"I Sell the Dead" starts out as a refreshing and respectful low-budget B-movie homage to period piece horror. The plot is inspired by the notorious and factual Scottish grave robbers and murderers Burk and Hare, the settings look authentic and the make-up effects are traditionally old-fashioned. A still relatively young corpse snatcher (played by Dominique Monagham; - one of the Hobbits from "Lord of the Rings") sits in a dungeon cell, awaiting his execution via the guillotine, and narrates the story of his "career" to a curious monk (Ron Perlman). The first half hour is quite good, and covers how he - as a young lad - got pulled into the business by his sneering companion Willy (Larry Fassenden) and how they dug up as fresh as possible corpses to sell to the sinister physician Dr. Quint (Agnus Scrimm; - the Tall Man from "Phantasm"). I'm actually listing all the actors' names to illustrate what an impressive cast this obscure little flick managed to bring together.
Regrettably, however, it doesn't remain good. It doesn't even remain entertaining. The script suddenly goes bonkers, turning into zombie splatter and dealing with wars between rivaling body snatcher gangs. Strangely enough, the more absurd and gorier the film becomes, the more boring it also gets. The humor and parody aspects that worked very effectively at the start only come across as weak and pathetic during the final act of the film and, because of the zombies, the special effects also turn into lame CGI. Pity.
Regrettably, however, it doesn't remain good. It doesn't even remain entertaining. The script suddenly goes bonkers, turning into zombie splatter and dealing with wars between rivaling body snatcher gangs. Strangely enough, the more absurd and gorier the film becomes, the more boring it also gets. The humor and parody aspects that worked very effectively at the start only come across as weak and pathetic during the final act of the film and, because of the zombies, the special effects also turn into lame CGI. Pity.