LeglessCorpse Films are an indie underground horror distributor that you may not have heard of. They have some great material coming out, as I write this review, such as a brilliant collection of shorts called Volumes of Blood which also features the director of this film, Nathan Thomas Milliner.  LeglessCorpse Films are also doing a cool sequel of Todd Browning’s Don't Look in the Basement, which was an offbeat low-budget halfway house/mental asylum picture released in the 70's. They have tons of great flicks available that should be checked out.

Accomplished comic book artist, Nathan Thomas Milliner, has taken his comic of the same name and turned it into a low-budget independent feature length film. Milliner has dabbled in directing before with a short film titled The Confessions of Fred Kruger, which was a tribute to Wes Craven's well known dream killer from A Nightmare on Elm Street. I've checked out Milliner's art on different sites featured online and it is the real deal -- the man has a penchant for inking horror characters, comic book superheroes and everything in between.

This being Milliner’s first full length feature and reportedly being shot for $3000, I think it turned out more than satisfactory and he should be proud with what he has accomplished here. The movie is shot extremely low-budget, as I mentioned before, but it’s done very well. One standout element is the acting performances.  We have a group of virtually unknowns giving it their all and for the most part they are convincing. I was pleasantly surprised by the film and its character-driven approach, building up the tension, giving the audience a view of who each character is, what they are about and finally dropping the bomb of a climax.

This is not a typical undead zombie film filled to the brim with guts and gore. A Wish for the Dead is a character piece -- an intense, depressing and moody drama. We get a bunch of characters, such as an inmate sentenced to death row, and a woman with a dying father. The intro has a mother being stalked by a killer in her home and the main character has a man named John (Chris Petty), who would do anything to make his dying wife better again. It may seem pointless at first, as all of these character’s storylines are pieced together and you may find yourself asking why and when will this all come together. For the most part I found the pay-off, with the conclusion, satisfactory.

Over halfway into the picture, our main character John is approached by a bandaged-faced man, who in a bizarre manner, grants John one wish. Obviously John decides to use it on the bed side of his wife's death bed to bring her back. Not only does John wish to bring his wife back but he also wishes that no one has to ever die. In true classic horror film fashion every deceased corpse, recently dead and long term, rises from their slumber and they are pissed!

The finale is obviously awesome and we get the hospital John is inhabiting, being overrun by the dead. Every storyline gradually connects which was featured in the film previously. Lots of great gore effects, a happy ending (not) and zombie extra's that are not afraid to jump into action nude (is it wrong to fap to dead people?). I recommend A Wish for the Dead for being bold, different and brave in attempting what it did.  Check out LeglessCorpse Films on Facebook, A Wish for the Dead Facebook page or Nathan Thomas Milliner. 

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