31 Days of Dread--Day 15

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles; 2011; written by Jon Foy and Colin Smith; directed by Jon Foy

If the name of this film alone isn't enough to slow you down and ask, "What the...?" maybe you're moving too fast.

Starting in the 1980s hundreds of enigmatic handmade tiles began appearing on the streets of Philadelphia, the United States and eventually South America. Most displayed a variation of the message TOYNBEE IDEA IN MOVIE 2001 RESURRECT DEAD ON PLANET JUPITER.

You might dismiss a message like that as lunatic ravings. But isn't it more fun, especially at this time of year, to lend it just a bit of credence and see where it leads? As Justin Duerr, the man at the center of the film says, "When you start to realize that it's unusual and strange and unexplainable, it's like waking up from this dream."

The story of one man's obsession with another man's obsession, Resurrect Dead explores the shadows of underground culture, secret societies, America's crumbling railroads, a giant Chilean telescope, short wave radio broadcasts, 9/11 and arcane scientific theories about bringing dead molecules back to life. In doing so, it manages to tickle that part of your brain that wonders what else might be going on beneath the surface of our ordinary world. Or beyond it.

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles is available on Amazon Prime and streaming rental.