ULTIMATE ZOMBIE FEAST

So, Bounty Films’ new genre label Monster Pictures is looking to endear itself to its intended fan base. They got off to a flying start by releasing Oliver Millburn’s impressive vampire rethink THE HARSH LIGHT OF DAY. MONSTRO looks like being good fun, MIDNIGHT SON comes with a clutch of awards already under its belt, and THE INSIDE managed to garner itself a slot on the 2012 Frightfest bill.

But it could well transpire that this mammoth 2-disc collection of walking dead mayhem from around the globe will prove to be the making of them.

Disc one certainly kicks off in fine fashion, with the hugely enjoyable ZOMBEER. Shot on HD and spoken in English, the 12-minute Netherlands offering is highly stylish and slick, boasting excellent camerawork and production values.

It starts with a tour of a brewery, where one employee is found to be drunk on the job. He’s told to stay that evening and finish his work, then leave for good. Unfortunately he stumbles into a vat of beer in the night and infects it. The next morning, a fresh group of Japanese tourists visit the brewery and are invited to sample from the now-contaminated vat … and soon everyone has turned into zombies!

It’s gleefully daft but beautifully shot and nicely paced. Ultimately though, ZOMBEER feels like a promising prologue to a main feature which doesn’t exist.

The 17-minute ZOMBIES AND CIGARETTES follows. It details an outbreak of deadites in a busy shopping centre, and the small group of human survivors who hole themselves up in one store. In particular, we focus on bungling janitor Xavi as he fends off not only the hungry undead, but also Kendo – cool rival for his unrequited love’s attentions.

Just as funny but not quite as handsome as the disc’s opener, CIGARETTES looks rougher around the edges but is still technically impressive and boasts a fine array of zombie FX. Plus, the central characters are easy to warm to. In Spanish with English subtitles.

PLAGUE is next, the set’s first UK offering. Again clocking in at 17 minutes in length, this proffers a more sombre and allegorical take on the zombie mythos – but is no less involving for it.

Co-directed by Joseph Avery and Matt Simpson, PLAGUE centres on gun-running immigrant Vilhelm who flees to a new life in London, only to find a nasty surprise in store. Atmospheric muted colours and grim locations lend this a mood that rises above the clichéd narration, bringing the disc’s first really dark and satisfying treat. It’s pretty gory too.

We stay on home shores for BITTEN, which starts with a jolt as a woman hurriedly arrives home bolting the front door behind her and rushing to the bathroom to clean up the nasty wound on her neck.

Duncan Laing’s 6-minute shocker is serious in tone and quite claustrophobic in its up-close, handheld execution. It relies solely on actress Claire Wilson, who handles the panicked realisation of her transformation into zombie and the possible pain she could inflict on those who love her, with persuasive conviction. Haunting sound design further bolsters this one.

America’s ARISE, from Jay Reiter and made in tandem with a comic book of the same name, is boisterous in comparison.

In it, metal fan Thanatos must run a rescue mission across a small town in Georgia when his girlfriend’s premonition of the dead returning from their graves becomes true. Good job he’s prepared an arsenal of homemade weapons.

ARISE is not as well shot or acted as the other films on offer but has a great rocking soundtrack and is nicely edited over the course of its enjoyable 18 minutes. Despite some poorly recorded dialogue, I took to the characters and found the whole thing oddly captivating. Oh, it also wins the award for best wig of the entire set.

NOT EVEN DEATH is a 5-minute thought provoker from the US’s Monica Winter Vigil (what a great name). It’s a keenly shot, ambient piece about a man who keeps his zombified wife in the family cellar, feeding her and caring for her at arm’s length.

Similar to HAROLD’S GOING STIFF in its concept of equating the living dead to the terminally ill perhaps, this is a fresh take on the genre and stands out as a result. It’s also very well made, being astutely performed and just as tragic as it is disturbing.

I do feel I should give a mention at this point though to my mate, Andy Elvin. Andy, you had this idea first: curse you for letting someone else beat you to filming it!

Sticking in the land of the stars and stripes, we’re treated to the 16-minute FEAR OF THE LIVING DEAD next. It starts two weeks after "initial infection", and has a lone woman scouring a barren neighbourhood in search of life. All she comes across to begin with are zombies, which make for fine excuses for her to execute them gorily. But then she comes across life …

Micro budgeted but unafraid to take itself seriously, FEAR is commendable in spirit if not always successful in realisation.

Bren Lynne’s 9-minute Canadian offering KIDZ is more intriguing. From its soundtrack to its characters, there’s a quirkiness about it that’s very typical of its heritage. It's also very cheaply produced, but inventively lensed and genuinely witty.

