The Living and the Dead (2007)

Lord Donald and Lady Nancy Brocklebank live in the magnificent but decrepit Longleigh House with their mentally challenged son James. While Donald is in negotiations to sell the home Nancy becomes seriously ill so he must leave the estate for a few days in order to pay for her operation.The father requests the family nurse to take control while he is gone but James wants to prove that he is an adult and more then capable of taking care of his mom so he quickly locks the nurse out of the house. He begins to mix his own medication with his mother s and as the stress of looking after an ailing patient begins to build James condition worsens; setting off a chain of events both chilling and disturbing.System Requirements:Running Time: 84 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/KILLER UPC: 807839003321 Manufacturer No: TLAD190 Product Description

There's a reason you've never heard of it.

Poorly written, filmed, and acted, The Living and the Dead is a disjointed mess. It's barely watchable. September 18, 2008

Not so bad it's good, just a bit pointless

Quite simply, I feel bad for some of the otherwise good actors trapped in this film. Their presence is a clear indication of the wasted potential here. In any event, please don't be fooled into thinking we're in "so bad that it's good (i.e. entertaining)" territory. July 18, 2008

"If you take more they work better!"

I tried to watch this movie. Truly I did. As an amateur reviewer, my main role model is the great Roger Ebert, who has a rule against reviewing a movie he hasn't seen in its entirety. But even he breaks that rule occasionally, and so I'm also breaking it for the first time.

Watching a seriously ill woman cry in front of her mentally disturbed son because she has soiled herself may be some viewers' idea of great entertainment, but it certainly is not mine. Feel free to vote this review as "unhelpful". I don't care. June 3, 2008

Okay...

I didn't care much for this movie, however I commend fact that it is an accurate portray of mental illness. I understand the concept of wanting the audience to 'feel' the angst but I think it could have been executed a little better. It was a little to 'weird' for me to even recommend it to anyone. If you want a copy, I'll send you mine!!! May 15, 2008

They All Went to Purgatory

THE LIVING AND THE DEAD sounds like it has a decent plot, but don't be fooled. Things are so convoluted and disoriented that even when the plot begins to make sense, it doesn't matter.

Former Lord Donald Brocklebank's (Roger Lloyd-Pack) wife, Nancy (Kate Fahyl) is physically ill and is getting worse. Meanwhile, Donald's only son, James (Leo Bill), is delusional and a borderline psychotic who can't be trusted to be by himself. The family lives in the once extravagant, but now decaying Longleigh House that for a family of three is just way, way, too big. Donald has to leave for a few days and go to London to arrange financing for Nancy's surgery. He's not too worried because despite his family's problems, he's been gone before and Nurse Mary (Sarah Ball) has always taken care of things while he was away. Donald leaves while it is still dark and Nurse Mary hasn't arrived, yet. James wakes up and decides that Nurse Mary isn't needed and he will take care of his mother himself. He leaves the phone off the hook and bolts the doors. James does alright if there isn't any stress and if he's taking his medication properly, but he stops taking his evening medication and eventually begins confusing his pills with his mother's. What results is a confusing and dizzying nightmare that leads to tragedy.

I try to find at least one good thing in every film I see. The best thing about THE LIVING AND THE DEAD is that there is some really good acting in the movie. Unfortunately, most people are never going to notice the acting because the movie is so incredibly bad. For example, there is no explanation why Donald is no longer a Lord, or what exactly Mary is suffering from, or what happened to turn James from the happy young man he once was into the delusional and crazy person he has become. About a third of the movie is sped up (I assume to reflect the mental state of James) but this technique fails at it's apparent purpose and becomes an irritating and annoyin nuisance that distracts from the few good things going on in the movie. There's not much dialogue and what little there is as disjointed as the movie's structure. The lighting is horrible and the music is atrocious. Five minutes into the film I couldn't wait for it to end, but there was about eighty-five minutes left to go. THE LIVING AND THE DEAD is so bad that it is a movie that MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE 3000 wouldn't have even shown. April 26, 2008

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