Director: Dave Parker
Writer: Dave Parker
Tagline: (working on it)
Actors: Eric Clawson, Jamie Donahue, Brett Beardslee, Wendy Speake, Benjamin P. Morris, Rick Irwin, David Douglas, Matt Stephens, Kimberly Pullis, Andre 'Doc' Newman, Matthew McGrory
Runtime: 1h 30m
Category: Comedy, Undead, Zombie
Synopsis: A group of filmmakers are shooting in an abandoned hospital-like setting. They are making a horror movie about the undead when they discover that they have not been the only ones inside the building. They find a strange looking coffin-shaped chamber in the boiler room and decide to use it for the movie. Once turned on, it releases the owner of the chamber and his undead minions. This causes the filmmakers to be stuck in a sort of limbo with a throng of the undead! Now they must battle their way through and try to survive.
Review: I had seen this movie at the video store many times and had always been intrigued by the cover. This is another reason why this site was created; to warn you about bad movies before you waste your money. Although this movie wasn’t as horrible as I suspected, it had its obvious downfalls.
Apart from everything else (yes even the gore) I thought that the story was the best part of the movie. It is not common to see a movie about people making a movie about the genre of the movie that you’re watching (did you get all that…I had to read it over a few times to make sure I knew what the hell I meant). I loved that the director, Dave, and his FX guy, Paul, were just like my brother and I; they love horror movies and know a lot of the horror movie masters. Spouting out names that no one else knows, and making snide little comments about the others because they are not as dedicated as you, are very common among us horror fanatics. Either way, the story was, for all intensive purposes (a statement I’ve never really gotten a chance to use), very interesting; the world of the dead mingling with the world of the living. On top of that, I don’t think that there has ever been a movie that forces any amount of members of the living, into the world of the dead; and survive! Cool concept.
The acting was just ok, not bad though for a borderline indie film. I was impressed with the actors that played Dave and Paul; they really got their characters down. Apart from that the rest of the acting was mediocre.
The FX were not all that bad. I was expecting a lot less to tell you the truth. The gore was pretty good and the make-up wasn’t too terrible (yes, I’ve seen worse). The Zombie Barbeque, which should have been the crowning glory of this movie, was simply a laugh. I think if they would have bought three less gallons of fake blood they could have made the Zombie Barbeque something to remember. Although it wasn’t horrible, it is not an immediate necessity. In one scene you can actually see the boom mic at the top of the screen (not as bad as Death to Smoochy thought)!
Just for good measure, I thought that the horror master references were sweet! The bumper sticker on Topaz’s car that said “Fulci Lives!” with the zombie from his movie Zombie (1979) on it; loved it. He is actually referenced again at the graveyard set inside the movie; his name appears on one of the headstones. And the ultimate reference was when Dave was trying to think of a way to save Topaz and himself, and he says, “What would Bruce Campbell do?” It’s sick how much I identify with that statement; it really is.
Rating: 16. With a good story, some good (not great) gore, and some nice references, this movie gets a B for effort. Not a B rating but a B grade. Apart from the sub-par acting and some mediocre make-up effects, this movie actually wasn’t half bad. I would not tell you to go run out and see it, but if you and your cronies (or you and your ‘significant other’) find that you have nothing to do one night and you have exhausted all other means of entertainment, short of illegal stuff, sure why not, go get it. (16of25).
No comments:
Post a Comment