By Becca Johnson August 24, 2024
One of the most anticipated films of FrightFest due to its premiere at South by South West Festival earlier this year, creating a generous buzz, Dead Mail is an 80’s-inspired horror directed by Kyle McConaghy and Joe DeBoer. The film opens on a desolate country road, as a bound man crawls towards a post box to slide a blood-stained plea-for-help into the slot before a panicking figure closes in behind him. The note makes its way to dead letter investigator Jasper at the country post office, who upon investigating it further meets Trent, who has taken up residence alongside him at the mens hostel. It becomes increasingly clear that Trent has a vested interest in this note, and will stop at nothing to retrieve it.
An utterly unique affair boasting great visuals and sound design, terrific performances and thorough exploration into its main theme, Dead Mail is an interesting new release that’s worth a viewing.
Review
From the get-go, it’s clear that Dead Mail isn’t your regular horror flick. With stilted dialogue that feels a bit off, odd characters and a quirky narrative, it’s very apparent that the team aim to offer an experience we’ve not had before. There are lengthy monologues, uncomfortably long sequences (complimentary) and lingering shots that add an unsettling nature whilst aiding the overall peculiar approach. Despite this, it’s actually fairly digestible once you’re able to adapt to its weirdness. It takes a while to settle into the story and understand what it’s going for, but once you’ve sat with it for long enough, the pieces will start to come together. The film is light on the horror, instead opting to expand on its uncomfortable, unsettling atmosphere that they harness incredibly well. The bouts of body horror we receive are very well done, and seeing our main character Josh in peril has the ability to send shivers down your spine in many instances. It also fully commits to its overarching theme of loneliness, daring to show how far we’ll go to feel close to someone, forcing a bond upon them and sometimes, not letting them escape our clutches. Dead Mail gives an intimate look into our characters to develop these ideas, and it works a treat. This may not be scary in the traditional sense, but you’ll certainly feel strange after your viewing.
The ‘dead letter’ angle is something that is explored extremely rarely in the media, so this adds yet another unique layer to the film. We watch the many methods that Jasper (Tomas Boykin) employs to work out where lost mail has been sent from; from weather reports to maps, it’s very clever seeing how these dead letter investigators work, and it makes for an intriguing and often riveting watch. Alongside the storyline, Dead Mail also aces perhaps its most notable and stand-out feature: the 80’s setting. What it gets completely right is that it doesn’t feel like the film was set in the 80’s, it feels like Dead Mail was made in the 80’s. It achieves this feeling by not only adding an aesthetically pleasing grain to the cinematography, but by employing that muted, brown-toned colouration in its costuming that feels very reminiscent of the time. Add in the original score, and you have a very authentic movie on your hands.
What ties the technical elements and thus Dead Mail into a neat, quirky little bow is the performances. The cast are extremely committed to the wacky material, and deliver their awkward yet intimate dialogue with ease. John Fleck (Falling Down) is the standout here as Trent, a creepy and calculated individual that seems to have an ulterior motive. Sterling Macer Jr. (Where the Crawdads Sing) is equally fantastic as Josh, our distressed individual who puts all his faith into his blood-stained note - with no name and no address. Tomas Boykin (3 From Hell) does well as dead-letter investigator Jasper, and Micki Jackson’s performance as colleague Ann, who must take matters into her own hands as the plot progresses, is great.
Dead Mail is a movie that demands a lot of time, patience and understanding from the audience. When given these things, many will have a blast with what Dead Mail has to offer. The performances are notably great, the plot is unique, the themes are explored with the proper development expected and it fully leans into its unique, original idea. The way it creates a time capsule of the 80’s deserves to be commended, making for an immersive viewing. The film struggles with the pacing in places and certainly takes a while to find its footing, but is certainly worth a watch nonetheless.
Star Rating
Dead Mail premiered at Frightfest London 2024 August 24
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