Dig Two Graves

As much a coming-of-age tale as it is a cautionary one, Adams' feature does a credible job building suspense, but never really delivers on the horror scares that early scenes telegraph.

Dig Two Graves makes some pretty nifty transitions from the 1940s to the 1970s, including one seemingly unbroken shot. Every trip to the past reveals something about the "present-day" journey.

An uncommonly smart, well-made and ultimately touching meditation on grief, revenge and the ordinary perils of adolescence that should resonate strongly with adults and thoughtful teenagers alike.

Mr. Adams is clearly skilled with story structure, cinematography and his actors.

There's a lived-in quality to "Dig Two Graves" that's all-too-rare for low-budget movies in this genre.

The story takes improbably lurid turns and sometimes tangles its thread. Yet at every twist, it is saved by the moral weight of the tale, the gorgeous, haunted vistas in Eric Maddison's cinematography and the solidly credible, equally haunted acting.

It's entertaining, a little disturbing, mysterious, and worth 90 minutes of your time.

Dig Two Graves is a bizarre film that builds up strange-but-muddled imagery like better films build suspense, until it all collapses in on itself like a burning house.

Beautifully shot and hauntingly atmospheric though it may be, the film is built on the performances from Isler and Levine. Their character's arcs and their hearty performances give Dig Two Graves a pulse.

Dig Two Graves is bolstered quite a bit by its focus on atmosphere, as well as the two central performances, but it remains a journey toward the inevitable.

Those who prefer more subtle and character-driven chills will not be disappointed.

Muddy and muddled 70s-style backwoods gothic Americana only comes to life when it rises to the accidentally silly. Little more than an incoherent showreel.