Film Festival was a combination of five genre film fest
0:52
that because of COVID-19, they couldn't continue. So they got together, and they had one, like, super fest
0:59
like Toto basically with less guitars and more blood. But it was the Boston Underground Film Festival, the Brooklyn Horror Festival
1:06
I have them. There's so many of them. The North Bend Film Fest, the Overlook Film Fest, and Popcorn Frights Film Festival
1:12
All came together to do this like super virtual film festival. And An Unquiet Grave was one of the movies they screen
1:19
Now, this movie is about a man whose wife has died in a car accident
1:24
and a year later, he decides to bring her back to life
1:29
The question becomes, when is unquiet, two quiet. So what did you guys think of interesting in this movie
1:38
Not a lot of action, lots of exposition dumping. What did you think of that
1:45
Go ahead, Danny. Okay, so I feel... Lay it all out on the table
1:54
You know, I didn't really care for a lot. of the exposition. I think I wanted more
2:00
fright. It was a super interesting plot. Like, I guess it gave me enough to be like, oh
2:06
okay, that's really cool. Like, I want to see more. So, yes
2:13
All you can do is throw your hands up sometimes. What did you think? So I'm feeling kind of the same way
2:20
I thought, yeah, for a large chunk of the beginning, I was like, okay, like
2:27
all right, let's, I Get it. Let's, okay. And so the other thing I would say is, I thought this was going to be a big setup for a bunch of dark lore, which I typically really like
2:39
And, yeah, I mean, with all the exposition, it's a little thin and that kind of stuff
2:44
That's an interesting point. I'd like to get into that. But in regards to the first time I got worried is, okay, so I think the editing was pretty bad
2:54
Like, they start off at the grave, and then it says months later
2:59
Months later. Months later. My girlfriend asked about that. It seems like it's a mistake
3:04
It ends up, well, okay, so spoiler warning. We won't ruin anything about this movie
3:09
And there are, there is a lot of stuff you can ruin about it. However, we might say some things that will, it won't give any hints or anything, but it will, it won't ruin your enjoyment, but it will kind of delve into the story
3:21
So when it said months later, I thought it was a mistake
3:25
Turns out it wasn't. but I thought it was the movie's way of kind of messing with my mind
3:31
So I was like, oh, okay, it's going to be one of those what's real, what's not, flash, right
3:35
I was kind of into it. The second Ava said, oh, a year ago your wife died in this car, and she started talking about it, I was like, oh, no, this is going to be one of those movies where we're not going to see that much, but they're going to tell us everything
3:52
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, at one point, I think I yelled it at the TV and I was like, we get it
3:59
You know, like, let's move on. Yeah. So let kind of get into that then We try to be unlike an unquiet graven We won dump too much exposition So Blake you mentioned the dark lore and it does seem like it is building up to that
4:14
So part of the dark lore would be the ritual. What did you guys think of the ritual and how well they or how well they didn't get into the possible lore of this resurrection
4:27
So I didn't, I actually didn't think the ritual part was too bad
4:31
I mean, I got it right away. I was like, okay, limited budget, very small cast
4:36
You know, like, I was willing to give this movie a lot of breaks because of that
4:40
And I didn't hate the ritual. I thought the actual, the premise of the ritual, how it's like they're experiencing two different things
4:47
I thought that was cool. I actually did think that there was some cool stuff. It was very dark and it was very hard to see
4:55
But I did think that the premise, and that's probably, I'm probably going to say that a lot, maybe
5:00
I thought the premise of it was pretty cool. I think it was one of those good idea in theory and not in practice
5:09
We watch a lot of independent movies. We do, and there is a lower budget
5:14
So there's a lot of things that it's not so much that you forgive them or give them a pass
5:17
and you just don't think about it anymore. It's just the way it is. This movie is one of the rare times where I actually thought, like
5:24
that doesn't look good. And I never think that about independent because I understand they're working on a tight budget
5:30
yeah this movie just the lighting is not very and not just in that part like throughout the movie it's very difficult to see what's going on uh the ritual like you said cool idea like i got it with you know you needed the blood sacrifice i like the idea of you have to turn your back or yeah you have to turn your back and you know the whole they're possibly in different air places or whatever the heck is going on i like all of that and it kind of seems like it's going to be a gateway into something more it doesn't quite work out like that
