When couple Alyson (Jennifer Mischiati) and Richard (Christoph Hülsen) move into the house of Alyson’s recently deceased father, they soon find themselves and their infant child – what else? – menaced by an angry spirit, of course. There are few further surprises to be had, as the film works its way through the familiar haunted house/demonic possession story beats. Richard is skeptical and Alyson is desperate to convince him (why is it always the men in these films who don’t want to believe? Let’s have more Fox Mulders). A priest is brought in to give a quick rundown of the usual Catholic spookshow. All is not well in Alyson and Richard’s past, for he had – and may still be having – an affair with a coworker. So could all his disbelief be mere gaslighting? Well, how often do you see a haunted-house picture where the skeptic is right, there is no spirit? There are revelations about Alyson’s dark past, and a climax that is wholly histrionic, if thankfully low on visual whizz-bang.
Dead Bride does offer a few reasonably effective scares, making commendably thrifty use of its small budget. In the end, though, it is hamstrung by a script that, despite a few stabs at fresh ideas in this long-stale genre, is too vague and halfhearted to offer much, either to the viewer or to its cast, whose, shall we say, diversity in terms of acting ability leads to moments of unintentional comedy – some, but not all of which, come from its excruciating dub (from the Italian).
★★☆☆☆