My Wife and My Dead Wife (2007)
Review by Fatally Yours
My Wife and My Dead Wife is billed as a psychological horror film, but it feels more like a Lifetime drama than anything else. How this movie is considered horror is beyond me…The only horrifying thing I found about it was that I actually sat through it!
A married couple, Graham (Guy Balotine) and Andrea (Tracey B. Wilson), buys an old Victorian-style house and settle in. Their marriage has become routine and passionless lately, so when Graham discovers an old music box in the attic containing photos of old inhabitants, he becomes enamored of one particular woman (Jane Bacon) in the photos. The ghost of this woman makes herself known to him and becomes his “Dead Wife.” Graham is soon ignoring his responsibilities at the law firm and skipping work to be with his dead wife back home. Andrea begins to suspect he is drinking again and is worried he is spiraling out of control. As Graham gets closer and closer to his dead wife, he really begins to lose it and is soon staring straight into the inky depths of the black abyss. Can Andrea pull him from the brink before it is too late?
This low-budget effort by director Tosca Miserendino really fell short of my expectations. Here I was expecting a supernatural spookfest complete with a scary old house but what I got was a Lifetime tale about a crumbling marriage and a midlife crisis. Not only that, but the movie just drags in its entirety. Now, before I get fingers pointing at me accusing me of being one of those ADD horror fans that can’t watch a slowly developing story unfold and needs constant action and a bombardment of blood and guts to keep me awake, let me just say…nuh uh. On the contrary, I LOVE slow-burning movies that really ratchet up the tension! The problem is, My Wife and My Dead Wife simply ISN’T the least bit suspenseful or even interesting. I got so bored and fed-up with the movie that I broke one of the big no-no’s of movie reviewing and fast-forwarded through some scenes (though they were mostly boring shots of lead character Graham wandering around the house).
Furthermore, none of the characters were sympathetic or likeable. Graham was just a big fuck-up who hit the bottle when things got rough and refused to even attempt to work out issues with his “live” wife. If anything, his descent into madness was deserved. His wife Andrea just seemed to stand aside and didn’t even fight for their relationship when things went to hell. She was also the typical nagging wife to Graham. She was strong, though, and was probably the most likable character. The “Dead Wife” (the only name the character is credited with) was sneaky, manipulative and everything BUT spooky. Though she was a ghost, Graham can touch her and can even be intimate with her…the character might have well just been a regular, live mistress as opposed to a “ghost” as nothing is done to capitalize on her ghostly presence (unless you count the scene where she has billowing white sheets blowing around her….oooooh…SPOOKY!).
At least the acting wasn’t all horrible. I felt Tracey B. Wilson as Andrea did a fine job with the limited script she was given. She made Andrea strong-willed, responsible and caring. Guy Balotine showed how conflicted his character Graham was and pulled off a multi-layered performance.
My Wife and My Dead Wife is a 2007 release that you might see lurking in your Netflix recommendations. Like me, you might be tempted to add this new release to your queue, but take it from someone who has already had to suffer through this tedious film lest you be asking for a divorce from this Wife.
Available on Amazon
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