Laid to Rest

Introduction

A woman wakes up in a coffin, very much alive and with no idea where she is or who she is.  After successfully rolling the box off its stand and getting out, she finds herself trapped in the funeral home with a masked killer outside.  It wouldn't be much of a film if this is all that happens so fortunately she escapes and seeks refuge with Tucker and Cindy.  Unfortunately the chrome-faced killer has followed her there and they must move on, trying to keep one step ahead of the knife-wielding murderer.
 
Makeup artist Robert Hall followed his debut feature Lightning Bug, with this slasher film, made on a budget and surrounded by friends and family.  His wife, Bobbi Sue Luther, plays the mystery woman and there are appearances from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (a show on which his company Almost Human Inc, did the special effects makeup.) stars Lena Headey and Thomas Dekker.
 

Video

Shot on digital and edited on a laptop, this shows how far filmmaking has come that relatively inexpensive over-the-counter equipment can be used to make a film that is so visually impressive.  There are the occasional signs that this is digital such as when the camera looks towards a light source where someone is standing and it loses some definition, but overall this is extremely impressive. 
 
Almost Human Inc. (minus its owner) did the bloody and impressive special effects which include someone getting their face (and front of the skull) cut off and a head filled with expanding foam!
 

Audio

You get the option of 2.0 Stereo or 5.1 Surround and both are pretty good but the 5.1 has the edge.  Both have clear dialogue but the surround track is a better choice for the atmospherics and overall soundstage.
 
The score features music by several heavy metal bands including Robert Hall's own Deadbox which surprisingly sets and suits the tone of the film.
 

Extra Features

The Making Of is tastefully titled Post-mortem and is a reasonable look at how a film like this is shot and edited, with some of the cutting taking place immediately after Hall had said 'cut'.
 
There is a brief look at the special effects, unfortunately titled Torture Porn - this is a slasher and is nothing like the "Torture Porn" (if the term indeed exists) films like Hostel.
 
The deleted scenes begin with a bizarre Blade Runner parody but aren't really anything special and the bloopers aren't particularly funny.
 

Conclusion
Laid to Rest is an unashamed back-to-basics stalker/slasher film - there's nothing particularly sophisticated about it, nothing in the subtext - it's just a film where a guy in a chrome mask with a video recorder strapped to his shoulder continues a murderous rampage started some time ago in South East USA.  Chromeface is a continuation of Michael Myers/Jason, a homicidal maniac who takes to covering his face but what differentiates him from the classic horror killers is the obvious work he's put into his disguise - it's not like picking up a hockey mask in the third instalment - he's carefully moulded and fabricated this visage.
 
I don't know if this is worth a purchase but it's definitely worth watching if you're a fan of the Friday the 13th/Halloween/Nightmare on Elm Street franchises or, better still, the old nuts and bolts genre definers like Maniac and Black Christmas.  Laid to Rest may be a step or two beneath those but I enjoyed it and it's better than some of the horror fare I've seen recently.