The thinking person’s zombie film, HANDLING THE UNDEAD is a sombre, existential, horror film that isn’t so much into eating your brain as wrenching your heart.
Putting the harrow into horror, HANDLING THE UNDEAD is remarkable for the unsettling atmosphere that creeps in and blends with the fragile and tender family relationships, evoking a definite dread lurking beneath the surface, charging the drama with a palpable tension.
HANDLING THE UNDEAD is a triptych, three individual stories of love and loss that launch on a hot Summer day in Oslo when the power grid seems to fritz big time and the dead awaken.
A young family is faced with the mother’s reawakening before they have even mourned her death after a car accident; an elderly woman gets the love of her life back the same day as her funeral, and a grandfather rescues his grandchild from the grave in a desperate attempt to reunite the family and get his daughter out of her depression.
But it seems in all cases of the deceased, the flesh, much the worse for wear from decomposition and injury, may be willing, but the spirit is no longer there.
Not the shuffling, drooling walking stiffs of zombie pictures past, these reanimated beings are eerily still, creating an unsettling scenario.
The uncanny is understated so that when a trope does transpire it is emotionally shocking. Rescuing the resurrected and welcoming the weird illustrates a natural instinct of love. But sometimes love lies bleeding.
HANDLING THE UNDEAD is a strikingly visual film, enhanced by composer Peter Raeburn’s disquieting score, and the amazing sound design by Bent Holm and Andreas Franck.
Based on his book of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist, the author of Let The Right One In, the screenplay is written by Lindqvist, in cooperation with director, Thea Hvistendal, making a remarkable feature directorial debut.
HANDLING THE UNDEAD is available to to purchase on AppleTV, Amazon Prime Video, GooglePlay, YouTube and the Microsoft Store in Australia from July 31.
