Zombie Movie Appreciation Thread - Page 14

Evilution - An alien bacterium spawns zombies and mediocrity in this forgettable horror outing that involves army soldiers and tenement dwellers battling the undead.  But hey, if you like Sy Fy channel-ish claptrap...  R1 DVD.

 

* out of ****

 

Splatometer rating:  ** out of ****




Dental surgery for zombies in Welcome to Deer Creek.

Welcome to Deer Creek - Obscure little cheapie set in the small town of Deer Creek, Ohio where an annual corn festival is the big to-do.   Fun times, but when a revenge-crazed father infects the corn with a strange chemical most of the residents turn into rabid, flesh-craving freaks!  Will anyone survive the slaughter?  Good enough if you need a micro-budgeted zed flick fix.  R1 DVD.

 

** out of ****

 

 

 

Game of the Dead - Amusing (if pointless) French short about a group of zombies playing Russian roulette.  Only the loser DOESN'T blow his brains out!

 

 

**1/2 out of ****

 

 

 

Dead at Dusk - Innocuously-titled but impressively-made no-budget short about a group of friends on the run from zombies.

 

 

*** out of ****

 

Splatometer rating:  *** out of ****




All out of scotch and surrounded by zombies!  You'd be moody too!

 

The Dead Outside - Murky drama about three conflicted survivors of a 'neurological pandemic' who hole up at an isolated Scottish farm.  Beset by crazed plague victims and their own inner demons, will any of them survive?  Has that self-important indie vibe to it at times, but worth a look.  Beware the thick accents.  R2 DVD.

 

**1/2 out of ****

 

Splatometer rating:  **1/2 out of ****




Noooo!!!  Not another pointless remake!!!
 

The Crazies - Disposable redo of George Romero's infected classic.  Slicker and dotted with a few good moments (and a bombastic finale) but hardly an improvement. 

 

** out of ****

 

Splatometer rating:  **1/2 out of ****




I told you we should have gone to the mall!

 

Apocalypse of the Dead (aka Zone of the Dead) - Ken Foree returns to battle the living dead in this Serbian undead epic.  Very much in keeping with its cheesy Italian brethren, down to the dubbing and silliness (one zombie roars like an elephant).  Foree even gets to paraphrase his famous line from Dawn of the Dead.  Good fun.  R2 DVD.

 

**1/2 out of ****

 

 

 

The Clown - Nifty little French short about a zombie clown.  Dominique Pinon is almost unrecognizable in the title role!

 

 

***

 

 

 

See the Dead - Somewhat effective short has a woman waking up in the middle of a zombie outbreak.  Or does she?  And what really happened to her son?  Beats me.

 

 

** out of ****

 

 

 

Gays versus Republican zombies.  Oh my!

 

Zombies of Mass Destruction - Politically-charged zombie thriller has two gay men, a U.S.-born Iranian girl and a liberal mayoral candidate fighting off both the living dead and their right-wing antagonists.  The point is hammered home (literally at times) and the films lacks a certain vitality, but what remains is a curious blend of politics and undead mayhem.  R1 DVD.

 

**1/2 out of ****

 

Splatometer rating:  *** out of ****




R.I.P. Mr. Carradine.

 

Autumn - Based on a popular book, this interesting but flawed (due mostly to its shoddy production) zombie flick follows a group of average people as they try to survive an undead apocalypse.  After an incredibly virulent virus takes out most humans, those that survive have to find a safe haven - obstensibly from the billions of disease-causing corpses (something never really explored in a zombie film) strewn about.   Things grow even more complicated when those corpses get up and shamble around.  And even more complicated when they grow hungry for warm flesh...  Maintains your interest, but you're left with the feeling that it really could have been something. David Carradine has a small role, one of his last.  R1 DVD.

 

** out of ****

 

 

 

Rise of the Dead - Above average homemade zombie flick has four pals spending their spring break on an isolated farm.  Unfortunately for them their beer-swilling days are quickly put behind them when they're attacked by a horde of zombies...

 

 

**1/2 out of ****

 

 

 

She's hot, she rides a horse, she's....dead?

 

Survival of the Dead - And here we have George Romero's latest.  The National Guard bandits seen briefly in Diary of the Dead end up on an island where the living is hampered not so much by the living dead as by two Irish clans engaged in a Hatfield/McCoy feud.  One side wants to dispose of the zombies, the other wants to keep them (or at least their undead family members) around.  Guess which side our heroes take?  Don't go into this expecting a classic - with his golden years behind him Romero has instead delivered an entertaining, competently-produced chapter in his rebooted dead series. 

 

*** out of ****

 

Splatometer rating:  *** out of ****



Guys!  You'll never believe what happened to me!

Rec 2 - Sequel picks up where Rec left off as another team of experts/victims enters the quarantined building in search of a cure for the threatening undead epidemic.  They quickly discover that the infected are actually possessed by demons (hinted at in the first film) but hey, demons or virus, these fast zombies will kill you just the same.  Some dumbass teens are thrown in for good measure in this tense shocker.  A bit too much screaming and shaky-camming, but otherwise a lot of fun.  R0 DVD.

 

*** out of ****

 

The Zombie Connection - Low rent short pits drug dealers against the living dead. Who ya gonna root for? Italian production makes previous spaghetti zed flicks look like Kubrick films.  The abrupt finale doesn't help.   R0 DVD.

 

* out of ****

 

Splatometer rating:  **1/2 out of ****

 

The Duty of Living - A soldier is detailed to clear out zombie-infested houses, including that of his own family! Short is more polished than most, but the overbearing soundtrack is distracting.  R1 DVD.

 

**1/2 out of ****

 

Splatometer rating:  **1/2 out of ****