Grave Danger (2009)
Reviewed by Geno McGahee – February 2, 2009
New York based filmmaker Jim Haggerty has tried his hand at an anthology and they are typically very fun, and this one is no exception. As many of you know, I was not overly impressed with Haggerty’s THE SLASHER, but saw a lot of promise in I DREAM OF DRACULA, his follow up. Now we have GRAVE DANGER, another step up, although there was one disappointment that I will speak of.
We begin with a lady getting strange phone call from a not so intimidating bad guy. Tom the Caller (Jonathan Holtzman) is trying to use a creepy voice, but it sort of comes off silly, but this is the wrap around story in the anthology and it serves the purpose. Tom continues to creep out the girl and then insists that she listens to his story.
I was happy to see my favorite actor in the Haggerty stable, Jae Mosc back in action as Victor, a man that is seeing things. A man in a suit keeps showing up, but only Victor can see him, and it’s driving him mad. His two buddies, Scott and Eric aren’t much help and neither is his wife, Stella. Every time that he mentions this creepy guy harassing him, invading his TV, and running him over with his car, they all scoff and it’s driving him crazy. There’s nothing that he can do to convince them. Although I truly enjoy Mosc, I thought that the acting was uneven in this tale and the two buddies really couldn’t keep up with  Mosc, but this is micro budget and I totally understand that. I liked this tale…thought the ending could have been explained a little more and maybe the tale could have been flushed out a little bit more, but overall, I was amused. I wish that Mosc was wearing a bad wig again, but you can’t have everything. It was amusing too to see Haggerty’s cameo in this tale. He was amusing as the innocent bystander trying to read a newspaper when Victor pounces on him.
The second tale was actually very good and very amusing. Jeff Jones played by Vic Martino was a fantastic character. He was a total prick to his hot wife Carol Jones (Kate Webster), and no matter how well she treats him, he belittles her and always finds some way to criticize her. It’s amazing just how much she puts up with, but when she gets her hand on a tribal statue, she  becomes possessed. Obviously there is some comparison here that can be made to the TRILOGY OF TERROR, and maybe that was an inspiration, but this story is much more interesting and fun, and this tale was my personal favorite. Webster and Martino were both impressive in their performances.
The third tale has to do with ventriloquist dummy and who doesn’t love those things? Jenny (Kaitlin Owens) is celebrating her birthday and is surrounded by complete assholes. Her man Todd (Jeffrey Cusimano) is a complete abusive jerk, her best friend Valerie (Ann Marie Yoo) can’t be trusted around Todd, and everyone else in her group are just a bunch of stoners. Jenny is the only smart and kind one out of the group. Even on her birthday, she is the one making her own birthday cake while Todd can’t keep his hands off Valerie.
In the meantime, Abe (Bud Stafford) is trying to find a way to pay for his wife Isabelle’s (Kaye Bramblett) medication. They are older and living day to day, not even making enough money to eat, which drives Abe back to working again, but the art of ventriloquism isn’t exactly appreciated. Thanks to a contact he finds work, but crosses paths with Todd and his group of asshole friends. As Abe tries to perform his act for Jenny’s birthday party, the group throws beer cans at him and yell “you suck!” The only person to treat poor old Abe with respect is Jenny and her kindness will not be ignored as the dummy comes to life and begins to take revenge.
Now the voice of the dummy I could have done without, but what does a ventriloquist dummy sound like? I guess Haggerty’s vision of the dummy’s voice is just as good as what I think it would sound like, so I can’t take too many points away there.
Overall, this was a pretty entertaining tale and there are several points that Haggerty makes evident. I loved the comment that was made concerning that Todd and his friends made the audience at a Ted Nugent concert look like a Mensa meeting. I can also tell that Jim Haggerty had known good women that have been with jerks. He also covers the problem with the elderly and the constant rise in the cost of living.
GRAVE DANGER is another example of a filmmaker working with no budget but a lot of heart and drive and Jim Haggerty continues to improve time in and time out. One thing that I want to note here is that there is a great deal of nudity in this film and in today’s “horror” you see a lot of basic porn in horror, but Haggerty is different. The nudity in this film is more of a celebration of the female form…rather than a marketing ploy or filler. I also commend Haggerty for having the balls to show the average girl next door rather than the plastic strippers that you typically see in low budget horror. You wonder why amateur porn is so popular. It’s because the women are real and that is what you get here and I appreciate that.
In the end, GRAVE DANGER is a success and an entertaining anthology from an ever-growing filmmaker. I look forward to seeing what Haggerty has in store for the horror world next.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7/10. Get that wig back on Mosc!
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