The Living and the Dead (2007)

	Directed by: Simon Rumley	COUNTRY UK GENRE Thriller/Horror NORWEGIAN TITLE The Living and the Dead RUNNING TIME 83 minutes
	Produced by: Nick O'Hagan Simon Rumley
	Written by: Simon Rumley

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Donald Brocklebank	Roger Lloyd-Pack	½
James Brocklebank	Leo Bill
Nancy Brocklebank	Kate Fahy
Nurse Mary	Sarah Bell

Review

Simon Rumley exhibits the young filmmaker's flair and vision, but not quite the experienced filmmaker's control and logical sense. The Living and the Dead touches on heart-rending aspects in its narrative and has some scenes of great psychological terror in its horror concept, but as a whole, there is too much unpolished raw material surfacing. The visuals are like a kid gone rampant with his crayons – they are striking and sometimes effective, but also rather fussy. The same can be said of the acting and writing of the lead character, James. He has many interesting human aspects, yet he's a little too obviously not a human being – he's a mentally handicapped plot device who ultimately is hard to retain much sympathy for. Kate Fahy delivers the film's best performance – it is her agony we share, and it is through her that Rumley demonstrates the most insight.