Dead Lover review go-for-broke grotesquerie promises fragrant filth in full Stink-O-Vision

"Dead Lover's heroine is odorous by trade, a lovelorn gravedigger of indeterminate age and origin. Glowicki's accent, roaming between Canada, Canvey Island and Canberra, becomes part of the fun—she's driven to extremes after her verse-spouting poet sweetheart perishes in a shipwreck. Part-Burke and Hare, part-Victor Frankenstein, she salvages what she can of the corpse."

"Unmistakably the work of the area of the industry that nurtured Guy Maddin and the singing-rectum musical Zero Patience, lock on to its wavelength and rude chuckles await, otherwise the filthier fragrances flooding the stalls will probably prompt an awful headache. This one is going for gross and grotesque, and it beds right down when it gets there."

"Even without the scratch-and-sniff, even before two lesbian nuns wander on, much of it would qualify as ripe indeed. The script—part-Carry On, part-Ken Russell—grabs both: I do hope he loves how big my bush has got while he's been away, sighs our gal during some wistful botany."

Dead Lover is a microbudget Canadian horror film featuring scratch-and-sniff components, marking a theatrical first since 2011's Spy Kids 4. Writer-director-star Grace Glowicki plays an odorous gravedigger who becomes obsessed with resurrecting her poet lover after he dies in a shipwreck. The film blends Burke and Hare body-snatching elements with Frankenstein-style resurrection, creating a morbidly perverse chamber play with penny-dreadish aesthetics. The script combines Carry On comedy sensibilities with Ken Russell's provocative style, featuring lesbian nuns and absurdist humor. Despite its microbudget constraints, Glowicki employs striking visual framing and practical effects to create grotesque imagery. The film targets a specific audience familiar with experimental Canadian cinema, offering rude humor and deliberately offensive content.

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