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A.K.A.:
Nathan Thomas Milliner's A Wish for the Dead
Directed by: Nathan Thomas Milliner
Written by: Herschel Zahnd, Nathan Thomas Milliner
Cinematography by: Herschel Zahnd
Editing by: Herschel Zahnd
Special Effects by: Autumn Barefoot, Jesse Meyer, Katie
Durham
Music by: Jayson Allen, Jon Mattingly, Harley Poe,
Poetry of the Dead
Cast: Chris Petty, Julie Streble, Kristine Renee Farley,
Adam Pepper, Lori Cooke, Kathryn Furrow.
Year: 2016
Color: Color
Runtime: 1h 25min
Studio: American Recording Company, Renegade Art
Productions
Distribution:
LeglessCorpse Films |
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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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