Name: Laughing Dead
Genre: Horror
Released: 1998-07-17
Duration: 1 h 25 min
Rating: 5.4
Cast: Fern Finer, Patrick Gleason, Nancy Rhee

Visually rich, musically sublime, ultimately tragic futuristic story. Really good.

Writer/Director Patrick Gleason has done an outrageous job getting his bleak version of the future onto the screen. He does so with the help of good actors, and a score written by composer Tomas Hart that ties scenes together that range from eerily sad to wildly over-the top insanity. This film is not a blood and guts action vampire movie, it is a quietly paced film that is startling in the accuracy of a future where all that is left for people to do is stay inside, stay safe, and watch television. The outside world is so toxic, and there are many different kinds of killers - staying inside with a static-y television that provides, at best, two channels, is the only option. Gleason plays Hunter, a sick, lost soul who washes up out of the river half dead, having no idea where he is, with only snippets of memory. As he tries to make sense of what has happened to him, we are treated to the muted, melancholy piano and wounded cello Tomas Hart has winding in and around characters that are struggling to live in an already dead world. Actor Bob Mack ("Gluttony Victim" from the film "Seven") makes a marvelous appearance as a television personality, and actor John Hammond's character gives a twist that is both unexpected and ultimately heartbreaking. Gleason and Hart have worked together to show us a future that is not so far off, if the viewer really pays attention to the story. For a low budget horror film, "Laughing Dead" takes the genre to a truly horrifying place - possibility. It is unique in it's approach, and I highly recommend it.

Kelly Mahan Jaramillo

The horror genre features stories that aim to elicit fear, suspense, and a sense of dread in its audience. Horror stories often explore themes related to the unknown, the supernatural, and the macabre, and they frequently evoke strong emotional reactions such as anxiety, terror, and unease.

When Hunter wakes up from a fever dream, he's in a world he never envisioned; one filled with monstrous beasts and humans who appear to be melting at the seams.

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Laughing Dead

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