Nerdly » ‘The Burial’ Review

03rd Mar2023

‘The Burial’ Review

by Alain Elliott

Stars: Faith Kearns, Vernon Taylor, Spencer Weitzel, Aaron Pyle | Written and Directed by Michael Escalante

Having your début feature film be a low-budget horror that is heavy on dialogue and reliant on good performances from actors without a huge amount of experience is probably a bit of a risk. But that is what writer/director Michael Escalante goes for with The Burial.

A man is contacted by his estranged brother asking for help but with little details on what the help actually is. Despite being against the idea, the man takes his girlfriend, who is keen to meet the brother for the first time and they soon get sucked into something much worse than they could have ever expected.

The acting is thankfully really strong in The Burial and the chemistry between the actors is really good too. When much of the focus is on the couple disagreeing, or when they meet up with the brother for the first time, or when a mysterious stranger turns up and introduces himself, these are all heavy on dialogue, at least initially, but it absolutely works. The script is mostly strong and the actors get the most out of it. Never too much, and at times their inexperience shows, but it’s still very impressive from the three or four lead actors.

The pacing of The Last Burial is near perfect too. This is not a thriller by any means, you could probably describe it as having a slow pace but it lands the moments of drama and ‘action’ at just the right times. The few scenes that feature blood or gore are entertaining and the violence hits a little harder because of how limited the use of it is.

The most frustrating thing about reviewing a film like The Burial is that I can’t say too much about its story because saying anything more than what I have will spoil things way too much. You are much better going into it knowing very little. Escalante shows some very cool ideas in his début, and there is plenty of originality here, despite having a similar theme to a 2018 movie I really enjoyed too. There was a much easier route the story could have gone without the quality of the movie declining. It could have been much simpler but the risks it takes are 100% worth it.

The director knows what he is doing behind the camera too because The Burial looks great. The outside locations are kept dark, keeping the tension when needed and adding a little bit of creepiness. While the shots inside the home are carefully thought out, with nicely angled shots. One scene has a character sit in front of a deer head so that the antlers fit perfectly for the conclusion of the scene. Something that could seem a little forced and cheesy, actually worked really well.

Director Michael Escalante is definitely one to look out for. As are his cast here. They have all worked wonders with the low budget and created a movie that will have you guessing at every corner and gripped to your seat.