REVIEW: ‘Dead Still,’ an Acorn Original, now available on DVD
Photo: Michael Smiley stars as Brock Blennerhasset, a memorial photographer, in Dead Still. Photo courtesy of Acorn TV / Provided by press site with permission.
Dead Still, the Acorn Original TV series, is a darkly humorous rumination on all things related to death. Michael Smiley, best known for his time on Luther, plays Brock Blennerhasset (winner of best name for a TV character ever), a memorial photographer who has set up shop in Victorian Dublin. With a dry wit and general disregard for the living, he positions the deceased just so and then invites living family members to crowd around for a picture. Apparently this was a thing.
Helping him with the business is his niece Nancy (a smart and funny Eileen O’Higgins) and assistant Conall Molloy (a likable Kerr Logan), who lands the job after he sees Blennerhasset at a local funeral for a young woman. Molloy comes from a poor family, and his previous job was digging graves in the local cemetery. Being a memorial photographer’s assistant is a big jump up the social ladder.
The six episodes in this limited series (though who is to say a limited series won’t morph into a regular series) center on not only Blennerhasset’s unusual business, but also the spate of murders in the Dublin underground. Frederick Regan (Aidan O’Hare) is the detective on the hunt for the killer, and he needs Blennerhasset’s morbid knowledge to crack the case.
Smiley is a perfect blend of droll nonchalance and couldn’t-care-less attitude. His lack of enthusiasm is nicely matched by Molloy’s bounding energy for helping out in the photographer’s studio and securing a much-needed paycheck. O’Hare’s detective role is quirky and funny, almost a riff on Sherlock Holmes and Mr. Magoo. O’Higgins carves out an interesting, unique character, imbuing Nancy with many qualities that complement her uncle’s personality.
The locations are dripping with atmospheric Victorianism and historic panache. Dublin has never looked quainter or more inviting (disregarding the murderous spree, of course). The overall humor proves memorable, and it seems entirely appropriate that Blennerhasset and company would earn a few chuckles on the topics of death, dying and memorialization.
Dead Still, which is now available on DVD from Acorn TV, is a perfect blend of gallows humor and historical fiction. It’s a winner.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Dead Still, now available from Acorn TV, stars Michael Smiley, Kerr Logan, Eileen O’Higgins and Aidan O’Hare. Created and written by John Morton. Six episodes. Click here for more information.
