Anchor Bay have on occasion released a little unknown gem, some practically no budget movie from some small corner of the filmic universe and this is one of them.
‘Undead’ is a decidedly fun, silly, grotesque and enjoyable romp in the pantheons of zombie mayhem.
The Sperig Brothers have put the heart and soul into this blood drenched affair, they do more than just the directorial duties but many of the special visual effects too and on their home PCs I might add (over 305 visual effects were woven into the movie). Don’t let this put you off as what follows is plenty of munching and exploding body parts throughout with enough imagination to keep anyone amused and a twist of alien abduction that would keep Whitley Strieber a happy bunny.
Berkeley is a little backwater town in the middle of nowhere. Playing cricket and going fishing are the adventures of the hearty here. That’s just not enough to keep Rene (a great turn from Felicity Mason in her debut) at home, well, she does not really have a home anymore as the bank have just folded on her due to debts her parents left behind. And just when she is about to leave a hail of meteorites crash down on pleasant little Berkeley making more than a few holes on the cricket pitch! Before you know it there are zombie hordes doing the munching and it also gives Rene another excuse to get outta town quick.
She flees but escape does not come quickly as she finds the road blocked. Here she meets Marion (Mungo McKay), armed to the teeth, including spurs and a triple barrelled shotgun, and he knows how to kick zombie ass. A run through the woods later and she takes refuge in a seemingly abandoned farmhouse. The sign outside “Marion’s World of Weapons” lets us know we are in for more trouble here. Again she meets Marion, still wearing his akubra hat and a fishing lure around his neck.
Within moments we are in
‘Night of the Living Dead’ territory. Another four quickly joins the duo, now they have to contend with an excitable male redneck (Dirk Hunter, who is great in the audio commentary) and an asthmatic female constable (Emma Randall) on her first day on the job and the young and heavily pregnant couple Sallyanne (Lisa Cunningham) and Wayne (Rob Jenkins). More zombies and more shots to the head have blood squirting all over the place. Marion has an uncanny knack of producing weapons out of thin air but since its fun in an
‘Evil Dead’ sort of way we don’t mind.
Deeper into the farmhouse they go, and underneath the cellar is a bomb shelter where the six take refuge from the zombies but not from each other.
Labour pains start and it’s time for the group to leave the nest. More guns, more mayhem, more gore and bodies are piling knee deep in the corridors as they head for the van and escape.
It’s here that things take a turn, and more in line with ‘The X-files’. While the group is trying to escape in the blood drenched van the road is blocked this time by a huge alien wall. I kid you not. Aliens, acid rain and more gore galore unfold in the second half, which does keep you playfully guessing what will come next.
Extras are aplenty; the making of alone is a prime example of how to make a no budget movie work and how the dedication of the cast and crew was paramount to make things work. Audio commentaries come in the shape of a crew commentary and the funnier cast commentary and both are ok and will improve with a few beers under your belt as you hear stories of hairy ears and punching flying fish. Sound options are great too; a fantastic 5.1 and DTS track are amazing when you think of the budget restrictions.
Special effects featurettes, animatics, deleted scenes, trailers and more zombies populate the other extras…
There are plenty of things to rant about this release but one feels that Anchor Bay have missed a fine opportunity of a five starrer. The movie is based on three shorts (Attack of the Undead, Rampage of the Undead & Massacre of the Undead) that the Sperig Brothers made years previously of which the ideas and some of the scenes were cobbled together to make this movie, but where are they ? If they were included here it would be manna from zombie heaven.
This is available in the UK now via
AmazonUK but for a US release you will need to wait awhile longer for a DVD release, but fear not, as this will be showing in a cinema near you shortly !
You can read more about the DVD and the movie in our
database.
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