ZOMBIE UNDEAD

It is present day Britain, and in the concrete surroundings of a typical city centre, CCTV casts it watchful eye over the hustle and bustle of society. But today the cameras will witness events that will change British society forever....

Racing toward a hospital is a paramedic Steve (Barry Thomas), with a profusely bleeding elderly male patient accompanied his hysterical daughter, Sarah (Ruth King). Upon reaching their destination, instead of the welcoming reassurance of the A&E dept, they are met with carnage. The place is heaving with blood ravaged victims – and even a few corpses. The scene is so morbid it causes Sarah to lose consciousness.

She wakes up to less chaotic, but equally sinister, surroundings. A morose individual, complete with pallid skin and a fatal looking head wound wearily slopes toward her. A machete is thrust into his skull by Jay (Kris Tearse, who also is responsible for writing the film). We soon learn that Jay is at the hospital to try and locate his younger brother. Together, Jay and Sarah embark on a perilous creep through the zombie ridden building in an attempt to, not only find their loved ones, but also try and work out what the hell is going on....

OK so, first up-the good news. Although the picture is relatively low budget, the gore content is pretty high. It is a Zombie movie after all! Bar the odd dodgy intestine, the prosthetic effects are pretty good. Yes they ultimately lack the lurid provocation of a Fulci or Savini production, but nevertheless, are helped by some clever editing, they are convincing enough.

The problem is this. The movie is literally laden with clichés from Zombie yarns in years gone by. Reluctance to kill off an un-dead loved one; Escaping a building to find the whole country is overrun by Zombies; A protagonist getting bitten and then hiding his injury from the group before changing at an ‘unexpected’ point in the movie. They just keep coming!

The movie is overall fairly entertaining, albeit for a few dubious reasons. The odd set piece is executed very well and delivers a couple of genuine jumps. But any hope of being entered in the Zombie hall of fame or quashed by some incredibly weak dialogue. My favourites were when Steve, surrounded by corpses, guts and a pool of blood apologises for his short tempered snap with the classic "Sorry, its been a bad day.." Brilliant! Then, of course, there is Sarah. When faced with a walking cadaver, complete with intestines dripping out of his stomach, asks the obvious "Are you alright?" That Natalie Portman doll had better watch out eh?

A couple of poignant conversations attempt to raise some interest in the otherwise bland characters. Sarah and Jay comparing feelings of loss regarding their loved ones to the zombie epidemic along with a brief debate as to whether its better to have been dead before turning into "one of those things.."

Another curious thing I felt tapered off a little was the focus on CCTV throughout the first part of movie. Quite a few of the early scenes were purposely represented through the grainy black and white security camera quality. Just I was wondering how the brilliant social commentary, regarding the abundance of CCTV in the UK not physically preventing crime, was going to be weaved into the story - it stopped!

Bottom line is I am all for supporting the UK film industry. Whether it be Hammer dusting off their cape after 25 years or productions like this. But not even a river of blood is likely to keep it going if uninspiring efforts like this keep getting churned out.

Why buy this movie when there are at least five others like it, most with better budgets? It’s not that I am against Zombie flicks or anything. But can’t we have an original slant on the Zombie genre.

What about an experimental government micro-chipping program going horribly wrong. As the volunteers brains slowly get fried to mush, the only way they can retain their humanity is with the taste of flesh....

Or a really depressing suicide victim Zombie themed flick... or... hey... wait a minute. Where’s my camcorder and that bottle of ketchup... I have an idea...

Review by Marc Lissenburg