BY MIKEY MIGO
I remember a few months ago when the first trailer for “After.Life” was put online. It looked really interesting. Liam Neeson is becoming one of the favorite actors and I’ve always enjoyed Christina Ricci’s work. And really, Justin Long is finally growing on me. So with that, I was more open to this kind of movie. While horror movies are often typical lameness, there are some that occasionally slip through that keep me from completely dismissing the genre. The direction, story, and acting of this film make “After.Life” one of those slippery few. I’ve seen a lot of critics snub this movie for its real merits. I fear they look at this movie expecting a slasher film and when they realize it’s not they get all whiney about it. This movie is smarter than that. It’s more so of a macabre drama. The premise is on the cheesy side, but it’s the acting and narration that’s being told that holds this movie firmly above other recent horror flicks. We have a kind of crazy girl with a rough past in Christina Ricci in a relationship with a caring and normal guy played by Justin Long. After some drama, she finds herself on a rack at the local funeral home. This is where she begins to interact with the funeral director played masterfully by Liam Neeson. A few deep rooted questions come to surface. Is she really alive or does he really have a “ability” to speak to the dead on their way out? Does she have anything to really live for? The movie goes deep into these topics. In many ways it reminded me of the HBO show “Six Feet Under”, but with a horror movie twist and a way darker tone. The comparisons come in the deep look at life, death, and the value of what’s in between. It doesn’t spoon feed you its narration or depth but kind of leads you to the water. This is a “lead a horse to water” situation. Sadly, I wish more people would have been smart enough to drink up and enjoy this movie for what it was. If you’re an art house nerd who’d rather have your mind screwed with than see people get cut up and buckets of blood then you’ll love this film. There is something very desolate about this movie, cold if you let it, and strong if you absorb it.
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