When driving drunk, Tyler (Bryan Brewer) hit and killed little Zach (Jakob Ulrich) - but at least then he and his girlfriend Casey (Allie Rivera) did the right thing and reported it ... and got away with it.

It's Zach's wake today, and for some reason, Zach's mom Nadine (Darla Delgado) has invited Tyler, Casey, and their friends Ben (Michael Aaron Milligan), Ginger (Kristen Dalton) and Ashley (Amanda Musso), and she seems to hold no grudges ... and suddenly, Tyler, Casey and Ben find themselves tied up in different rooms of Nadine's place, and while they can free themselves, they have only little idea what's going on - and while they kind of start to suspect it's the work of Nadine, their suspicions are crushed when they find her in the same position they are. They soon also find out that there's a masked madman in the house with them, and as a warning, he has put the body of Ashley, whom he has slaughtered but good, into their way, as a friendly warning that he's serious about things. He of course also holds Ginger hostage. Problem is, our heroes are a bit low on options, there's no cellphone reception, the power is cut by their adversary, while they don't know where exactly he's hiding, inside the house or outside, he seems to anticipate each and every of their moves ... and when they catch him (and have no idea who he is after unmasking him, they have to find there are others about in similar attire with similarly bad intentions. And of course, when the situation seemingly can't get any worse, it totally does ...

Even though The Wake is basically a slasher movie, it makes refreshingly little effort to stick to the way too tried-and-true formula, instead keeps one guessing throughout, and relies on atmosphere and suspense and well-placed sudden shocks rather than in-your-face violence. Plus, the weird premise of course works totally in the film's favour, and so does the film's rather unexpected finale that includes a deliciously odd plottwist. And add to that a really nice ensemble cast playing colourful characters one actually does care about, and you've got a very entertaining genre flick.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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