AFI Dallas - Grace Review

Synopsis:
Madeline Matheson is eight months pregnant and determined to deliver her unborn child, Grace, naturally. When an accident leaves Grace dead inside her, Madeline insists on carrying the baby's corpse to term. Weeks later, when Madeline delivers, the baby miraculously returns to life... With an appetite.

Review:
Grace is the story of a woman who desperately wants a child. After trying everything for years (including fertility drugs) and having a couple of miscarriages, at last she has hope. But thanks to a careless driver, Madeline (played by Jordan Ladd) and her husband are run off the rode a few weeks before her due date. Now dealing with the loss of both her husband and unborn child, Madeline decides to carry the child full term anyway. Then when she gives birth, mom somehow wills the baby back to life. But there's a catch.

Having a baby that feeds on blood is a true nightmare - especially if your vegan. Then to top it off, you have a creepy mother-in-law to deal with. This is a story line that's hard to see coming. To put yourself in a place to figure out what to do in this situation is either a great imagination or dementia. Writer / director Paul Solet is on his way to being a big name in the horror movie genre.

Now while disturbing at times, the acting is very realistic. The actions and reactions of the characters at times flow so naturally it seems like your watching a documentary rather then a narrative. Once again, props to Paul Solet for the great job he did in putting the cast together and as a whole just working his magic throughout this film.

I learned after a Q&A with Paul and Jordan, that this film was shot in 17 days, which makes the cinematography all that more impressive. What with the use of symbolism, color shading, and the interesting camera angles, it really sucks you in to the story. This camera trickery is not only cool but necessary, because nothing really happens for a good long while but you never really notice.

Simply put, Grace is not like the rest of the of the so-called horror crap that Hollywood is pushing on us these days. I would recommend this movie not only to horror fans, but to those on the fence as well. (Review by The Hick)