It starts with a husband and wife being killed by a zombie neighbour on their lawn one afternoon, while their kids sit indoors watching TV. Left alone, the children then have to fend for themselves. Well worth a watch, this sick little nugget.

Disc one rounds off its fun with THE BOOK OF ZOMBIE, a stylish 64-minute slice of ambition over resources set in Utah. It’s co-directed by Scott Kragelund, Paul Cranefield and Erik Van Sant.

Even the opening credits (which look more like the start to some teen programme) look dirt cheap; the film’s production values don’t really improve from thereon in. But, that doesn’t stop the filmmakers striving for FX and atmosphere in their tale of a town where the Mormon community become infected by a zombie virus and turn on the "non-believers".

Some gags work, others don’t. Almost all the performances are dire. In some cases, admittedly, it’s hard to tell whether this is intentional. But a combination of iced fog, colour-filtered lighting and splashy gore help make this more enjoyable than the stumbling pace would suggest.

The Brits are back on disc two, with the 11-minute ZOMBIE HARVEST providing a mix of solemn anti-action and daft comedy that never quite gels. Perhaps it’s the ultra lo-fi aesthetics and iffy acting that prevented it from working?

THE SKIN OF YOUR TEETH is another American entry, clocking in at 14 minutes in length. It’s slow, methodical and suffers from one of those sparse piano-led scores that I detest.

This one documents a group of human survivors who’ve housed up in a remote farmhouse and have become self-sufficient, growing their own food and preparing themselves for a sometime inevitable zombie attack. It comes, but not in good time.

Despite some atmospheric sound design, TEETH suffered from mediocrity and familiarity in equal measures. And, with a title so close to it, it seems a shame not to have licensed use of a certain Megadeth song.

ZOMBLIES is better, another UK outing. Written and directed by David M Reynolds, this makes fine use of dizzying handheld cameras and outdoor locations as a group of heavily armed zombie hunters encounter something unexpected in the woods.

Think PREDATOR meets DOG SOLDIERS for this superior 47-minute effort.

Denmark’s 16-minute proffering is called IT CAME FROM THE WEST and holds the distinction of being the set’s only fully animated piece. From director Tor Fruergaard, it’s a weird and often musical hybrid of zombie mayhem and Sergio Leone western homage. It shouldn’t work but, by virtue of its sheer mentality, it does.

Plus, it provides a nice break from its more traditional surroundings.

As does France’s PARIS BY NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. This is a brilliant 12-minute rush of adrenaline which feels like a trailer for the best 80s Euro horror that was never made.

In actual fact, it was shot in 2009 by Gregory Morinhas and focuses on a bride and groom whose wedding ceremony is interrupted by a zombie attack. REC 3: GENESIS this is not … on the contrary, this is great fun. Gory, imaginative, boundless; it’s disc two’s undisputed highlight.

SAVAGES is billed as being one of India’s first independent zombie films. It’s only 39 minutes long and looks extremely washed out for a 2011 production, but is inventive and spunky regardless.

It tells the tale of a group of friends – the type who merrily beat each other up for boyish kicks – who celebrate one of their posse’s birthdays by venturing out to a village famed for being a "forbidden zone" on account of army experiments once held there. Of course, bad things lie in wait.

Predictable but lucky enough to be graced with good humour and likeable characters, SAVAGES is an effective lesson in how to overcome budgetary restraints and still pull together an engaging, affecting story.

Which leaves us with William Bridges’ 10-minute film DEAD HUNGRY, the UK’s final representation in this set.

Nicely shot and edited, this introduces Jed to us – a loser in life who has now died and been resurrected as a zombie with a hunger for "braaaiiinss". Only trouble is, he’s as useless in death as he was in life: cue amusing set-pieces which cannily subvert our expectations of the genre.

DEAD HUNGRY is a warm, witty and highly accomplished film. It makes for a superb way to conclude this overall impressive compendium of zombie shorts.

Both discs open with a static main menu page, allowing access to each film either individually or in two sessions by selecting the "Play All" options. When selecting the films individually, you get a brief text synopsis of each one. There are no scene-selection menus; they’re not necessary.

The films are presented uncut, in mostly impressive 16x9 transfers. Some look ropier than others, depending on how cheaply they were made and on what format. But by-and large, the picture quality is satisfying throughout. ZOMBEER, for example, looks amazing.

Audio is provided in original languages throughout (mostly English) with subtitles whenever that language is foreign. The only foreign language film that doesn’t have subtitles is PARIS BY NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD – but the only dialogue spoken is marriage vows which, I assume, most people know reasonably well. Soundtracks are decent but occasionally uneven, again due to the way they were originally recorded.

There are no extra features. But, when you’re getting over 5 hours of undead fun for such a nice price, the folk at Monster Pictures can hardly be chastised for that.

Highly recommended.

Review by Stuart Willis