The Tomb (Ligeia)

The Tomb...2009...89 minutes...rated R...starring Wes Bentley, Kaitlyn Doubleday, Sofya Skya, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (also Eric Roberts and Michael Madsen)...written by John Shirley, based off of Edgar Allen Poe's "Ligeia"...directed by Michael Staininger

Some people seriously need to learn to quit while they're ahead. Let's take Jonathan Merrick for example: here's a man who has a good thing going at the university as a scholar and writer, has a lovely wife named Rowena, and a good shot of having a wonderful life. However, Jonathan finds himself under the spell of the bewitching Ligeia...you know, one of those raven-haired goth types. She really fits the Gothic stereotypes: she has a large manor, dresses in black, hangs in the club scene, drinks absinthe, has a strange and possibly magical mirror, and is conducting occult research to defeat death...itself...before she dies of some strange wasting illness. This involves some necromancy and binding of other souls to her will...but wehn love strikes, Jonathan learns to overlook these things. Okay, so he drinks himself to mindlessness and regrets the choices he's made. With Ligeia's death, you'd think Jonathan's problems would be over. Too bad her research paid off....

This selection was part of the 2009 Frightfest collection, and honestly isn't terrible. It's not exactly unique or hard to predict, but I'm kinder with reinterpretations of older material  and you don't get much older in horror than Mr. Poe himself. I was a little surprised to see the collection of familiar faces listed above in the acting credits...and Michael Madsen's presence as Rowena's father makes me ask a meta-movie question: if your father-in-law was Michael Madsen, would you be divorcing your wife after having a fling with a college student? Not me...I'd be afraid I'd get the Tarantino treatment, if you will. Past that, though, the film goes through its chops pretty well and delivers fairly...if not exceptionally. Some people might find it moody and slowish...I'll point again at one word: Poe.

All this said, I do have another question to ask: how come all movies with necromancy eventually come down to the "Where's the evil spirit inhabiting" shell game? Find the dark soul, win a chance to live a little longer. I'm thinking there's got to be a way to shake this idea up...if I have any brilliant ideas, I'll write them up.

I give this selection 2.5 occult-sigil-laden-soul-extracting-and fetishy-looking mouth devices out of 5. (Admittedly, I'd love to have this prop.)