Glenn McQuaid’s homage-driven I Sell the Dead is a film of small but welcome pleasures – for those who get the homages, at least. In this day and age, the Age of the Geek, that’s not such an obstacle. The film begins in the 19th century with the execution by guillotine of notorious gravedigger (and accused murderer) Willie Grimes (Larry Fessenden). Meanwhile, his partner Arthur Blake (The Lord of the Rings’ Merry, Dominic Monaghan) awaits his own execution, and bides his time by entertaining an Irish priest (genre staple Ron Perlman) with stories of his adventures with Grimes. Essentially it’s an anthology film in the style of the Amicus pictures of the 60’s and 70’s (Vault of Horror, The House That Dripped Blood, etc.), except that the individual tales are woven more tightly together and into the semblance of a narrative, thanks to the persistent presence of Blake and Grimes, the comical pair stumbling from one paranormal, macabre, or grisly episode to the next. These episodes build into a climactic tale, a confrontation with bandits and zombies on an island beach, which has a Robert Louis Stevenson flavor, and further unfolds into the framing device in a way that would have pleased Scheherazade. Truly, the screenplay is a major element to the film’s success. The dialogue is sharp and feels authentic – which is more important than being authentic. It never goes for an easy glibness which you see in post-Joss Whedon genre comedies. (Not to knock Whedon, whose work I generally like.) It’s nice to see this kind of commitment to the flavor of the period, as well as to the flavor of an older horror mode. That does much to overcome the obvious weakness of the film, which is its budget: it is impossible to not be conscious that the film is compensating for its limited means with some moments that feel too assembled-in-a-computer (such as the many CG-enhanced montages). Personally, I’d rather see those moments go; I am perfectly content watching Larry Fessenden and Dominic Monaghan on a tiny set whose borders are clouded by a fog machine, bickering over a corpse that won’t stay dead. I’d like more of these two – apparently McQuaid made a comic book to accompany the film, and I’ll try to seek it out. But the gleefully macabre finale seems a suitable enough ending for this tale, summoning an image I won’t spoil for you, but which promises more adventures – more twisted than ever – improbably spiraling on ahead for Blake & Grimes.