Death of the Dead (2010)

Author: Brett Gallman
Submitted by: Brett Gallman   Date : 2010-11-05 00:37
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Written by: Bo Buckley
Directed by: Gary King
Starring: Christina Rose, Jack Abele, and William Lee


Reviewed by: Brett G.







“They're eating her... and then they're going to eat me... OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!”


No, this isn’t a review of Troll 2; however, the fact that Death of the Dead lifts a quote from that infamous slice of mozzarella madness says a lot more about it than I ever could. Between that and the ridiculous, redundant title, I think it’s pretty obvious that this one has been properly introduced.

Wanda is a hopeless nerd (you know this because she wears huge glasses and a sweater) who’s constantly picked on by her fellow classmates. She also happens to be stuck in the middle of a years-long feud between two martial arts instructors. Her karate teacher (known simply as Master Sensei) has been at odds with his rival (appropriately-named Evil Sensei) ever since their pimp master (no, he’s literally a pimp) bestowed a magic belt upon Master Sensei. Meanwhile, a couple of doctors conveniently end up with some leftover toxic waste from an experiment. It spills out into the path of the evil karate students, who are soon turned into the living dead! Even worse, everyone they kill suddenly become carnivorous martial arts experts. Now it’s up to Wanda to channel her inner-Woody Harrelson and become a zombie killing machine (you’ll know when she does this when she ditches the glasses and wears a skimpy ninja suit).

An obvious farce, Death of the Dead is an irreverent undead romp. It’s got the trappings of a teen comedy early, and it doesn’t let up on the silliness at any point after that. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that there isn’t a single serious moment in the entire movie. This is not to say that all of the humor hits (there’s plenty of misses), but by the end of it all, it manages to bludgeon you into submission and you’re oddly drawn into the Troma-esque proceedings. I suppose it’s a bit of a train-wreck mentality in that the movie is so off the rails that you can’t help but look. It probably also helps that the movie throws in copious amounts of scantily-clad girls and plenty of blood; let’s face it, this movie knows its audience and plays to them well enough.

This isn’t exactly the type of movie where you need good characters--only memorable ones. There are just enough of those between the two sensei and the rest of the ridiculous cast that’s made up of catty girls and perverted old men. The protagonist, Wanda, is so pitiful that you can’t help but feel sorry for her; once she finally emerges as a confident zombie-basher, it’s not exactly a revelatory moment that represents the triumph of the human spirit, but it’s fun enough. You might have to do a double take because star Christina Rose changes from a mousy geek to a sultry killing machine within the blink of an eye. She’s certainly the standout among an inexperienced cast that’s full of rough performances. But let’s be honest, it isn’t like acting and characterization are the main attraction here.

Instead, let’s talk about why you’re here: the death of the dead, as it were. There’s a decent amount of zombie carnage to be found here, though it’s pretty much confined to two centerpiece scenes. The bloodletting includes the conventional decapitations, throat rippings, and gut spilling; more unconventional is a scene where a zombie loses his manhood, which is re-appropriated as nun-chucks for our heroine. If that doesn’t sum up this one in a nutshell , I don’t know what does. The action here is of the herky-jerky variety, and it’s cropped too closely for its own good in most cases. Still, King is wise enough to show the gore-soaked aftermath of it all. Generally-speaking, the production values he’s working with are high enough, so the gore effects look as visceral and disgusting as they should.

It doesn’t have much to offer besides these over-the-top scenes of violence and a lot of crude humor, but Death of the Dead works out of those modes as well as can be reasonably expected. It’s more often ridiculous and overbearing (some jokes wear out their welcome pretty quickly) than it is genuinely funny, but it’s fine popcorn fare. It looks like Strange Stuff Productions is still looking to secure distribution for this one; it can currently be purchased directly from their website (see below). If it manages to claw its way to shelves or online rental services, it won’t be much worse than a lot of the low-budget direct-to-video fare that zombie enthusiasts have encountered over the years. Rent it!

For more information, please visit the Strange Stuff website.




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