The Deaths of Ian Stone. After Dark Horrorfest. Lions Gate. By Brian Kirst

Ever since Lawrence, Kansas’ mid-60’s Carnival of Souls offering, a lost traveler experiencing ghost plagued strangeness generally means one thing. Your lead character is dead and simply doesn’t know it yet. Jacob’s Ladder and The Sixth Sense are perhaps the most famous, fairly recent versions of this plotline. Yet in the last handful of years we have also been offered Christine Taylor’s shocked surrender in Room 6, Monica Keena’s horrific struggle in Left in Darkness and Alexandra Holden’s mortified realizations in Dead End. The Deaths of Ian Stone, one of 2007’s 8 Films to Die For, starring Mike Vogel (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Cloverfield) appears to be more of the same. Each day Ian Stone wakes up leading a new existence. Death, occurring within a maximum of 24 hours, is his ultimate destination in each reality. Familiar “I can’t be dead yet, am I?” terriority, no?

Fortunately, writer Brendan Hood and director Dario Piana have something different in mind, though. Not only do Stone’s living conditions regress with each outing (he begins as a privileged hockey player and ends up as a drugged out loser), but they offer up an entirely different explanation for the events plaguing him. Granted, this surprise reasoning is delivered in a rather ponderous monologue, but ultimately Hood and Piana deliver something new and relatively strange in the horror universe, here. That alone is to be celebrated. The ending also kicks along nicely, underscored by some grotesque torture sequences and some action filled monster-ass-kicking battles.

As Stone, Vogel offers up a naturalistic, agreeable performance. You truly root for him and romantic interest Christina Cole (Casino Royale), whom all the fans of BBC’s Hexed will enjoy seeing again. Most importantly, Jaime Murray offers up a viscously seductive performance as Medea, culminating in scenes in which she is poured into a skin sealing red rubber outfit.