When Donald (Pack) leaves his home to find funds to support his ill wife Nancy (Fahy), she is left alone in her house with their mentally challenged son, James (Bill). James prevents her from receiving any outside help as he effectively imprisons her in the house in an effort to look after her himself.
For a movie containing only three major characters, "The Living and the Dead" surprised me in its gripping effectiveness at holding my attention. What starts as what appears to resemble a drama tackling issues of mental illness gradually descends into a horrific, harrowing attack on the senses. The movie begins with an introduction to the three inhabitants of a large, almost decrepit mansion, and their individual problems; the wife's illness, the husband's lack of funds, and the central focus, the son’s mental illness. Said son is James, a grown man who acts like an infant and whose naive helplessness ultimately causes him to believe that he can look after his mother without any outside help.
It is once Donald leaves the mansion that the film really comes into its own, concerning the slow disintegration of the mind of James through his refusal to take his medicine. What follows is a traumatic, distressing and thoroughly depressing journey into the mind of a mentally ill person. The acting by all the players is accomplished and Fahy especially has to deal with truly upsetting material and thus garners a large amount of respect. Bill is impressive as James, putting forward a convincing and thoroughly stressful performance and Pack is as always impressive, even though he doesn't share as much screen time as the others.
 
The camerawork is suited to the slow-burn tension and utilises lingering shots without cuts from interesting angles that unsettle in their lengthy voyeurism. The music was also very good, jumping from slow atmospherics tones to frantic drum and bass-a-like madness. The frenetic music-based moments of the film accompanied by quick, speeded up shots of James running around the house were particularly effective in their disorientation.
The few problems would be that even though the film begins almost flawlessly, once it descends into madness, the film begins to lose a bit of clout and too many things happen at once. This coupled with a laughable, needless dream sequence causes the film to lose a bit of power; but once particularly the dream sequence is over, the film picks up the pace again and doesn’t falter. It is also of note to mention that the overall effect of the film is certainly confusing and to many mainstream horror fans will come across as maybe a bit pretentious and/or senseless. But underneath the interesting layout, the film does carry a strong resonance and provides the viewer with a truly poignant after-thought.
"The Living and the Dead" was an utterly compelling piece of film-making that lost steam near the end, but nevertheless tackled its subject matter with skill and verve. A definite recommendation for those who enjoy psychological thrillers rather than horror films, for this didn't come across as a horror. Probably not everyone's bag, but certainly worth a try as you could be pleasantly surprised.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: The Living in the Home of the Dead
MOVIE YEAR: 2006
DIRECTOR: Simon Rumley
WRITING CREDITS: Simon Rumley
GENRE: Drama, Horror, Thriller
CAST: Roger Lloyd-Pack, Leo Bill, Kate Fahy
COUNTRY: UK
RUNTIME: 83 min
RATING: 7/10
Living and the Dead, The Website/IMDB Click here
Living and the Dead, The Trailer
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