I Sell The Dead (2008, NR)

Netflix has this listed as a drama, but I think it would be more accurately described as a lightly (adverb referring to both of the following adjectives) dark comedy.  It stars Dominic Monaghan (Charlie from the Lost series, Merry from Lord Of The Rings) as a grave robber convicted of grave robbing and murder, on the eve of his execution by guillotine, relating his story to an interviewing monk played by Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Sons Of Anarchy series) who wants to record his story.  It starts off as a fine vignette-style story, that in tone reminds me of some H.P. Lovecraft or Robert Louis Stevenson stories (but not the most famous from either: not Call Of Cthulhu or Treasure Island, more The Reanimator or The Body Snatcher), but later changes to more of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  Not that they slay the undead, but that such corpses fetch a heftier price than the standard dead.  From what I understand, it was not uncommon for surgeons and medical schools in the 19th century and prior to purchase cadavers from shifty individuals for medical research purposes (the cadavers where not aways without a pulse prior to encounter with the shifty individuals).  I am pleased to say that the main characters of this film did not create cadavers themselves, but reclaimed already-deceased ones.


I liked that the story used the story-within-a-story tactic at one point (in Monaghan's story, a character tells him a story that someone else told him).  I don't know that it requires more skill from the filmmakers, but it's just a fun way to do things sometimes.  Also a fun treat was that some scenes/shots ended with the frame being "drawn over" and changed to a comic book style image.  That gives it a pulp horror feel kind of like Tales From The Crypt or Creepshow.

Alternate cover of the film, showing the art style.

If you liked Lo or the show Buffy, then I imagine you'll like this one.  It was an IFC film, so it's an indie movie to an extent... and I'm almost guaranteed to like it, but that's not true of everyone.  If you don't like lighthearted tales of the undead, then don't bother, but otherwise I think this is a fine example of one (to be clear though, it's not nearly as slapstick as Dracula: Dead And Loving It).  For me, it's about 4 stars.