JP Nunez
I love mysteries. More specifically, I love horror mysteries, so when I first heard about Dead Mail, I was pretty intrigued. I didn’t know a ton about the film, but it seemed like the kind of edge-of-your-seat thriller that would keep me guessing the whole way through. And that was all I needed to know. My curiosity was piqued, so when I got the chance to review this movie, I jumped at the opportunity.
Dead Mail was written and directed by Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy, and it stars Sterling Macer Jr., John Fleck, Tomas Boykin, Micki Jackson, Susan Priver, and Nick Heyman. The film begins with a kidnapped man crawling towards a mailbox. He’s trying to send out a desperate plea for help, and when his mysterious abductor sees him, the guy tries his best to stop that letter from going out. But he’s too late. By the time this man gets to the mailbox, his detainee has already dropped the letter into the slit, and from there, our focus shifts to the local post office.
As the name of the movie suggests, we start to follow a man who specializes in so-called “dead mail.” His name is Jasper, and whenever his colleagues come across something they can’t deliver, they send it over to him. He uses all the tools at his disposal to figure out who sent it or where it’s supposed to go, and he does his best to make sure it doesn’t stay lost forever. Unsurprisingly, Jasper eventually gets his hands on the letter from the opening scene, and he begins investigating this odd case.
Right from the get-go, Dead Mail had me hooked. For starters, this film takes place in the 1980s, and it’s like taking a time machine back to that storied decade. The grainy image looks like it was shot 40 years ago, and the somewhat otherworldly, almost hypnotic synth score could’ve been lifted right out of an old-school John Carpenter flick.
This isn’t the kind of Strange Things-esque 1980s nostalgia we’ve become accustomed to over the past decade or so, but it’s just as powerful. The vibe is genuinely captivating, and when you throw in an entire cast doing top-notch work, you’ll find it nearly impossible to look away. Then, when you finally see Jasper get to work, that effect multiplies exponentially.
He starts with a dead letter containing a pretty necklace, and watching him trace it back to its sender is utterly fascinating. Remember, this story is set about 40 years ago, so the guy can’t just Google things. Instead, he reads the letter carefully and picks out keywords and ideas that might hide important clues, and then he does his research the old-fashioned way.
This whole sequence fits the 1980s aesthetic perfectly, and it sets the stage for an enthralling dive into the peculiar letter and the desperate abductee who sent it. But at around the 20-minute mark or so, Dead Mail unexpectedly changes course. It takes us back in time and shows us how this kidnapping took place, and for my money, that almost ruins the entire experience.
In particular, it totally kills the mystery. I was really excited to find out what was going on here, but I didn’t want it to be that easy. I wanted Dead Mail to slowly pull back the curtain as Jasper inched closer and closer to the truth, but the movie just spoon-feeds us all the answers instead. It’s an ill-advised decision that stops the story’s momentum dead in its tracks, and unfortunately, the film is never able to recapture the magic of that first act.
To be fair, if Dead Mail had replaced its amazing mystery with something equally intriguing, I’d be able to forgive the jarring narrative shift. But it doesn’t. We already know where this new story is headed, so I found it just about impossible to become invested in anything I was seeing on screen.
Nevertheless, I still have to give credit where credit is due. As much as I took issue with this part of Dead Mail, I have to acknowledge that it’s executed just as skillfully as the opening act. It still has the same captivating retro tone and feel, so I never checked out completely. I was able to enjoy the vibes despite being disappointed with the story, and that held me over until the movie found its footing again in the home stretch.
I can’t get into specifics without spoiling the ending, but I can say that the final 25 minutes or so bring us back to everything that made the first act so successful. Granted, after such a lackluster middle section, Dead Mail inevitably loses some of its magic, but the film manages to redeem itself enough that still I walked away with a smile on my face.
So on the whole, I’m happy to report that I had a mostly good time with Dead Mail. It’s not nearly as enthralling as I initially thought it would be, but there’s enough good in here that it’s definitely worth a watch. The fascinating 1980s feel, the strong performances, and the clever detective work make for a genuinely enjoyable ride, so if you get a chance to see this movie sometime in the future, I recommend checking it out.
Dead Mail has its New York premiere at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival on October 17.
