Art of the Dead (Movie Review)

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

PLOT: A wealthy businessman purchases a collection of seven paintings that represent the seven deadly sins: Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Greed, Envy, and Wrath! Now, anyone who comes in contact with these pictures is corrupted by Dorian Wilde, the artist who made a pact with dark forces when he created these paintings. Now it's up to Father Mendale to save this family before they are all destroyed by the art of the dead!

REVIEW: The DVD release of Rolfe Kanefsky’s supernatural horror film ART OF THE DEAD (buy it HERE) starring Tara Reid, Richard Grieco, Jessica Morris, Lukas Hassel, Robert Donavan, Alex Rinehart, and Tania Fox rolled out in stores nationwide, including Walmart, and online at Amazon.com back on October 1st, 2019. The film has been snatching up some semi-solid reviews (considering) since then boasting a flick that is gory and fun. And this morning I had the chance to sit down with this SEVEN meets VELVET BUZZSAW flick and see what was what. So what did I think?

Let's find out!

Well, the film kicks off on the right crazy-ass foot as Richard Grieco (21 JUMPS STREET, IF LOOKS COULD KILL) comes home with a series of seven paintings, excited to show his family. They couldn't care less and before you can say 'are the paintings talking to Grieco?' the man takes another look around his home and realizes his entire family (including his old-ass gramma and his daughter – who was having sex with her boyfriend) have all been brutally murdered with forks, knives, and all kinds of instruments. Grieco blames the paintings and grabs a double-barrel shotgun to … I don't know, shoot the paintings, I guess? And low and behold, the painting then steals the gun away from him – yeah, you read that right – and shoots him dead. This is going to be some mind-f*ck good times, I think. Roll opening credits.

From there, we learn that the evil/possessed paintings are from a cleverly named artist named Dorian Wilde who – go figure – made a pact with dark forces when he created this artwork that represents the seven deadly sins. And soon these cursed paintings find themselves in the hands of a wealthy businessman, Dylan Wilson (Lukas Hassel) and his wife Gina (Jessica Morris, TV’s One Life to Live) via gallery auctioneer Tess Barryman (Tara Reid, American Pie). The two bring the paintings home to their kids Louis (Zachary Chyz) and Donna (Cynthia Aileen Strahan). And before you can say, 'Did I accidentally put on a soft-core porn?' only a priest who has had run-ins with the paintings before named Father Mendale (Robert Donavan) and Louis' girlfriend Kim (Alex Rinehart) can save the family before they are corrupted by Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Greed, Envy, and Wrath!

For those of you out there that need a primer on just what kind of film ART OF THE DEAD is, let me just put it out there here and now that this film comes to us from the writing producing, directing team (Sonny Mahal, Michael Mahal, and Rolfe Kanefsky) behind the now semi-cult classic horror-comedy flick PARTY BUS OF THE DEAD. So this means that one good thing that the movie has going for it is that it keeps the gore flowing from beginning to end. Yes, from the beginning we are treated to pretty slick gore effects that include stabbed out eyeballs, forks, and spoons through necks, exploding stomachs, and a woman raped by the devil. Not bad for a Monday morning viewing if I do say so myself! Far too many "horror" movies these days seem to think it's okay to give us everything but blood, guts, and boobs. Boring. At least ART OF THE DEAD knows what kind of film it is and keeps the violence and nudity coming almost scene by scene. I appreciated that. 

But I hate to say that past the film delivering on the red stuff, there isn't much else to celebrate about this piece of "art." Basically, at the end of the day, ART OF THE DEAD equals another example of a sub-sub-genre of horror we've been seeing a lot lately which seems to have been made by soft-core porn filmmakers. The film's cinematography is bright as all hell (sometimes making me squint at the screen to see what was going on) and the acting is not much better than if this actually WAS soft-core porn. But if you're looking for a movie that more than delivers on gore and nudity by the pound, than you needn't look much further than Rolfe Kanefsky’s supernatural horror film ART OF THE DEAD with Tara Reid and Richard Grieco. The DVD release rolled out via ITN Distribution, Inc, in stores nationwide and on Amazon.com back on October 1st, 2019. Snag a copy HERE. If you dare.