Jordan Galland wrote and directed a wonderful comedy about life, death, love, and undeath in “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead”. This movie is fun flick that is a good mix of comedy, horror, and Shakespeare.

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead” is about down and out theater director Julian Marsh who ends up being chosen to head up a production of “Hamlet” that is actually a front for an ancient battle between the actually Shakespearean characters of Hamlet and Horatio. Mix in a little bit of holy grail, and add a dash of intrigue from a secret society bent on ensuring the death of the vampire Horatio and the security of the grail, and you basically have the gist of this movie.

The acting is very good with some guest appearances by movie icon Ralph Macchio (“The Karate Kid” series) and horror mainstay Jeremy Sisto (in his best indie role since “Dead and Breakfast”) as well as Joey Kern (“Super Troopers”) as Hamlet. The lead characters (Jake Hoffman and Devon Aoki) have great chemistry and their relationship makes for a great subplot.

Production quality of this movie is excellent. The makeup and effects are done just right. Not too cheesy and not too flashy. Perfect for the tone of this flick.

There were a few story issues I had with the movie. The inclusion of the secret society seemed awkward at times and weird to follow. There really didn’t seem to be a huge need to include them in the movie. However they aren’t totally distracting from the overall plot.

I’m not going to give it away, but the ending of this movie was actually somewhat unexpected and was also very well done. Overall this movie is light fun if you’re looking for something along the vein of “Shaun of the Dead” or “Dead and Breakfast”.

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead” – You’ve Been Snobbed!