Undead
Directed by Michael and Peter Spierig
Starring Felicity Mason, Dirk Hunter
Undead is the latest zombie movie to hit our screens. In fact, the only reason it is probably hitting our screens is because it’s an Australian-made effort; otherwise it would be straight to video with a lot of other good B-grade films. And, believe me, Undead is definitely a B-grade film, but it’s well worth a look. It is fun, funny, has a great deal of tension, and it’s got zombies in it. I can’t think of anything better for a late-night movie.
Our story begins in sleepy, “peaceful, rustic Berkeley”, a fishing town somewhere in the outback. We quickly meet our main characters. There’s Rene (Felicity Mason) who has just lost the family farm after the death of her parents. There’s Wayne, the local pilot for hire, and soon to be father with his beauty-queen girlfriend. And finally, there’s Harrison (Dirk Hunter), a strange loner (there’s always one!) who claims to have been abducted by aliens. On the way out of town, the car Rene is travelling in has to stop behind an accident. Meanwhile, meteorites start falling to earth and puncturing people. But these people don’t die; they get up and start attacking those around them, gruesomely eating their flesh. Well, that’s where the fun begins.
The film includes a section which is quite obviously an homage to Night of the Living Dead (either version). The Speirigs are obviously fans and anyone who knows that film will get a chuckle from the basement that seems to go on forever. But don’t worry, the film does not sink into a pale imitation of Night. The zombie idea is taken further, a possible explanation for the occurrence is given, and there is a great, if slightly predictable ending (for some reason it reminded me of Day of the Triffids, but that might just be my imagination working overtime).
One of the few irritating features of this film is one shared by so many others in this genre. It has pretty standard zombies, and any good zombie freak knows that to kill one you have to destroy its brain (shoot it in the head etc). God, if I’d been stuck in “peaceful, rustic Berkeley” those zombies would have been cleared out in one pleasant afternoon of bullets and blood! Oh well, a film reviewer can dream, can’t she? And, last of all, my favourite line was spoken by Harrison, he says, “You’ve gotta ask yourself, are you a fighter fish-queen, or are you zombie food?”
The ReelBuzz: Great B-movie fun.
ESther
