Ah...so close, I Bury the Living.

I could see this movie going in so many directions. With a premise like this one has, it could've gone anywhere. I can't tell you how fast that I would've started switching out the little pins once I figured out that the black ones kill people...I would've started raising the living dead as quick as I could. You see, there are little white pins that represent owners of plots who aren't already there (the black ones are supposed to be occupied spaces). If a black pin kills people, then...

Alas, Mr. Dumb Dumb Head doesn't figure that out until near the very end, and what happens? Well, you'll have to watch the movie for that, but needless to say it doesn't involve zombies. I started cheering when he figured out that he might be able to resurrect the dead (and tries it), but was let down. Boo!

In a longwinded way, I'm trying to say I didn't like the ending. To me, it killed the mystique and spookiness of the whole thing with the five second "omg here's really what happened lawlz" explanation. It was dumb, made little sense, and knocked quite a few points off the scale for me. The movie went from Twilight Zone to Scooby Doo.

Up until the ending? It's a pretty interesting thriller/mystery that kept my attention for the most part. I was rapt by the premise alone, and while the acting was weak...well, it sucked, the pacing and everything else kept the story going. I was almost salivating to find out what was going on in the little town that made the map so evil. Which, as you can imagine, is why I was so let down by the end.

It's good for a once through, though I can't see buying it. Once you know the end it makes the rest of the movie kind of pointless in a way. If they had gone for a stronger ending, the movie wouldn't ended up a classic no doubt, but as it is it's in two packs and bargain bins everywhere.

I must say, though, the dialogue in this movie is atrocious. The "Irish immigrant" that tends to the cemetery is completely incomprehensible, and some of the other bit players mumble their way through the script. At least have some subtitles or hand gestures to let us know what's going on!

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