Storm of the Dead

With a title like Storm Of The Dead you naturally expect a zombie flick, this isn't.

Immediately I found myself a tad uncomfortable as the film opens with a series of news reports about a storm raging across the Caribbean and hitting Florida which is exactly what's happening in real life at time of writing.

Once I'd gotten past the shock of that I gave this story about a militia search and rescue mission gone wrong a try and was confused at the absence of zombies.

The story culminates quite well and is fairly interesting, but the route there is slow and poorly constructed.

Storm of The Dead is hyper low budget make no mistake, but I feel they still could have done a lot more with the material.

The Good:

Some nice ideas

Some interesting characters

The Bad:

A bit deceptive

Amateurishly made

Very slow burner

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

If you have the choice between travelling on land or wading through a swamp was then do the latter, especially when chasing someone

Forewarning there are long stretches of this low-budget horror film about a vengeful voodoo grandmother still smarting over the fact that the Florida militia killed her no-good criminal son where no action whatsoever happens. Stretches where people talk and talk, stretches where people walk and walk silently, not that I'm saying the films horrendous as I've seen much worse (refer to "the forever dead" also on the Catacomb of Creepshows DVD-set) Just that the movie is very slow and features pretty unfunny 'comic relief'

Eye Candy: Karin Justman shows some T&A, Debra Cassano and Xiomara Ortiz both get topless

I quite like bad horror movies – but only if they're bad in an entertaining kind of way. Unfortunately, there's very little to entertain in 'Storm of the Dead'. Instead, it's boring and poorly paced, with a thin plot meandering through an hour and a half of film when it could probably have fitted nicely into a short.

The film's writer/director has posted a review, which is interesting to read in terms of the thought process behind different aspects of the movie. In particular, he noted that five minutes of Just Plain Walking Around was added to plump up the film to meet international length standards. In my opinion, that's just lazy film-making, and an insult to the viewers who are forced to sit through that five minutes of filler.

That said, I was quite impressed by J. Todd Smith (Hutch), who was definitely the highlight of the movie. Karin Justman (Lisa) was also decent. In contrast, Brian Renner (Red) was supposed to be providing comic relief, but instead provided poor delivery that made me cringe every time he spoke.

Not a film I'd recommend by any means, but there's possibly something in there for people who like their horror slow-paced.

This is the second viewing of this film for me. I watched as part of the Catacomb of Creepshows box set and previously watched this on the Movies for Men channel (in the UK). What can I say I am a glutton for punishment !!!

Having said this, Storm of the dead is not too bad. The Florida Military are deployed to stop the looting after a hurricane. A man is shot dead for looting essential supplies, like baby food and nappies. His Grandmother is a local voodoo priestess and she vows to avenge his death.

This starts off well with director Bob Clark actually reporting from what looks like a Hurricane, I found this to be quite effective. It then moves on to stock footage of the aftermath of real hurricanes, again, this sets the tone for the film well.

The story itself is not a bad one and there is some social commentary about the social divide in America (As I am British I presume there are similar divisions in the states as the UK). I would agree with fellow reviewers there is a lot of the running time spent on people wandering around and the biggest problem for me was the title makes it sound like a zombie film, well there is only one. But hey, perhaps that is what the film-maker intended or perhaps he was restricted by budget (or both!!). Overall I have seen better, but also I have seen many more worse than this and found myself quite liking it.

The lead actor J. Todd Smith gave a solid performance.

At the time of writing this is only scoring 2.2 on the IMDb and I would rate this higher than that. I gave it a 4.

In response to the posting of STORM OF THE DEAD being the worst movie ever made, "I guess you don't get out much." You obviously either purchased or were given a pre-release copy via either Fangoria or Rue Morgue magazine. I am ruling out that you were given one by either the cast or crew. The film officially doesn't come out on DVD (Maxim Media International) until August 8, 2007.

In retrospect I would have made a couple of changes to the film but there is more to it than just making the film. The walking scene you refer to that lasts the entire movie in reality lasts only 5 minutes. Yes, it does seem longer but the film was running short (88 minutes) and several foreign territories require a certain length. The nudity which you call gratuitous actually was put in not only for commercial reasons but for character development as well. Dani the soldier thinks nothing about taking off her clothes and washing in the river. While her male counter part is shy and uncomfortable. That scene showed she was one of the boys. For Lisa's shower scene she had to be naked. I don't know how you bathe but most of us are nude and use soap and water. Again, it you were paying attention to detail you'd notice that the third nude scene was to show the girl was in a vulnerable position and couldn't possibly be evil as she was a victim. It also brought out the final temptation of Red.

It's easy to write a bad review but we've been reviewed by professionals on the web and in magazines and fortunately they were able to see some of the symbolism. They also enjoyed fine performances from the main stars including Jason Todd Smith who played Hutch and excellent relief humor from Red and Dani.

When someone buys or rents a 'low budget' feature to watch they are looking for something to entertain them. I disagree with your statement that the storyline was stupid. Anyone living through a hurricane (Jason was a Katrina Survivor and brought much to the role) would agree there were moments of truth and politics hidden in the storyline. The movie is being released on DVD August 8, 2007. My suggestion to everyone is to pick it up and watch it. Then make up your own mind.

Another reality check is MST-3000K isn't around any more. I guess they couldn't get enough people like you to support it.

See you at the movies!

Regards, Bob Cook Writer/Director