We’re in a heavily nostalgic era of entertainment, and for the people who lived through the times the media reminisces on, it can be a fun reminder of the way things were. For younger generations, it’s a rose-tinted way of living through experiences of other eras. Either way, it is quite the selling point these days, and movies often pull out all the stops to make it known just how nostalgic they are. Dead Mail, however, does not take this approach. This is one of those period pieces that takes advantage of the infrastructure of its world without throwing all its icons in your face. It is set sometime in the 1980s, although it’s never firmly established exactly when, and the mechanics of its story require the technology and security of this era in order to work believably. The movie is shot with fabulous old-school grain and often takes directorial nods from ’80s slashers with its blocking, framing, and lighting. But this is no Stranger Things. Don’t look here for neon lights, shoulder pads, and bad perms. This is one of the more naturalistic throwback horrors you’ll see, to the point that you could believe it to simply be a product of the time, rather than one reminiscing about it.
What is ‘Dead Mail’ About?

Dead Mail opens with a man in chains, escaping from a house and crawling to a nearby mailbox to post a bloodied scrap of letter. He makes it just in time before his aggressor catches up to him. Then we cut to a post office, where two women, Ann (Micki Jackson) and Bess (Susan Priver), are working in the so-called “dead letter” department, where they deal with incorrectly labeled mail and try to decipher where it’s meant to go. They find this bloody scrap and forward it, along with several other pieces, to Jasper (Tomas Boykin), who is an investigator of sorts with a long list of contacts and resources he uses to help reunite lost mail with its intended recipients. As Jasper starts digging, he edges closer and closer to where this startling item came from, and who sent it. In the meantime, the person he’s looking for is getting more frantic and willing to do whatever it takes to prevent his secret from being blown.
Although a fabulously dark and atmospheric synthesizer score has already made itself known from the beginning, this is where it becomes an actual character in the story. You see, Trent is a bit… strange, and like Alex from A Clockwork Orange or Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, he is fixated on music. It is his friend, his lover, his teacher. He cannot have any significant or emotional moment in his life without a rousing synthesizer piece to play it out. But unlike those guys, he does not seem like a bad man. In fact, the movie does a good job of making him quite the sympathetic villain. He doesn’t plot and scheme about murdering people, but finds himself in desperate situations and loses control. John Fleck is excellent as Trent, infusing him with a hopelessness and tragedy that isn’t overexplained but does just enough to tell us that this isn’t your average serial killer.
Music Is at the Heart of ‘Dead Mail’

Dead Mail is a simple enough murder-mystery story, but it’s arranged and told in a compelling way that keeps you guessing. After its shocking intro, we need to know more about the man who sent the letter, so once Jasper’s investigation has been established, it flashes back to introduce Josh (Sterling Macer, Jr.), an avid synthesizer engineer proudly displaying his creation at a convention. There he meets Trent (John Fleck), an at-first unassuming middle-aged man, who waxes lyrical about the genius of Josh’s creation, and the importance of musical composition. He bombards Josh with flattery, his face getting ever more intense, and offers to become an angel investor of sorts, who will fund Josh’s work and encourage its progress.

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It is also hinted that he is in the closet and, since his high school days, has had infatuations with young Black men that he never follows through on. So his relationship with Josh — a young Black man — seems to pluck every emotional string, speaking to his need for male affection, his pursuit of technological perfection, and his obsession with music. Their relationship is one of the most compelling aspects of an overall captivating film, and Sterling Macer Jr. gives Josh so much heart and passion, as well as rugged determination. Once their relationship goes down the pan, you can see every ounce of anger, hurt, and will to survive in Josh’s face, and you actively root for him to make it, even if it means taking out his surprisingly sympathetic aggressor.
DeBoer and McConaghy Are Directors To Watch

Image Via Shudder

You’ll notice that a half-dozen characters have been introduced here by name, and there’s a reason for that. Dead Mail has its characters on one of those multi-disc stereo systems from back in the day, rotating them in and out of the story when needed. Jasper’s involvement almost constitutes a Janet Leigh-in-Psycho setup, but then along comes Trent and Josh’s part of the story, before Ann and Bess come back into the equation as central figures. At first, you think these are just background figures that will stay in the background, so it’s cool to realize that they have all been strategically introduced so that they can come into the center later. Every one of them plays their part in moving the story along, to the point that it becomes an unlikely ensemble piece. It’s just another way that Dead Mail keeps you on your toes, never quite sure of what’s around the corner.
Written and directed by Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy, the duo has just one other collaborative project under their belts — 2020’s BAB — and here’s hoping we get more of them in the future. These guys work perfectly in sync to deliver a tightly written script of compelling characters, directed with a real flair for thrilling and stylish storytelling. That crucial synthesizer score, in all its booming, sinister glory, is also their work, and although it is impressive to know that the two guys handled all these different elements of filmmaking with such skill, it makes sense. Everything comes together so perfectly and with such precision that it stands to reason that the musical arrangement would also be done in-house. This pair of triple-threats are most definitely guys to watch. They can take a fairly standard story and make it utterly thrilling while imbuing it with atmosphere and heavy emotion. Dead Mail is a rock-solid crime thriller horror, the exact kind Shudder is such a great advocate for, and one I hope we will see much more of.

Dead Mail

An up-and-coming screenwriting and directing duo deliver a first-class crime horror.

Release Date

March 9, 2024

Runtime

106 Minutes

Director

Joe DeBoer, Kyle McConaghy

Writers

Joe DeBoer, Kyle McConaghy

Cast

Pros & Cons

Brilliant writing and directing from Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy
Strong cast of compelling characters
Heavy on atmosphere, with an imposing score