Dead set: Muerte en directo

Considering this is a low budget TV film Charlie Brooker has pulled off a fantastic little gem, based on the premise of a Zombie Outbreak in England and the tale of a eclectic band of survivors (most of whom already hate each others guts) stuck in the Big Brother House, a satirical comment on the vacuousness of Reality TV to rival Romero's commentary of consumerism in the original Dawn of the Dead.

Taken as a gore fest with a huge dollop of black humour it works a treat and even the nihilistic ending fits so well into the message. Some great references throughout for Zombie Film Fans and Big Brother Fans alike. I like fast Zombies, much scarier and more threatening than traditional shufflers and considering the limited time this mini-series had they really were a necessity. Having some of the real ex-house mates and Davina as Zombies was a great touch.

If you enjoyed Dawn of the Dead (2004), 28 Days and Weeks Later, REC and Shaun of the Dead, Dead Set is definitely worth a viewing.

Although I'm fan of Big Brother, I have only just got round to watching Dead Set. I love the idea around this mini series and it turned out to be a great watch.

The characters were likable and portrayed well, they was like proper housemates. Having Davina as the host also made it feel more real. The plot was great and progressed at a nice pace, leaving you wanting more after every episode had finished. This action was extremely fast paced and gory, there was also quite a lot of humour which I liked, it was just a good solid drama series in general. Jaime Winstone who played Kelly really stole the show, she was great.

It was kept short and sweet with just 5 episodes, 4 of which were only 25 minutes. The set looked great and the zombies were very detailed. The action was thick and fast.

The way it all ended might not be everyone's favourite but for me that was inevitable. Overall an extremely good series, better than I thought it would be. Would recommend it to anyone, although it isn't that scary.

9/10.

I thought that there would never be a zombie epic to beat or even overshadow George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (apart from Shaun of the Dead) and now FINALLY I think we in Britain have finally got a film/TV movie/ mini series that does rival that. Dead set is a horror set around the Big Brother phenomenon and a terrifying real zombie apocalypse. The general public and the house-mates even the crew of Big Brother become unknowingly involved in a vicious fight for survival as the dead start eating the entire British population one chunk at a time. I truly loved this, I love zombie movies (yes even the crap and extremely cheesy ones too) and this was the best millennium zombie based survival horror I have ever seen. As far as I was concerned the remake of Dawn of the Dead, remake of Day of the Dead, the new 3D version of Night of the living dead and every other 'poser' zombie movie out there nowadays that doesn't fulfil the code of the zombie horror movie i.e. intense scenes and graphic gore, Dead set fulfils on all levels. Firstly the acting is great from Andy Nyman (severance) as the totally obnoxious producer of Big Brother Patrick to Jamie Winstone as the poor floor runner Kelly forced to become the heroine in charge of the survival of the house-mates of the Big Brother house. There's even past BB housemates who star in cameos at the start of the series and some even become zombies later but you'll have to watch it to find out who becomes one and who becomes zombie brunch. Next I'll move to the gore. Don't think that just cause this was a made for TV movie that they skimp on the gore because they don't. I was very surprised by the gore and bloody carnage that they were allowed to put on the small screen. E4 have definitely pulled out their balls and had the guts (no pun intended) to show this movie he way we'd expect it to be seen in all its gutsy glory (again no pun intended.) Some of the effects rival that of Tom Savini's groundbreaking and very gruesome special FX on the original George A. Romero's Day of the Dead. I was in awe by what they were allowed to show on the screen and thank god they did. Next the social commentary that George included in Dawn is re-invented and used in Dead Set. How the characters talk about the zombies and how the zombies watch the revealing show via TV sets that they walk around finding their next meal and what society is reduced to. Lastly the zombies in this are genuinely chilling, they look menacing and vicious even at times somewhat evil and very ravenous… and I mean ravenous for human flesh (take note Resident Evil Trilogy) Yes even for the first time I can even pass the fact that these zombies can run and pretty damn fast. Just like the zombies from Dawn of the Dead remake, Day of the dead remake and 28 days/weeks later these will tear after you if you are seen and that is scary but although they can do that the slow style of zombie i.e. Romero's zombies are much more frightening than the fast future style zombies of today. The dark overtone of the story adds an air of dread to the atmospheric tension and terror that Dead Set has deep in the underbelly of Charlie Brooker's well thought out script. Britain proves that what Hollywood can do, with a bit of careful structure and preparation the UK can do it better. We did it with Shaun of the Dead which was a global hit and I believe that we can easily do it again with Dead Set when it finally reaches USA shores soon. The climax genuinely had made both thrilled, chilled and scared and not many horrors can do that with me.

Dead Set is a thrilling gory"shoot me again I ain't dead yet" exciting piece of UK style horror and should be seen to be believed.

I was going to say this could have been really bad but the mind of Charlie Brooker probably wasn't going to mess this up, and it delivered on multiple layers. brilliant acting, brilliant characters, possibly too brilliant gore effects. This is so much more than a zombie flick and it really had to be to succeed.

Andy Nyman had many of the best lines but there were so many to go round, including Kathleen Mcdermotts delightfully dense pippa. all of em were engaging and believable, and Jamie Winstone obviously inherited some skills from her dad, she rules her scenes.

watching something like this renews your hope in TV. there's probably more depth than can be consumed in one sitting and its incredibly entertaining to boot. I'll be thinking about this show for the next few days. more please.

Maybe it's impossible these days to make a zombie movie which doesn't feel reminiscent of others; in the case of the Charlie Brooker-scripted TV movie Dead Set, too much of the zombie carnage feels lifted from 28 Days/Weeks Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake. But to focus on that would be to overlook the brilliant angle Brooker brings to the genre, not least its premise: that some of the few survivors of the zombie holocaust are the house-mates in Big Brother. Other horror films have been had reality TV settings, but this Endemol-produced flick has the advantage of featuring actual BB stars: Davina McCall and a host of former house-mates. Of the actors, Andy Nyman stands out as the BB director whose character is clearly Brooker's stand-in for himself, and whose comedy scenes are sensibly kept separate from the horror until the final scenes. And it's so well-written that you'll actually be rooting for everyone to survive.

If you love (a) zombie movies, or (b) Big Brother, Dead Set is *unmissably* good.

However, I would recommend waiting for the 138-minute DVD on 3rd November, as I can't imagine it having half the impact when it's chopped up into five episodes, complete with ad breaks, as it will be on E4 next week.

Hopefully Dead Set won't be quickly forgotten as a quirky little TV series on a minor channel, and will be recognised internationally as one of the decade's best zombie flicks.