Awaken the Dead

I watch a ton of indie horror flicks so I don't really expect them to be super polished but this one was very cool! Nice story, sweet lines and pretty ambitious. I really liked it. It's raw but it's really well done too.

It's got SHAUN OF THE DEAD humor, you know, dark and quirky but also has real drama.

Though, I've gotta admit, the coolest thing was the priest with guns. It's also filmed with a grainy, dreamy texture that I liked.

All in all, it was a cool was to pass the time. Look, it reminded me of some of the early Evil Dead stuff.

I would have to dis-agree with the comment "Awful sums it up". This movie wasn't all that bad. There were only a few weak points in the story, but overall it was good. It's a zombie movie with a different slant on why there are zombies. The two main characters seemed real to me. Those two actors did a good job. And the lead actress is some sweet eye candy.

Most of the movie was grainy, probably due to low light levels because it was less to none grain for the exterior shots. The makeup was cliché. But then again this is a low budget movie, however it did cost approximately $100k. I would have expected more for $100k. This movie looked like it could have been done with $10k, unless the location at the end of the movie cost $90k. Anyway, I really appreciate low budget movies and I weigh the budget with the final product. So this one is a disappointment in that ratio, yet it was a better movie story-wise and feel-wise than bigger budget "Hollywood" movies.

The movie kept me watching and I liked the ending. The story had a beginning, a middle and an ending. It had some decent actors. It even had a bit of humor added. All the elements of a good movie. Not great, but good.

I wish there were more movies of like this out there.

I love zombie movies and especially no budget ones. So this should have been ideal for me. Unfortunately it was not.

Awaken the dead is about two strangers that meet up in a safe house. One is an ex-assassin haunted by horrific events in his past. The other is a woman who, we find out later, is a prostitute and the daughter of the priests ex-colleague. They are in the safe house protecting themselves from a horde of zombies. The story is their plight to find the girls father and the people that they meet on the way.

I found this a struggle to sit through, as there are long stretches of times when nothing really happens. The way that it was shot did not add to the enjoyment value as it was very grainy with washed out colours. In fact most of the film looks like it was filmed in black and white. The acting was (as expected) of the amateur variety. On their travels they meet a lady who follows them round for about 15 minutes, adds nothing to the story, says about two lines. Is she there for fodder for the zombies, well of course she is !!! There is not that much gore and the zombies looked OK (some better than others). I really just lost interest quite quickly and nothing really kick started me back to attention.

There are some positives. I liked the music kinda like a haunting rock soundtrack. A couple of the zombies look quite cool. The director tries to shoot the scenes in a different way, with some of the camera set up's. Eg in one scene there is a spider that crawls down the lens and then stops and frames a zombie coming toward the camera.

I just felt that it needed something more and came away disappointed.

I tend to be undemanding with micro-budgeted horrors, especially when they are made by inexperienced filmmakers. I'm predisposed to look on the bright side, to excuse technical limitations, clunky scripts, plot holes, incompetent direction, bad acting, etc. Instead, I'll focus on the positives: the odd witty line of dialogue, a gripping plot, interesting characters, an unexpected exceptional performance, isolated pieces of directorial flair, surprisingly imaginative and effective special effects and stunt work, or even a well-chosen soundtrack. Things that show promise of future growth, of better movies down the line.

This movie contains none of these things. In fact, it may well be the worst movie I've ever managed to sit through from beginning to end. The barely competent direction and cinematography tries for style, but ends up pretentious and annoying. The grainy and colourless (almost monochrome) visuals don't seem to be the fault of technical limitations, but rather an aesthetic choice that simply doesn't work. The plot is senseless, the characters worthless clichés; the dialogue tries to be witty, but fails. The effects are unconvincing even when the budget is taken into account. There are no shocks, no scares, no laughs, no thrills of any kind. There are a lot of tracks on the soundtrack (in fact, much of the movie plays like a series of music videos), but they are uniformly lame. The acting never gets above adequate, and is often far below that level. You can tell that the three lead actors are better than their material, but there is nothing here for them to work with.

As bad as this movie is, I recognise that completing any kind of movie is very difficult, and I have to give the filmmakers credit for their effort. I wish them all the best for their careers. From here, the only way is up.

I saw this the other day and I really liked it.

It's worth a spin.

It's not glitzy just entertaining.

The music is killer and the jokes are pretty spot on. What really got me was that it played like a fairly real situation. I'm not saying it has great FX or super production value but it's solid and a really decent way to spend an evening, especially with a couple of beers. Look, bottom line is entertainment.

I was entertained.

I liked it better than some of the high tech low drama zombie films I've seen on the big screen.