Dead Season

This was a pleasant little surprise of a movie. It had some great blood and gore scenes along with a good story. It was a low budget film that actually delivers better than I thought it would. If 'Dawn Of The Dead' (remake) had a cheap no-frills little brother, this would be it. The story is a little similar but not the same (with the zombie outbreak and survivors trying to get to safety thing I mean). The acting wasn't that bad, actually it was pretty good (compared to some bigger budget films). The effects were good old-school style effects likened to the great 70's and 80's style slashers. It was entertaining and a good watch, so I give it a 7 out of 10.

In the last year I've seen around a dozen or so Zombie films & if was to compare this one to them it would probably land in 3rd place. In the beginning it was a little rough, it gave us a quick take on what the situation was for the lead character Elvis, all zombie films usually struggle in the beginning as to why & how he is almost the lone survivor so I can't fault it for that. As the film progressed it started to focus on the characters more than the zombie outbreak, it reminded me of the Walking Dead series on AMC. It was nice for a change to have some character development in a film like this. You will have to be a bit forgiving as to the cheap make-up & effects for the zombies as they were pretty underdone but the low budget didn't cripple it much at all. About an hour in is where this film started to pay off, giving us a dark turn of events that brings upon an urgency to act for the leads & the action starts to ramp up along with the zombie population. Some people might want to turn it off early but I promise you that if you hang in there it will deliver you a solid effort and a decent ending for all zombie genre fans alike. It wasn't a bad way to kill 90 minutes.

This is a film about a couple of people (Elvis and Tweeter) who meet up during the devastation of a zombie outbreak. They come across a guy who has some supplies and keys for a boat. They leave the Florida mainland and head towards an island. When they get there they are taken by a group of survivors to a gated complex with others living there. They soon fit in and find that there is more going on here than they thought. It soon becomes a fight for survival, and not just against the zombies.

Surprisingly, Dan Hicks is in this film. You probably will not see him, but it is interesting to me that a noted horror veteran showed up for this endeavor. His appearance may be the best thing about the movie.

Aside from some sound issues, the film is pretty good. Not a life-changing experience, but a zombie film with more going on than just zombies. There is a back story (though it remains rather murky) and a "shocking" twist (that does not really make much sense). It is a thinker... sort of.

A lot of thought went into the script, and from the looks of it, a lot of love went into the production and performances of this way better than average zombie chiller. Suffice it to say that the story packs some real surprises, previously unexplored within the genre. The locations look sufficiently post-apocalyptic, and the humans appear to be honestly at the end of their proverbial rope. And that's a smart idea. Too many movies like this have a bunch of well-fed, good-looking actor armed to the teeth with seemingly endless supplies of ammo and enthusiasm. Dead Season does not disappoint. On the contrary, it serves up good scares, a good story and some good gore make for an nail-biting thought-provoking good time.

I've probably seen most zombie related movies which include all of Romero's work, 28 days/weeks and the less serious 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Fido'. 'Dead Season' fits right around the middle simply because it doesn't add much to what's already been done. It feels like an extension to one of the other movies where you follow the characters after they finally get away from the main population.

The acting is obviously a little uneven because only the four main actors have real experience which always seems to be an issue with indie films. The secondary actors are noticeably less experienced but not enough to be a problem, they are really just scenery for the most part. The rest of the production is so well done that it's shame the story is so generic.

If you're a fan of all things zombie and need a new one to watch then I would recommend it because it's well done overall even with the flaws.