See the Dead

While it is only a short film, "See The Dead" is a triumph. It is professionally produced, well written, masterfully directed, and the acting is excellent. No, I am not a member of the cast or crew, just a very impressed viewer who was surprised by how well this short film worked. It's refreshing to see that independent filmmakers in the Southeast can produce something of such quality on such a small budget and still bring their own take on the "ol' zombie tale". So props to the cast and crew for delivering such an awesome short.

I guess I wasn't really expecting much when I first took the time to view this short, but I knew that it starred Vanelle (awesome) and was directed by Robert Filion, who has made a name for himself in the indie scene in the Carolina's. This isn't yet another corny, unprofessional, and shoddy looking backyard zombie flick thrown together by a bunch of yahoo's with their moms video camera. This is top notch film-making by passionate people who had a vision and a story to tell. Makes me excited to see what else I'll be seeing from these guys and girls next.

9 out of 10.

I was not in total awe and I was certainly not shocked by this zombie short, however it had some good points. The zombies looked really good and the lead actress' performance was rather good too. I do not want to go into why I disliked this short horror to much as that could spoil things, which makes reviewing this one a bit more difficult than a normal movie. The story has a girl waking up and taking some pills. She sees something and soon heads outside, an outdoors with a very creepy purplish hue to it (another plus for this one). She soon runs into a zombie and then more. She retreats back inside only to find out her husband is now as zombie and then she is in a full blown panic. Going to a neighbors house she soon gets her hand on a firearm where she has a rather nice line to her friend who is a zombie and is named Barbara. The movie concludes in a fashion that some might find surprising, however perhaps I have seen way to many movies in my day, but I kind of figured it was going in this direction. A lot of my complaints stem from this ending and how certain things are just not going to be happening if what happened in the end is the case. I do not want to explain it more than that, I do not want to spoil anything, however I have many reasons I had problems with this short which is why I did not give it quite the high score others have. Still, it had some good moments and like I said the zombies did look better than other zombie movies I have seen.

While it stung to get beat out in the American Zombie Short film contest with George Romero in attendance (Our film "Devil Comes Down" was also a finalist), I have to hand it to Robert and crew. This film was really very professionally done. The acting was top shelf in my opinion and the story was very clever.

The costumes and police cars etc just took the production to a level that the other films couldn't achieve. It appeared as though the whole neighborhood has turned out in force as the undead.

I especially liked the little clues of Sarah's dementia with the sky replacement and red grading of the outdoor sequences. Nice touch there. Just a really enjoyable short film.

***** Originally posted on openfilm.com in January 2009 by Miami Movie Critic *****

Wikipedia defines a zombie as a reanimated corpse, but what is it that causes the zombie genre to reanimate itself every few years or so? These movies have thrived ever since George A. Romero's groundbreaking Night of the Living Dead was unleashed on an unsuspecting public in 1968, and since then we've gotten sequels, remakes and "reimaginings" by directors as gifted and diverse as Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) and Zack Snyder (Watchmen). I think the appeal has something to do with the fear of death, specifically what death does to the human body. By the time we're in our early teens, we're fully aware that our friends and neighbors are all worm food, but at least we have the comfort of knowing our loved ones will be placed six feet under and out of sight. The zombie genre provides no such comfort - it takes the rot and the filth and puts it out there in broad daylight.

This theme is at the heart of See the Dead, Robert W. Filion's stylishly filmed and satisfying zombie flick. (It's even there in the title: "Look at these dead people.") The movie has spectacular makeup effects, and one of the most f'ed-up car accidents I've ever seen in my life.

The melodramatic opening scenes are there to soften us for the kill, much like Stephen King does whenever he wants the reader to gain his characters' sympathies. An attractive suburban woman named Sarah (played by the singularly-named actress Vanelle) wakes up from a bad dream and walks through her empty house. She then opens her front door onto a strangely purple sky and a neighborhood populated by walking corpses. These are some vividly imagined zombies, with flayed, peeling skin and blood that comes out in a watery splash. The effects and Vanelle's intensely committed performance create a rich atmosphere of dread that climaxes in one bravura shot of Sarah running down the street as zombies enter the frame from both sides.

Zombies always make for good social commentary, and Filion doesn't hesitate to have some fun with wide shots of identical houses and dead-looking neighbors. Stick around after the end credits for an amusing shot of a zombie stumbling down his driveway. He's carrying a briefcase and appears to be on his way to work.