6:00
unfortunately. What did you think, Danny? Yeah, the rich report was the part that I was saying
6:06
oh, it's like full metal alchemist, you know, you're going to start sacrificing. And then at that point
6:11
I was like, oh, I see what's going to happen with everything, you know, if you've seen full metal
6:16
alchemist, you know, there you go, spoiler. You understand what's happening. You know
6:22
you have to give an eye for an eye. And I really did like that. I thought that was
6:26
and it's also probably the scene that's the most lit, I guess, like that
6:30
it has the most light in it even though it's like a night scene. Pretty dark. Yeah, yeah
6:35
You know, the ritual scene is what I think after that point I was like, oh, okay, this is still very interesting
6:43
Like I could, I was forgiving a lot of the things and just, yeah, we do watch a lot of indie films
6:48
And I feel like this one, budget did seem like a, even like major films, like you see it too
6:57
but like I do feel like this one was everything was like super tight budget, super tight schedule
7:04
It just felt a little bit rushed. A good point. Yeah. And that's one thing that no matter what your budget is, if you're rushed and people can see it, it's not a good thing
7:15
You could have all the money in the world. It doesn't. So this is going to sound a little bit contrary, but lots of exposition, but it kind of leaves a lot to the imagination also
7:24
It doesn't show. It shows very little. I found that to be very disappointing
7:31
I just, it seems like there was going to be constant payoffs, and you would figure after, I don't know
7:37
because it's not a long movie. You would figure after 30, 40 minutes, you'd realize that there's not going to be that big payoff
7:42
and it just, I just, I understand, like, I understand, like, the whole Reservoir Dogs thing
7:49
like they don't show it, you think about, it's worse, right? Because you're thinking about it
7:53
Never quite worked like that in this movie. No, and, you know, like
7:57
Blake was talking about the lore and everything. You get those hints and I feel like you could do so much with that
8:05
Like even with your exposition you could talk about it just a little bit more and you more like involved with the story I feel because they giving us so much backstory this is this is a thing like you 16 years old and you writing the coolest character ever
8:21
but then when you, you know, when you get to the main story, he's paper thin, you know
8:26
and this is what this, this whole story is very paper thin
8:30
There is no, there's a lot of things that I, there's some things that I did like
8:37
where the mystery is there, like you said, Pat, but like you you need more like with your limited budget you could do maybe like a thump maybe
8:48
or something like you have the sound effect you have the score that's like eerie you could do something
8:53
with that so like like you mentioned limited cat it's very limited in cas size so i mean we literally
9:02
you have two people who have to who have to carry the paper thin plot as danny mentioned and so
9:06
what did you think about well let's start with the characters the What did you think of the characters
9:12
You know, they were, they were bad. You know, they were pretty, I mean, the best, one of the things about this, it all felt like kind of, Danny says, kind of, like, it's all kind of very tertiary surface, like characters, you know, kind of like, kind of like, kind of like, kind of like, kind of like, kind of like, kind of like, kind of like, kind of like, you know, kind of like, kind of like, weakling, you know, there's not much to him
9:40
And so the characters themselves, I didn't love. I thought they were just kind of, I thought, like, again
9:48
I thought these were just a setup for like a really dark, like overarching, overarching lore that I was going to be
9:54
like at the end it was going to be like, oh shit, that was dark. And it, I mean, okay, it tries to do that, but no
10:02
I think the characters were, yeah, you kind of, like, you kind of, yeah, like, you can't
10:10
really give them that resounding. Everything is so tepid in this movie. Nothing gives you like that
10:16
full-on, like, climax. Everything is like, just, just... You're right. I was waiting
10:21
for something the entire... waiting for something the entire movie. Yeah. Right
10:25
Like, I hate to say this, but to call them generic would be an improvement
10:31
Like, it was pretty, pretty thin, pretty thin. So, um, what did you think of the performance
10:40
I don't think the performances were bad necessarily at all. I thought they did what they could with what they were working with
10:48
I don't think it was a testament of bad acting really. I mean, they were just, you know, it wasn't, I didn't think they were awful
10:57
You know, I've seen way worse. Like, Russell Massacre, 10,000 times worse acting than this
11:04
But, you know, that was it had some pop, as Danny said
11:08
