Dead Season

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.

Dead Season (2012)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Better than average film starts off after a zombie apocalypse takes out most people. Survivors Elvis (Scott Peat) and Tweeter (Marissa Merrill) meet by chance and soon the two jump in a boat and head off to an island. Once there they find more survivors being led by a man (James C. Burns) who is up to something darker than zombies. DEAD SEASON suffers somewhat from its obvious low-budget but for the most part this was an entertaining film that managed to have some brains for it, which isn't the norm for this type of picture. Unlike most movies that turn up on DVD, this one here isn't about cheap gore and dumb action. Instead we're given a pretty interesting story that actually had me caring about the characters, their issues and the situation that they're in. I thought the entire story was pretty good and I enjoyed seeing what a group of survivors might be doing to try and continue their lives while everything around them is pretty much dead. A lot of credit must go to the performances, which I found to be very good. I especially liked Merrill who was great in her role and I hope to see more of her in the future. I also enjoyed Corsica Wilson who plays a daughter locked up in the village. The gore effects are pretty graphic for this type of picture as there are several damaging bites and heads being shot off. I think a higher budget would have allowed for some of the plot to be developed more but there's still no question that this film gets quite a bit done and the majority of it done very well. Fans of the genre should be entertained by this one.

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.

Another Zombie Movie.

I love zombie movies and the series The Walking Dead so when I see zombie movie I just have to watch it. I don't finish them all because some of them are just terrible and based on just blood and gore.

I Watched the movie with my wife and thought it was so bad, but we watched it all, we couldn't stop so it has to say something.

Most frustrating things were people doing things not logical and leaving weapons behind. Interesting take on the shortage of food but it does not make up for the bad acting and "special effects". Camera work wasn't bad so there is someone with a future that was involved in the movie.

Nothing special but be warned when you start U probably won't stop.

Acting not so great, story line not so great.

Dead Season works primarily because it looks and feels better than it really is...which is what keeps one watching. Kudos to the production designer, location scout, make-up/effects team, gaffer and the cinematographer for keeping this viewer's interest up in this combo apocalypse and zombie tale. Wherever they shot this, the landscape, structures, and particularly the camera angles, shot composition and eerie lighting lent credence to the narrative. Some decent gore and gross-out effects helped out as well.

I give it an 8 because of the visual effect of the movie which clearly had to make up for a pretty limited budget...and which succeeds in that regard. As low-budget zombie flicks go, that's actually saying quite a lot.