Grace Glowicki and Ben Petrie are proving to be the horror power couple of 2026 after starring in Dead Lover and Honey Bunch, both of which were released this year after a successful tour of the festival circuit. Although both films use the horror genre to explore the demands of a loving relationship, Dead Lover goes for the more schlocky end of the spectrum. Glowicki as director and co-writer (with Petrie as fellow co-writer), fully commits to a heightened artificiality similar to Hundreds of Beavers, smartly embracing comedy to highlight their limited resources while also creating a striking aesthetic.
The story is simple – a gravedigger is hoping to find love through experiments on dead body parts, and keeping the plot simple allows Glowicki and her team to unleash their creativity in other areas. Sets are drenched in darkness to allow the characters to stand out under the colourful lighting, while the tightness of the ratio makes the exaggerated, grotesque performances feel even bigger. The filmmakers have even gone out of their way to create a Stink-O-Vision experience with scratch-and-sniff cards (which I was sadly unable to enjoy due to poor timing on my part).
The best point of comparison is something like Flesh for Frankenstein, and in riffing on Mary Shelley’s classic tale of experiments gone wrong it even opens with a quote from Shelley and freely references the James Whale adaptation. However, for the most part it departs from the story with a frank and raucous sexuality akin to Rocky Horror, including going out of its way to have a scene of shagging nuns. Glowicki’s gravedigger’s motivations come from lust as much as love as she’s desperate to bring back the one person who loves her for her horrific odour rather than despite it.
This is a film ideally suited to midnight movie screenings rather than something to stumble across on VOD, but hopefully it finds its audience with those willing to go along with its rumbustious energy.
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On a story and filmmaking level this character motivation highlights the earnestness at the heart of the film, and a line directed towards the Gravedigger from her unnamed lover recurs throughout the narrative – “You are not a metaphor for beauty”. Every emotion is brought to the surface, but lack of subtlety does not mean lack of complexity, the film engaging with how someone can be isolated by a society with a specific perception of beauty and good morals. While the time and place aren’t specified, the film is clearly mimicking a Victorian era Britain, complete with gossipy townsfolk and patriarchal men fuelled by passions. With humour and wandering accents, the four cast members fully commit to the numerous characters they play in ways that are consistently charming, and help to sell the ridiculous swings the plot takes.
This is a film ideally suited to midnight movie screenings rather than something to stumble across on VOD, but hopefully it finds its audience with those willing to go along with its rumbustious energy. The creativity on display is a marvel to watch, always throwing some bizarre, colourful or horrific image at you – often all three together. It’s second only to Cemetery Man as the best over-the-top romantic horror film about a gravedigger, which may be a niche market, but it’s one that Dead Lover fits into nicely.
DEAD LOVER IS PLAYING IN SELECT CINEMAS NATIONWIDE – PRESENTED IN STINK-O-VISION
