By Steve Biodrowski

This is a gruesome supernatural slasher film about first year medical students who come to believe that the soul of their autopsy cadaver is not at peace. After a brief prologue of some crazy-ass psycho bitch staring with unblinking eyes into the camera while prepping for some major self-mutilation, the film shifts to its university setting, where Alison Blanchard (Corri English) discovers that she may not have the stomach for cutting up dead bodies - she passes out on the first day of class. This becomes the least of her worries, when her fellow students begin dropping like flies. She is soon convinced that the source of the problem is the corpse she and her partners are dissecting in class and, therefore, begins a quest to discover its identity (which, per regulations, is a closely guarded secret). Eventually, she learns that the dear not-quite-departed had led a normal life before a visit to South America, where she was apparently possessed by some ancient Aztec spirits. Alison’s therapist and her anatomy professor are skeptical of her new-found belief in the supernatural, but as the bodies pile up, she convinces her lab partners to help put the soul of the corpse at rest, in order to stop the killings.

After setting up its basic premise, UNREST tells its story with admirable conviction but with a lack of compelling plot twists. The story needs some kind of surprise (like the revelation that Ash is a robot in ALIEN) to help galvanize the third act and prevent predictability; for the most part, however, the narrative moves along an even plateau as Alison follows the trail of clues that lead to the truth. Instead, the only uncertainty is who will be the next victim, how they will die, and where the body will be found.

Fortunately, director Jason Todd Ipson’s film sustains itself by virtue of its grim ambience and gruesome setting, which combine to create an authentically disturbing sense of prevailing horror. In this regard, the film is much aided by a talented cast of virtual unknowns, who perform with admirable conviction. Overall, the tone is completely serious, eschewing camp or the nudge-nudge-wink-wink approach adopted by many gore films to hide their budgetary and artistic shortcomings.

None of which is meant to imply that UNREST exercises undue restraint in terms of serving up the fear factor. There is plenty of blood on view and at least a few grisly deaths, but Ipson manages to keep the film edgy even when there is no immediate threat on screen. A good example comes when Alison convinces her lab partners to check for clues in a large glass tank used for preserving corpses. This extended, rather nasty-feeling set piece – which involves full-body immersion in the vat of preservative fluid - will turn your stomach and leaving you yearning for a shower to wash away the sense of grungy sludge you’ll imagine clinging to your body.

In short, UNREST achieves something few horror films genuinely even aspire to: while delivering the obligatory shocks, it also goes much further – it gets inside your head and stays there, whether you want it to or not.

TRIVIA

Jason Todd Ipson’s film took second place in the Feature Film category at the September 2006 Shriekfest horror film festival, thanks to its convincingly authentic feel. Not surprisingly, it turns out that Ipson himself went through medical school before turning to filmmaking. The story is inspired by his own experiences, including the feeling that he could sense the spirits of the autopsy cadavers he worked on.

Jason Todd Ipson deliberately shot his film without stars (not even the traditional cameos that low-budget films use to get some name value on the marquee), because he thought it would help the audience the actors as the characters rather than as familiar faces. Unfortunately, that made distribution problematic for the finished film, especially overseas, where some kind of name value – even a faded former star – seems essential to generate interest from distributors. UNREST was in danger of falling into direct-to-video obscurity, until Lions Gate picked it up for distribution as part of the After Dark Horror Fest in November of 2006.

The script makes a rather fundamental mistake in geography: the Aztec indians did not live in South America; they lived in what we now call Mexico.

RELATED ARTICLES: Director Jason Todd Ipson discusses his feelings about having his film appear in the After Dark Horror Fest.