The Dead Movie Review
The Dead Movie Review
Directed by Howard and Jonathan Ford, starring Rob Freeman and Prince David Osei.
|
Not to be confused with the great John Huston's final film, this The Dead is pretty much what it sounds like it is: a zombie apocalypse thriller.
Filmed in 35mm and looking like a million bucks, this low-budget flesh-fest has very narrow appeal. At nearly 2 hours, The Dead drags like a corpse in spite of the liveliest storytelling manner possible — fact is, there's just not enough plotting or character development to sustain the running (or, rather, shambling) time.
The simple story tracks the progress of two mortal survivors of the apocalypse — an American (Rob Freeman) and a native (Prince David Osei) as one searches for this missing young son and the other practices his zombie-striking skills ad infinitum. Basically, it's a lot of running and gunning with not much to string the attacks and atrocities together from one to another. To me, watching The Dead was like being slotted into an assembly line of gory gauntlets. In fact it is paced much like a videogame… but this is a videogame with a Message (yup, a 'message' with a capital M) about the chaotic sociopolitical climate on "the Dark Continent".
As I said, the movie looks splendid. I'll gladly give it that. Filmed on location in northwest Africa and using the eroding environment, actual war-torn decimated villages, the expanse of the wild landscapes, and even the bleak beach shores, the Brothers Ford have all visuals aimed at their best advantage. What's more, they take great care with the effects (both practical, and computer-aided) and the film is quite violent and appropriately shocking and brutal. The cast is filled with extras, adding to the believability factor that this scourge really is killing off an entire region of a country. The filmmakers either had well-spent funds or were extremely resourceful; either way, it works on those limited levels.
I can't in good conscience recommend The Dead except to, er, "die-hard" fans of the zombie genre.
= = =
Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson