Coroner’s Report: The Deaths of Ian Stone

Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 26, 2008

The Deaths of Ian Stone is probably in the running for best of the After Dark Horrorfest. It has a slightly higher budget than many of the others and a few recognizable faces, including Jaime Murray (Dexter). The flick is a bit trippy at times and borrows some visuals from previous films like Ghost and A Clockwork Orange. Strange combo, I know, but you’ll get it when you see it.

The film follows the titular Ian Stone as he tries to figure out the weird goings on and alternate realities and deaths he seems to be experiencing. One moment he’s a star hockey player, the next he’s brutally murdered only to wake up at a desk job. Things go from bad to worse as the deaths continue, the mystery deepens, and Stone must figure out the roles two mysterious women play.

Kills

Well the film certainly delivers on killing our hero - Ian Stone - several times. He gets the pleasure of dying a good number of times in a variety of ways, though often he just finds himself impaled on something. Pretty cool. Other than Ian, there are only a few deaths, most of which get supernatural. Not really a flick to watch to satisfy your bloodlust.

Ills

The deaths come with a good bit of blood, but definitely not geyser levels. Again, this won’t satisfy your desire to see the blood flow like beer at a kegger, but it does manage to seep its way onto the screen. When the film starts getting kind of trippy towards the end, there are some relatively disturbing images that are associated with Stone’s imprisonment and torture. Pretty cool special effects.

Lust

We get a couple of cuties in the film, but no sex or glimpses worth mentioning. This film took a chance and tried to rely on its story to sell it - did it work? Keep reading.

Learning

These fantasy flicks rarely give us real world insight into surviving dangerous situations, though we do re-learn one very important thing - never trust a chick with a British accent. They’re always demons or something along those lines.

Review

I dug this flick a bit. While its not perfect, it kept my attention and I didn’t figure out its twists and turns until they were revealed. The movie did a good job of keeping you guessing and interested. The special effects were definitely passable and the creature design, I thought, was pretty sweet. The acting and dialog were fairly solid, no real complaints. This film gets high marks for the Fest by managing to be an average film, not a good or great one. I firmly believe that an ending can make or break the experience, and I liked the climax here. It’s always good to see a little one on one battle action.

So again, while not an outstanding venture, it does rank in the top three or four After Dark Horrorfest films in my opinion. Don’t see it for the fun or the fright, but rather to see a coherent story and a creepy mystery hold your attention. I was pleasantly surprised by Stone. If you’re keeping score of the Horrorfest films at home, definitely toss this one on the pile to watch. For those not entirely enthralled with the After Dark series, this film could still entertain you. I weakly recommend this to you, though it will be hit or miss with a lot of people. I’ve kept a lot of this review vague, because I didn’t know what I was in for and I think that helped me get into it.

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