Unearthed – After Dark Horrorfest

This is the first of the Horrorfest that feels as though it belongs on the SyFy channel as an original. Let’s see if this rings a bell. There is an exploration of a Native American burial area that unleashes an alien dog-like thing upon a small town in the desert. The townspeople start losing cattle, then each other, and a small group of people that otherwise would not get along band together to take down the beast.

Several things keep this film here and not on SyFy. The local Sherriff is a smaller woman that also doubles as the town drunk. Here conflict between inner and outer demons is rather well done. The creature is actually pretty well done. The wide shots are clearly CG, but the gore and details could have come from the Tom Sevini or KNB special effects book. At least the CG looks better than something put together on a college kid’s Mac book Pro. Finally, while all the usual misfits are represented by a champion, the gruff cattle baron asshole that has it in for our good Sherriff is played by M.C. Gainey. In my humble opinion, adding Gainey to any film immediately makes it better. Unfortunately, the out of place city guy wrapped up in the small town horror is played by Charlie Murphy.

M.C. Gainey + Charlie Murphy = Level Acting Playing Field

The Nitty Gritty: Scale of 0 to 10

Camp Factor – 2 (it can’t help it. It tries to be serious, but the premise and slice of life characters just put it over the top.

Gore – 7 (when it hits, it hits pretty hard, including a quick autopsy performed with a hunting knife)

Creep Factor – 4 (mostly from the oddity of the creature and the good gore effects)

Nudity/Sex – 0 (nope, none. The Sherriff, lead scientist, and uncharacteristically intelligent blonde extra all keep their clothes on as do all the guys, but hey, who wants to see Gainey naked anyway?)

Jump Scenes – 3 (occasionally the creature surprises us, but scenes that should be jump scenes, are ruined by long edits that preview the mayhem)

Verdict: If you are a fan of the weekend lineup on SyFy, you will love this film. If you shy away from those films solely for the hideous acting, rest assured that only Charlie Murphy is down at that level. If you wondered what it would be like if the first Alien film had been handled by lesser actors, by a lesser director, in a much less claustrophobic environment then this film may be right up your alley.