Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

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Mark H A fine documentary and good example of art that transcends the subject matter. The mystery of who was obsessively gluing floor tiles etched with a message about historian Arnold Toynbee and Stanley Kubrick’s idea about bringing dead people back to life on Jupiter to the streets of eastern U.S. cities in the 1980s and 90s is curious enough, but it’s the storytelling and spelunking of the puzzle that’s so engrossing. It’s offbeat, with colorful characters, artists, nerds and ordinary people all pondering the who and why of the mystery. The young director, Jon Foy, researched and filmed footage of Justin Duerr and his accomplices for 5 years or so, skillfully assembled the story and material and even wrote and performed the eerie score. It’s not groundbreaking or anything, but it’s fun, engrossing, and even eerie and mysterious at times. I found the final scene and story about possibly coming face to face with the tiler to be a bit contrived and convenient, like they needed a way to end the story. I was satisfied that they did solve the mystery, and it’s a compelling puzzle nonetheless. Duerr is a talented artist and punk musician. I recently emailed him and he sent me a link to his latest project. I hope the mystery of the Toynbee Tiles lives on! Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 09/05/25 Full Review Audience Member what a peculiar and sorta darkly jovial journey. it's been called one of the most creepy docs, but really it's a sort of charming and twisted expose of outcast human nature Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Resurrect Dead is not a bad documentary, but it is underwhelming relative to many of the reviews posted. I was expecting something more entertaining in an X-Files way with more effort put into trying to understand what do these weird signs mean. If it were done that way then that would build more suspense as to who it is and what is their purpose. As it is, the documentary is alright but more for a look into the investigative process of a few amateur sleuths. Really more of a reality TV show than a film. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Intriguing subject matter. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member A good documentary about a 80's early mystery Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Very underrated documentary Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

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