'Dead Bride' is a chilling tale of a family curse

Dead Bride (2022)
Starring: Jennifer Mischiati, Christopher Hulsen, Douglas Dean, David White, Sean James Sutton, and Luna Francavilla
Director: Francesco Picone
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

After her biological father dies, Alyson (Mischiati), together with her newborn child and her husband (Hulson), moves back to the isolated mansion where she grew up. Here, as dark memories return, and her long struggle with sleep paralysis grows more intense, a supernatural evil stirs and a family curse returns in full force.

"Dead Bride" is a love letter to the classic horror films and ghost movies. It even runs slightly less than an hour-and-a-half, which, to me, remains the ideal length for a horror flick.

This is also a film that relies more on mood created by lighting and camera angles and performances by the actors than special effects. What practical effects are present all serve enhance the plot as well as creepiness, instead of the movement in recent years toward the effects being present for their own sake more than anything else. The film is also perfectly paced, from its mysterious and creepy pre-credit sequence through the literally out-of-this-world climactic sequence when Alyson undertakes a spiritual journey to save her son. The final half-hour of this picture is among the spookiest and trippiest I've seen in recent years.

I have very few complaints I can mount regarding this movie, and most of them are nitpicky. As is my habit, I'm not going to bother with those, but instead just deal with major issues.

First, there are many examples of clunky dialogue in the film. The actors do their best with it, but it is just too stilted to work, no matter how well they deliver their lines. At its worst, this weakness distracted from and undermined a couple otherwise well-filmed and well-acted scenes.

Further, there are three major story elements that I feel were not properly developed or resolved, and I'm in two minds about the way "Dead Bride" wraps up--I both love and hate the horror of it. It fits well enough with the rest of the film--although it only exists because of a couple completely dropped plot threads--but it's not quite the ending I excepted or wanted. (Well, it is, in part. It really suffers because of a key story element that seems to get forgotten once the climax starts. I am borderline harping on that now, but it had enough of an impact that I waffled between giving "Dead Bride" a Seven rather than the Eight rating I ultimately settled on.)

I can't really say more about those undeveloped/unresolved story elements, nor the ending, without spoiling the film. And, since this movie is being released on streaming platforms on October 4, 2022, roughly around the time I am posting this review, I would much rather have those of you out there who love classic ghost movies and haunted house films (and we can even throw flicks featuring demons and demonic cults into the mix) check out "Dead Bride" and then come back and give their take on what might be lacking in the comments section below.

Actually, I'd much rather have all of you reading this go watch "Dead Bride" on Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, XBox, and other streaming services including some local cable and satellite providers, and then tell us what you LIKED about it in the comments. I think you'll find it to be worthy of your time during this Halloween Season.

To further help in your decision-making, here's a preview of the film: