Blu-ray Review – The Dead Thing

Mystery is the goal of “The Dead Thing.” Co-writer/director Elric Kane (“Kissy Kissy”) isn’t open with the hard details of this story, which tracks a woman’s increasing disorientation as she pursues love with a strange man who remains elusive in more ways than one. Kane (and co-writer Webb Wilcoxen) doesn’t go for a horror experience with the picture, which contains no scares and no particular genre appetite. It’s more of a psychological study with touches of eroticism and menace, slipping into ghost story territory at times. “The Dead Thing” intends to be slow-burn, with Kane pursuing atmosphere, not intensity. However, earning audience interest in this puzzle is up for debate, as such glacial pacing isn’t rewarding. The tale plays like a short film that’s been expanded for feature-length examination, failing to deliver an interesting dramatic experience as Kane works out his cinematic influences and love of ambiguity, which doesn’t translate into riveting cinema. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com