Medical dramas are a sub-genre all their own, especially within the horror hotpot. Hospitals, operating rooms, wards and morgues behold an overpowering sense of mortality and fragility of life not often seen in most other movie locales, making them one of the most ideal settings for palpable suspense and dread to thrive unabated. Director Jason Todd Ipson (formally a med student himself) not only uses such an environment to build audience trepidation but also makes the arena integral to the story and its resulting drama. Unrest is the film in question, a solid little chiller and a definite standout amongst the generally lousy After Dark Horrorfest lineup of 2006.
First year med student and self-declared agnostic Alison Blanchard (Corri English) is having a tough time fitting in amongst the academic fabric of her new school, feeling queasy around corpses and getting on her teacher’s bad side. During a classroom dissection Alison begins to sense a strange communication occurring between her and a female cadaver, an unknown Jane Doe with a mysterious past. She eventually admits to her fellow students her ability to “feel” things she cannot readily explain, specifically messages extracted from the dead. Obsessed with uncovering the truth behind the life and death of the Jane Doe, she and love interest Brian (Scot Davis) become entwined in a nightmarish whirlpool with deadly consequences not only for them but also for those closest to them.
Blending the best elements of the ghost story and haunted house sub-genres together and compositing them into a contemporary setting, Unrest is an enjoyably traditional spookfest that aims for old school scares and a boilerplate scenario reminiscent of bygone horrors long missed. All the conventions are present: mysterious deaths, an ominous setting, an alienated heroine believed by no one of commanding authority, et all, however director/writer Ipson also displays a shrewd awareness of his films’ familiarity by effectively subverting several of its cliché’s and playing on expectation on more than a number of occasions. One such example *SPOILER ALERT* is the absence of a walking corpse, despite deaths supposedly committed by a reanimated human carcass, those of which are made all the more obscure and unsettling as a result. The killings are also almost always off-screen yet still pack a mighty wallop, mainly due to the screenplay’s implication of method rather than explicit inclusion for shock value sake. Moreover, the film maintains a uniquely strong sense of mood and atmosphere that suggests an otherworldly logic is constantly at work and in control at all times, creating a terrific spontaneity to the action that keeps the viewer off guard (even if believability is occasionally stretched beyond reasonable doubt).
Unrest’s key players are also a solid bunch, namely Corri English who delivers an excellent lead performance completely devoid of posturing and pretention, as does the rest of the supporting cast in equal measure. The characters, while intermittently questionable in some of their choices, do remain fairly convincing throughout the duration of the story and are endearing enough that you actually give a damn about their relative fates. The only quibble audiences may have could be with regard to the stupidity of the collage’s head anatomy teacher, Dr. Blackwell (Derrick O’Connor) and his refusal to act upon the mounting bloodshed taking place amongst his colleagues and classmates - admittedly a minor problem by supernatural horror film standards. The movie also showcases a stunning score by Michael Cohen that includes a full orchestral arrangement and many a lush composition, bringing to mind the best efforts of the late Jerry Goldsmith and other renowned genre greats.
Slick, visually eager, skillfully paced and always entertaining, Unrest delivers the goods in more ways than one as an old-fashioned creepshow full of jolts and surprises while still managing to change up its formula enough to be quirky and memorable for some time after viewing. By no means a low budget landmark, it’s still an efficient time sucker and shouldn't disappoint undiscriminating fright fans looking for a few popcorn thrills whilst in the close company of petrified pretty girls on a Friday night.
Dir: Jason Todd Ipson
Writer: Jason Todd Ipson & Chris Billett
Cast: Corri English, Scot Davis, Derrick O'Connor, Reb Flemming
Country: USA
Run Time: 88mins
Rating: MA15+
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