Play Dead - Schlimmer als der Tod

An escapist cat and mouse chase in a morgue setting. Play Dead is a bit of a TV thriller (but with good craftsmanship) that goes all the way without any major surprises and without any proper gore. For me, this is definitely not enough to be satisfied anymore, but it's easily watchable. The likeable main character infiltrates a morgue to retrieve a phone and save her brother from jail, but the local coroner is a twisted psychopath who traffics organs and things get complicated, as she's about to lose her life. Jerry O'Connell plays the psycho pretty cool and the main character is easy to root for. Too bad you doesn't really enjoy the organs and operations, it's just too lightweight for me. The similarity to The Price We Pay is almost parodically funny.. :) At least that one had gore. 55% (20.01.2023)

Play Dead is suspiciously similar in theme to The Price We Pay, which was released on the same day, making me wonder if the directors were accidentally copying from each other. Otherwise, in terms of differences, this is a slightly bigger B-movie with a more intimate atmosphere, a prettier lead actress and a more slimy, psychopathic bad guy who has a pretty cool idea that you could get a lot out of. The biggest upside I see is the aforementioned Bailee Madison, who could have made a solid mark with this film, because she is on the one hand nice to look at, and on the other hand she gave a commendable and believable performance, I ate up her emotions and facial expressions, only it's all a bit spoiled by the predictability, total lack of inventiveness and just dull adherence to the template, including all the genre clichés... Sure, it's a B-movie, it's silly, the characters act like idiots and surely a darker atmosphere could have been extracted from the morgue setting, but I guess we weren't expecting any top-notch stuff anyway and the result is a pretty average, watchable horror flick, just like all of Patrick Lussier's previous creations. (23.01.2023)