The Living and the Dead

2006

1h 23m

Drama

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

List

91%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

59%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

A British aristocrat who has lost his wealth, Donald (Roger Lloyd Pack) is desperate to find treatment for his cancer-stricken wife, Nancy (Kate Fahy). In order to give her proper medical care, Donald plans to sell the family mansion. However, his troubled and mentally disabled son, James (Leo Bill), decides that he's going look after his mother. When Mary (Sarah Ball), the nurse assigned to Nancy, tries to care for the ailing woman, she ends up clashing with the volatile James.

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Audience Member

This was one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. Not scary like The Shining... it's scary like Requiem For a Dream. The movie tested the limits of my patience re a mentally ill kid. To see what he does re his mom is beyond cringe. You want to physically restrain him. And it's not told in a linear fashion, so you get a bit confused as the subplots seem to flow as 1 very long event. The acting by Leo Bill is by far the best performance I've ever seen from an actor. His portrayal of a mentally ill kid was jaw dropping. Some say this is just a drama... it's absolute not. It feels like a horror movie. And it's great.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I was very intrigued by this movie, but after actually watching it really does not live up to the praise. It is not terrible, for example, the acting is fine and at least the portrayal of a mentally unsound person is not completely butchered. The cinematography works well and can convey some important aspects of the scene for the viewer. I enjoyed the movie for the first half, but this film soon deflates of all suspense. It delves into some dream-like sequences, but these just come off as pretentious. Overall this movies starts as a slow burn and leaves you wanting the ending going in a completely different way, and not in a good way.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not the regular horror... It's dark, it's emotional, it's genuine. Something that you're sure you'll remember for at least the next decade of your life.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

They've cocked this up and mashed 2 films together. This refers to the Simon Rumley film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Unbearable and exhausting for all the right reasons, The Living and the Dead was a bolt from the blue--'Psycho' on Acid!!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

At times unwatchable and unintentionally funny - that's how annoying, infuriating and unbelievable the lead character is. There's barely enough story here to fill 80 minutes, so we get plenty of long, predictable, drawn-out, repetitive scenes. What story there is has characters behaving like no human being ever would. The cinematography and set are well done, and there's a genuinely terrifying nightmare sequence. Kill List and Sightseers are such huge step ups from this.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

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Simon Rumley

Director

Roger Lloyd-Pack

Donald Brocklebank

Leo Bill

James Brocklebank

Kate Fahy

Nancy Brocklebank

Sarah Ball

Nurse Mary

Neil Conrich

Policeman

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Andrew O'Hehir

Salon.com

The Living and the Dead is not an easy movie to sit through, and its darkness may be a little mannered, but it's an elegant construction with real emotions buried deep inside.

Oct 25, 2007

Full Review

Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out

This is a truly haunted movie.

Rated: 4/6

Oct 25, 2007

Full Review

Jeannette Catsoulis

New York Times

A bizarre psychological study of degeneration and dependency, The Living and the Dead is a horror movie only in the most literal sense.

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 24, 2007

Full Review

Laura Clifford

Reeling Reviews

...has elements of horror, as the plethora of knives and hypodermic needles point to, but this is a unique entry for those who like thought-provoking concepts served up with their grue.

Rated: B-

Mar 31, 2008

Full Review

Scott Weinberg

Cinematical

A devious and admirably twisted little mind-bender of a genre flick.

Rated: 4.5/5

Apr 20, 2007

Full Review

Andy Mauro

Dread Central

The film is filled with the types of mundane, believable horrors that affect an audience in ways no regular horror movie could hope to achieve.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 21, 2006

Full Review

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Synopsis

A British aristocrat who has lost his wealth, Donald (Roger Lloyd Pack) is desperate to find treatment for his cancer-stricken wife, Nancy (Kate Fahy). In order to give her proper medical care, Donald plans to sell the family mansion. However, his troubled and mentally disabled son, James (Leo Bill), decides that he's going look after his mother. When Mary (Sarah Ball), the nurse assigned to Nancy, tries to care for the ailing woman, she ends up clashing with the volatile James.

Director: Simon Rumley
Producer: Elliot Grove, Uday Tiwari
Screenwriter: Simon Rumley
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Mar 25, 2008
Runtime: 1h 23m