Redneck Zombies

Okay, so it's not a masterpiece. But this movie is freakin' hilarious. I don't like Troma movies, but this movie is so funny. It's only for die-hard fans of horror films. This movie is definitely stupid and the acting is nothing short of horrid, but it's fun and it makes you laugh. What's more important than that?

I lowered all of my horror standards when I picked this up at Hollywood Video, knowing that it was a Troma production, though, for some reason, it said it was made by Full Moon Production, too. Even better, it was the new director's cut, so I knew I wasn't going to be spared.

And by the end, I must say, I was amazed.

The storyline is quite weird (but then again, this is Troma and/or Full Moon) but very cool. An army soldier is taking a bin of radioactive material through the redneck south, and loses it while driving. A redneck takes it, forcing the army guy to leave without it, and is then robbed of it by more hicks making a new alcohol still. Yet, the infamous Ellie May--if you've seen this, you know who it is--drops the barrel and the radioactive stuff goes into their still. They leave it, though, and are impressed with the new stuff they've made.

Meanwhile, a group of campers are out looking for their campsite ("And it has a pond to piss in!"), unaware of the carnage about to unfold.

I think we can all guess what happens next. The alcohol is distributed around town, turning everyone who drinks it into a flesheating zombie. No one's safe--especially not the campers, who find themselves attacked and killed off with no mercy, all leading up to the bloody climax.

This is truly a great movie. Especially for big fans of zombies and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." (Like I am.) Fans of TCM are sure to notice the great spoofing, even in the end, with the gory showdown at the house between Lisa and the zombie family.

For anyone looking for a fun horror movie, this is it. It has plenty of gore, plenty of comedy, and plenty of fun for anyone. But if you're looking for the next "Silence of the Lambs," avoid this film at all costs. You will hate it. But anyone else, you'll love this like I do.

When a film begins with a mental patient in a hospital putting out a cigarette on an already very scarred forearm (his own), you know you've got a twisted film on your hands. This is certainly a gore splatter, but the nastiness and quality of the gore push it beyond another sad blood fest. Loaded with humour and revolting stuff. There's a very weird acid freak out scene when the first rednecks become zombies, and later a guy on acid freaks out while performing an autopsy. The tobacco man is hilarious (a tobacco salesman who has to cover his head with a blood strained sack as his face is so hideous from years of chewing tabacco). There's also some great imagery, and at times even threatens to create some atmosphere! Miles ahead of anything else the Troma team has come up with.

On a strange note, I've rented this film twice, at two different flats, & watched it with two different flatmates. They both fell asleep half way through. Inexplicable.

This is possibly the first and only movie in which deodorant is used as a weapon. I'm all for originality but surely the producers could have spent $5 on plastic guns from a toy store. Anyway, that pretty much sums up the tone of this film - cheap and nasty. Thankfully, that's just the way I like my straight to video, comedy/horror trash!

Redneck Zombies makes "Surf Nazis Must Die" look like "Citizen Kane". It's cheap and poorly made, even by Troma's not so lofty standards. I have a feeling that someone made this film on a drunken weekend with their drinking buddies. At least that would explain the hilarious make-up and special effects, which seem to involve the overuse of mascara and a lot of tomato soup, respectively. The acting is as bad as you would expect and just about all of the jokes misfire. And yet, despite all of this, I enjoyed the movie immensely.

Redneck Zombies is the best kind of cinematic train wreck. It has no delusions of grandeur and simply spends all of its approximate 90 minutes trying to entertain through gore and humour. The fact that both the gore and humour are poorly executed really is beside the point. What matters is that the film is made with true Z-grade spirit, from the ridiculous toxic waste mistaken for moonshine premise, to the scene where a child extra actually waves at the camera while pretending to chew human flesh. Now that's classy.

Further highlights include the music interludes (I loved the Redneck Zombie theme song) and the autopsy on acid. This is one of those movies which will really only appeal to fellow crap connoisseurs. If bad movies are your thing, run out and buy Redneck Zombies.

Everything about this (with the exception of a few forced attempts to be funny) is pure fun. And most of the time, the humor is done well. I've considered this a favorite for a long time. It's dumber and more offensive than most movies that come out, and it utilizes this in some very entertaining ways. As Mike Mendez described his film "The Convent", this movie is an equal opportunity offender. DO NOT TAKE THIS FILM SERIOUSLY. And remember that, no matter how cheezy and low-budget this is, the truckloads of blood and guts in this are more realistic than in most horror movies out there. I feel compelled to believe that these people went to some butcher shops, big-time. The humor is great nine times out of ten, the gore FX are nifty, and some of the characters really are memorable. To make a needlessly review short, this is the kind of party movie that you just get together with friends and kick back and enjoy. Still, if you are expecting one of the "masterpieces of the ages" from a shot-on-video movie from Troma, what makes you think you deserve your HOUR AND A HALF back?