THE PLOT THUS FAR
A man wakes up in the wilderness, in a pit full of dead bodies, with no memory and must determine if the murderer is one of the strangers who rescued him, or if he himself is the killer.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Open Grave” is a decent mystery about a man who isn’t quite sure what’s happening to him. Did he murder these people in the open grave or is he a survivor of some atrocity? The mute Brown Eyes tries to help our hero, but he spends the majority of the movie freaked out of his mind. Take that for what you will, as I’m sure that you will. I wish we would’ve got a taste of the competent Copley from the Oldboy remake.
Sharlto Copley is quickly become an amazing cult cinema star. That being said, the movie peaks with the dying dude on the barbed wire fence. The other half of the film is a race to the finish without any sense of proper conclusion. The level of violence ebbs and flows, but what irks me is how the movie just collapsed. That seems to have turned into an ongoing trope with these kinds of movies. When you set up a mystery, you had better know how to tie it up and make it work for an audience. That’s part of the politics of creating a dramatic work that can stand the test of time. A lot of fans want to compare it to “Buried”, but at least it had a solid third act.
The Blu-Ray comes with a featurette as the sole special feature. The A/V Quality is pretty strong for an indie thriller. The DTS-HD 2.0 master audio track makes the most of the spooky environment. Plus, you get a rather crisp 1080p transfer. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!