It really has been quite a while since I've sat down and watched a good old fashioned zombie movie. You know, the kind when zombies were slow and rotting, rising out of the dirt to eat you kind of thing. This low budget beauty had been on my to-watch list for a while, and I really had high hopes. I really wanted to like this film, but I'm not quite sure I did. I didn't dislike it, but it just pained me to see so much potential in a film flushed down the toilet. I'll explain.
To start, you really have to love low budget horror to even give this film a chance. According to IMDB, this film had a $3,000 budget and it shows. I personally get a kick out of all the little quirks in films like these. I love seeing those rotten ol' zombies ripping some guys head in half with their perfectly normal, human hands. And to be quite honest, the effects were fantastic for a budget that tiny. Even though every bit of this film clearly looks like it was filmed in someones backyard with dollar store zombie costumes, the amount of love and creativity that went into pulling off the gore for this film was duly noted. Hell, if these guys had a huge budget and access to all of the best special effects and expensive cameras there were, I'd totally vote them to direct the zombie epic of the year. This film did not skimp on any gore, and I could see through all of the low budget facade and I can feel from the bottom of my heart that the directors of this film really wanted to give zombie fans what they truly want : a whole lot of violence and rotten mess, and not a whole lot of plot.
That brings me to the plot. As a diehard horror fan and lover of some of the most extreme forms of underground cinema out there, I'd be hypocritical to complain about the plot of a backyard zombie film. But I will anyway. The plot was horrid. Everything started out alright. A young man named Alex is suffering from an incurable, degenerative bone disease has a wife whom decides to try to cure him at home with natural remedies. Her friend, whom she is also most likely fucking (the film doesn't really explain this), decides that it would be an an awesome idea to feed poor Alex some ground up bones that he digs up from the graves of the deceased. Unfortunately, these two geniuses plans backfire because eating rotten bones clearly does not do a body good. Alex starts getting worse. He starts puking and shitting worms (which is by far, in my opinion, the most awesome scene in the film). Some random chicks get naked for no reason, and then zombies start rising from the dead and attacking. After this, the film starts to go downhill. After a long, dragged out scene with zombies killing and eating a bunch of police officers, Alex emerges as some kind of bone-addict. If this sounds confusing it's because it was. The film doesn't really explain if Alex is a zombie or not, he just kind of wakes up with some crappy face paint on and starts talking about how he hears the voices of the dead and needs to eat bones. Anywho, Alex then goes to the graveyard and runs into these two masked gargoyle creatures who proceed to explain that Alex is stealing their food so they have their undead minions kill him. I know, total confusion. I can deal with the whole bone-eating and zombie plot, but by the time they started bringing gargoyle-goblin men into this mess I just sat there scratching my head. Of course, zombies then go on to take over big city and then the world, yada yada. Please, if anyone saw this film and I am just totally missing something let me know. The plot really was that stupid folks.
I really appreciate that the filmmakers made one hell of a bloody, old school zombie movie on a $3,000 budget. I quite enjoy films like these from time to time, and I have no shame in admitting so. There is no way I can call this film a "good" movie, but if you are like me and have an appreciation for (extremely) low budget movies which are EXTREMELY violent, it may be worth your time to check this one out one day. In terms of low budget backyard horror, this film is excellent compared to many others I have seen. Unfortunately, a jumbled plot that dragged on really brought this film down a few notches from what could have been a phenomenal independent film. Bottom line: Check it out for the gore and some laughs. Don't go in with any expectations either.
1 1/2 OUT OF 5 STARS
* 1/2 out of *****
To start, you really have to love low budget horror to even give this film a chance. According to IMDB, this film had a $3,000 budget and it shows. I personally get a kick out of all the little quirks in films like these. I love seeing those rotten ol' zombies ripping some guys head in half with their perfectly normal, human hands. And to be quite honest, the effects were fantastic for a budget that tiny. Even though every bit of this film clearly looks like it was filmed in someones backyard with dollar store zombie costumes, the amount of love and creativity that went into pulling off the gore for this film was duly noted. Hell, if these guys had a huge budget and access to all of the best special effects and expensive cameras there were, I'd totally vote them to direct the zombie epic of the year. This film did not skimp on any gore, and I could see through all of the low budget facade and I can feel from the bottom of my heart that the directors of this film really wanted to give zombie fans what they truly want : a whole lot of violence and rotten mess, and not a whole lot of plot.
That brings me to the plot. As a diehard horror fan and lover of some of the most extreme forms of underground cinema out there, I'd be hypocritical to complain about the plot of a backyard zombie film. But I will anyway. The plot was horrid. Everything started out alright. A young man named Alex is suffering from an incurable, degenerative bone disease has a wife whom decides to try to cure him at home with natural remedies. Her friend, whom she is also most likely fucking (the film doesn't really explain this), decides that it would be an an awesome idea to feed poor Alex some ground up bones that he digs up from the graves of the deceased. Unfortunately, these two geniuses plans backfire because eating rotten bones clearly does not do a body good. Alex starts getting worse. He starts puking and shitting worms (which is by far, in my opinion, the most awesome scene in the film). Some random chicks get naked for no reason, and then zombies start rising from the dead and attacking. After this, the film starts to go downhill. After a long, dragged out scene with zombies killing and eating a bunch of police officers, Alex emerges as some kind of bone-addict. If this sounds confusing it's because it was. The film doesn't really explain if Alex is a zombie or not, he just kind of wakes up with some crappy face paint on and starts talking about how he hears the voices of the dead and needs to eat bones. Anywho, Alex then goes to the graveyard and runs into these two masked gargoyle creatures who proceed to explain that Alex is stealing their food so they have their undead minions kill him. I know, total confusion. I can deal with the whole bone-eating and zombie plot, but by the time they started bringing gargoyle-goblin men into this mess I just sat there scratching my head. Of course, zombies then go on to take over big city and then the world, yada yada. Please, if anyone saw this film and I am just totally missing something let me know. The plot really was that stupid folks.
I really appreciate that the filmmakers made one hell of a bloody, old school zombie movie on a $3,000 budget. I quite enjoy films like these from time to time, and I have no shame in admitting so. There is no way I can call this film a "good" movie, but if you are like me and have an appreciation for (extremely) low budget movies which are EXTREMELY violent, it may be worth your time to check this one out one day. In terms of low budget backyard horror, this film is excellent compared to many others I have seen. Unfortunately, a jumbled plot that dragged on really brought this film down a few notches from what could have been a phenomenal independent film. Bottom line: Check it out for the gore and some laughs. Don't go in with any expectations either.
1 1/2 OUT OF 5 STARS
* 1/2 out of *****