When SFX guru Robert Hall makes a slasher film, you know it's going to deliver the goodies. Hall, the owner of Almost Human FX in Los Angeles, California, does not disappoint in the blood and guts category of Laid to Rest. However, it's the acting and the script that make Laid to Rest a One-Watch Wonder.

     The film starts off with "The Girl', played by Bobbi Sue Luther, waking up in a coffin inside a funeral home with no memory and apparent blunt head trauma (this will be explained further in the review). She wonders into a room, promptly locks herself in, and is found by funeral home director Mr. Jones (Richard Lynch). If that's not bad enough, while attempting to unlock the door, Lynch is impaled and we have our first encounter with the malevolent Chrome Skull (played by Nick Principe).

     Narrowly escaping Chrome Skull (what a shocker there!), the Girl runs onto the road in a country area and is found by a man named Tucker (Kevin Gage). Tucker takes the girl to his house where we meet his wife (300's Lena Headey), who is a little hesitant about the girl at first, but soon warms up to her and lets her stay the night. While this charming little side story is going on, Chrome Skull is hot on their heels and soon turns up at the house to collect the girl. Not giving into to the sadistic psychopath's wishes, Tucker see his wife slain in a surprising, and vicious manner. As a viewer you soon realize that anyone who comes into contact with Tucker and the girl isn't going to find their way breathing by the end credits.

     Hall admits that Laid to Rest was a "vehicle" to show his wife's acting skills and his directing fortitude. For a film that lacks any type of serious budget, it delivers a fun-filled, 90 minute romp of violence. The FX are outstanding in this movie, as you would expect them to be with Almost Human at the helm. Most of the kills pride themselves on being a little more complex than your average slasher. Such beauties include an intestine spilling gut slash, a head stabbed to the side of a house, a rebar impaling, a brutal shot of a face being cut off in a ripping manner, and my personal favorite, death by tire sealant.

     The villain, Chrome Skull is an above average slasher. He is a truly sinister character, and more than intimidating. He is intelligent, calculating, and ruthless in his attempt to claim the girl and finish what he started. There is no Rob Zombie white trash backstory of how he became the killer he is today (Thank God), so there is a cloud of mystery surrounding Mr. Skull. I do have a slight problem with there being no backstory on him whatsoever, but I'll take that over half an hour of childhood trauma bullshit any day. As a villain in a slasher film, Chrome Skull does his job well and gives an adequate performance. Not that it's hard to do when you have no lines, and your job is to stalk and slash...

     As for the three leads, Kevin Gage in his role as Tucker is the standout performance in the movie. He is believable in a strong performance as a kind, slightly below average intelligence rural area man, and more importantly he is the only one that I felt for in the film, and the only one I didn't actually want to bite it. Sean Whalen is a convincing role as the nerdy, momma's boy Steven. And as for The Girl played by Bobbi Sue Luther, well to put it nicely, somebody has to be fucking the director. Oh wait! That's right! She IS fucking the director! Hall took a lesson from The Rob Zombie School of Film and cast his wife as the leading lady. A word of advice to any director out there. DO NOT take any cues from ROB ZOMBIE. While I'm sure she is trying, Bobbi Sue's performance was miserable and schizophrenic. One scene I think her character might be mentally challenged, and the next she's the ballsy heroine of the film. She was at opposite ends of the spectrum the entire film, and if it wasn't for her being an absolute bombshell, I would have been much more upset about her performance. That being said, with a different actress as The Girl, I'm confident this film would have gotten a higher rating.

     The story is mediocre, setting up characters in half-assed ways just to get an extra kill or two in the movie. The pacing has some issues in the first half of the film, but hits it's stride soon after. The dialogue is atrocious. It makes a Michael Bay script seem like brilliant writing. For the first 30 minutes of the movie I thought The Girl was A. Retarded or B. Still recovering from a nasty shot to the back of the head. Lines such as " I wanna go to the police lady's house now", "I saw an old man get dead", and my personal favorite, Lady Dispatcher: "Ma'am are you still there?" The Girl: "I don't know!", made the script seem laughable throughout. While I'm on that subject, I would like to ask Hall what the hell he was thinking when he gave Chrome Skull, the faceless madman, a luxury car with rims and a license plate that read "CHROME SKULL"?! That to me was unnecessary and took away from Chrome Skull's effectiveness.

     If you're looking for a movie with a great story and fantastic character development, go rent Slumdog Millionaire (I'm serious. Rent it, it was fantastic.). That's not what Laid to Rest is all about. Laid to Rest or more primal in its concerns. It strives to make a fun, brutally violent slasher flick. In this area it undoubtedly exceeds expectations, especially for a straight to DVD movie. However, while I'm aware what it was trying to do , the poor acting performance of Luther, and less than admirable script and story-line condemn this movie to a mediocre rating. Do I recommend you give Laid to Rest a watch? Absolutely, it's money well spent for a fun little movie. Would I watch it again? It depends. If I'm watching this with a lady friend, then yes, it's your typical "better chance to score" horror movie. If just to watch again, then probably not. It's fun for a one time deal, but I would rather not have to sit through the bad acting and sloppy story again.