After Dark Horrorfest DVD Review:The Deaths of Ian Stone

Posted by Horror Grinder on March 18, 2008

8 Films to Die For (2007) The Deaths of Ian Stone
Directed by Dario Piana

“The Deaths of Ian Stone” is a recipe of familiarity. It shamelessly takes the best parts of “Jacob’s Ladder,” “The Machinist,” and “Groundhog’s Day,” throws them into the garbage can, and then uses the leftovers to create an underwhelming cinematic meal. It’s an ambiguous film that never gives its viewers a chance to latch onto any of the characters. It makes every one of the many deaths that Ian Stone “lives” through utterly pointless for the audience. Who gives a shit if he’s going to die? You already know he’s going to be reborn again into another boring life.

Late one night Ian (Mike Vogel) Stone is headed home on the subway, where he encounters a strange entity that forces him onto the tracks in front of an oncoming train. Rather than awaking in the hereafter, he opens his eyes in the here and now. He has been seemingly reborn into a new life not too dissimilar from his own. After he dies again at the hands of this strange creature, he realizes that he is being hunted through these lives, forced to die every day, only to start all over again in a different body. Can Ian escape his shadowy murderers, and just what is his connection to them?

“The Deaths of Ian Stone” starts off with a really creepy atmosphere, continues building up steam with an intriguing set up, but ultimately fails in its execution. Once the reasoning behind his “deaths” and “rebirths” are reveled, it simply ruins the movie. And even if the explanation and origin for Ian didn’t taint the flick, his eventual transformation into the Fabio of ghosts does. But if that wasn’t enough, the fact that “The Power of Love” is the prevailing force Ian has to harness to save himself and the woman he has pledged his heart to is the final straw that will have you reaching for the remote control.

The acting, cinematography, and directing in “The Deaths of Ian Stone” are all above par for a film included in the second-annual After Dark Horrorfest. Even the digital effects used to create the Harvester ghost/demon things are decent. It’s just unfortunate that Brendan Hood’s script never fleshes out the characters or gives the audience any reason to remember their fucking names. If Ian’s name wasn’t in the title I’d probably have forgotten his too. Plus, the ending is horribly cheesy in the worst way imaginable. Remember how the power of love (and some purple goo) brought the Statue of Liberty to life at the end of “Ghostbusters 2?” It’s that kind of cheesy, the type that clears out a room as if it were a brick of Limburger.

“The Many Deaths of Ian Stone” isn’t a horrible movie; it’s just not entertaining or interesting in any way past the first twenty minutes. It’s along the same lines as “The Butterfly Effect,” a effortlessly shitty flick that could have been so much more. nIt’s worth checking out a rental, but I can’t imagine anyone wanting to sit through repeat viewings of it. For a better film dealing with a main character continually dying a violent death only to awaken alive, check out 2006’s “Salvage.” It’s a bit slower paced, but a surprisingly fantastic film, dealing with a girl who continually dies brutal deaths only to reawaken at the beginning of the same day back at work. The only connection is the sinister stranger named Duke Desmond who finds her each time she wakes up. It’s a creepy film with an eerie vibe that thrives on its low-budget nature.

Read all of Tyler Shainline’s articles and reviews in his Archives