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'Post Parcel' premiered at the Demon Chaser Film Challenge and was quietly nestled between one dark macabre piece after another. The problem here is that the film is anything but a horror film while playing so perfectly well within the horror genre. The film is part family drama, part black comedy, and part tear jerker- a complete juxtaposition of the horror backdrop in which the film is set.

Being dropped off at an airport by his loving family, a father promises his daughter that he'll look for a knick-knack she's never seen before. Unfortunately for the family, they receive life altering news of his death and at the funeral the daughter receives her strange oddity sent to her by her father. The gift is that of a cursed necklace thought to bring its owner two wishes but at a cost. Her wish is for her father to come home, and when he does he isn't quite the same.

The film has a very Lifetime movie of the week feel, starting off at the airport with the family saying their good-bye's. It then shifts to a scene where the daughter is playing at a park, playing a rather foreboding game at the same time her mother receives a phone call informing her of her husband's fate. In a seamless transition, the film becomes a black comedy of sorts at the funeral with comic relief stemming from an inconsiderate visitor and the arrival of a mailman. The final scene of the film however, is brought on by the daughters wish to have her father return home and his arrival is grotesque. This leads to a tender moment between father and daughter, allowing the dad to say his final good-bye's.

The acting in the film is rather good- the father played so natural and his daughter kept the entire film grounded when so many varying genre's were thrown at the audience. The daughter of course, serving as the eyes of the audience, reminding them how to feel from scene to scene. Their final moments together was touching, tender, and more importantly, not something you'd expect to feel in a horror film with a zombie standing at your door.

Production values on the film were standard with nothing major worth commenting on, with only a few missteps in cinematography but it didn't hinder the film in any capacity. The story being enjoyable overall, although the inclusion of the funeral comic relief could have easily been removed without losing much of what the filmmakers were trying to tell.

You can watch the film here:

Grade:

Acting: B

Father and daughter performances stand out nicely and play off one another with ease, however a few background speaking roles were overdone or hammy.

Direction: B+

All basic elements of the film fell together nicely.

Script: A-

An easy to follow progression hitting the important notes and being a clever reversal of zombie and horror tales made the story quite endearing.

Cinematography: B-

Basic cinematography with only a few missing elements such as an establishing shot setting up the final scene.

Editing: B

A trim here and there would help and the removal of unnecessary funeral hijinks but worked regardless. Color correction was nicely done most notably within the cemetery.

Sound Design: B

Overall the film sounded good although a few background sound effects were a bit high.

Makeup: A

What we saw of the makeup (done well with cinematography) it looked extremely well done without going grotesquely over the top as with most zombie fare.

Music: A-

The film's score was very subtle and entirely effective, and featured a childish fairy-tale quality that worked well.

Final Grade: B+