ONCE in a while a film turns up that is so painstakingly perfect that it totally catches you off guard.
Dead Mail is such a film.
Directed by Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy, this synth-laden and analogue-textured thriller feels familiar in places, reminiscent of films such as Misery, Silence of the Lambs, Fargo, Creep, and even Driller Killer for its grainy aesthetic. But this slow-burn classic, which could be mistaken for something you missed back in the 1980s, is a rare masterclass in low-budget filmmaking at its most authentic — convincingly so.
An odd and disturbing watch, Dead Mail is as much a love letter to retro synthesisers as it is to dusty B movies of old. Here’s a film that will surely appeal to fans of Jean-Michel Jarre and Giorgio Moroder, as it will to horror nuts in need of some visceral John Carpenter-esque thrills.
DeBoer and McConaghy’s film, now streaming on Shudder, tips its hat to the merciless slashers of yesteryear, the reverb soaked ambience of Vangelis, the black comedy of the Coen Brothers, as well as proving a striking study on loneliness and the dark places our impulsive human desires can lead us.
From the very opening scene, you are quickly drawn into a gratifying web of intrigue that demands your intention right up to its ghastly ending.
Dead Mail sees conscientious and seasoned postal worker Jasper (Tomas Boykin), a man known for his skills in getting “dead letters” to their final destination, drawn into a chilling caper when a bloodied note crosses his desk. This part-time sleuth, together with his eager work colleagues Bess (Susan Priver) and Ann (Micki Jackson), and Scandinavian hacker Renée (Nick Heyman), put their skills to the test to find the note’s sender and his kidnapper.
This is one gripping mystery that delivers. It will detain your attention for its entire 106-minute running-time without the slightest effort.
Dead Mail really does have film of the year stamped all over it.
(5/5)