It was fun. Well, Unquiet Graven is an example of acting where there's not a bad thing that you can say about it, but it leaves, there's nothing good
11:18
There's no impression. I mean, nothing. You're just like, it was serviceable
11:23
Vanilla pudding, man. I don't even know if it's vanilla pudding, man
11:28
It's like, I was. I like vanilla pudding all right. Well, I like vanilla pudding, but I don't, like, I'm not going to say this is vanilla pudding
11:37
this is nowhere near vanilla pudding this is like I honestly did not
11:45
before it's mixed maybe just the in the box you're eating a literal box
11:50
it's the store brand too yeah it's yeah I really did think
11:56
like the the actresses acting was the worst I think of the two
12:03
and it's funny because I started thinking about the other movie that it was just the girl and the guy who were trapped into the
12:11
such a great yeah yeah and I thought I was like that was so great like what like
12:16
and that also like a very limited budget and everything but like this yeah they were working with a whole lot less and I feel like this you know you could have you had way more range of emotions especially from the girl
12:30
And it just, everything felt flat. And again, that's why I said earlier today, like, early in the, in this video is like, it felt rush
12:38
Everything just felt like you have to hit a marker every single time. And it just, it was just that every
12:46
Yeah. did this it's you know a horror movie it's about bringing back a loved one uh did it build the right
12:52
atmosphere do you guys think because i i mean it was spooky
12:56
it could have been it could have been spooky i don't know there was a couple moments i guess
13:03
i thought were like all right i don't know like i said i think there was a cool concept in here
13:07
you know like there was definitely some cool stuff like i would love to see them like take another
13:11
crack at it no there's a really there's a good story in there
13:16
There absolutely is. It's pretty simple. It's kind of pet cemetery-esque, but it's..
13:21
It's very much. Yeah. Someone loves their... Understandably, right? wants to bring her back to life
13:28
A dark song. Have you seen a dark song? So that's another story just like this
13:32
but two people locked in a house. Have you seen a dark song? I highly recommend that
13:38
And maybe the filmmaker should check that out as well. Because it is really, really good
13:43
And it's got like some of the similar comments. concepts, but it is executed very well. It's got a lot of nuance to it
13:51
Do you guys think that they ever got, so the most important character, arguably, is one
13:57
who's dead as soon as the movie starts. Do you ever think they got that sense of loss
14:02
across well? I, you know what, I will say this. You can tell that the husband was in a lot
14:10
and obviously he obviously went to extreme lengths to bring her back. So not so much by his emotions
14:15
or what he, but by his actions, you can't tell. And I don't know if that's a good thing per se, but obviously, I mean, he, it really did affect him
14:25
He went to some extraordinary lengths. Yeah. Yeah, he's affected. But. I mean, yeah
14:32
Yeah. So an unquiet grave. Would you say, see it on opening night
14:41
Would you say rent it? Say wait to stream or do you pass
14:45
like me you know it's spooky season if you want to watch a spooky movie
14:58
stream it I guess I don't know I have a hard time with it I pass on it I pass on it
15:02
there's other stuff out there what about you Danny I would also say pass like this is not
15:09
even though it's spooky season there's a lot more terrible things to watch
15:14
Turned in a good way. Yeah, terrible in a good way. And you could have a better time watching something better
15:24
This is a tough one, man, because, like, you want to support the ecosystem, especially right now
15:29
Yeah, yeah. And, you know, there's so much out there that's underappreciated and underseen
15:35
But, I mean, I would totally say pass on this. By the end of the movie, I was trying to convince myself why someone stream this
15:44
And I hate to say it, but I mean, just pass on a quiet grave
15:50
So right now, or actually last night, we did a live stream and we announced a giveaway
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a Back to the Future, Ultimate Trilogy. So every week we say, you know, leave a comment
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And if you leave a comment, if you like, and if you subscribe, each thing that you do will be an entry into that giveaway
16:08
It's the back to the, all three Back to the Future movies and a bonus disc with some cool
16:12
interviews on it. We're here every week on Adventures and Movies, looks at dot, dot, dot, dot, where we look at all kinds of movies, except in October
16:20
we're only going to look at horror movies. But check us out next week. Don't forget to like and subscribe, guys
16:27
Great Scott! Mario
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