The Mad

In the increasingly popular movie genre of zombie comedies, The Mad is an excellent entry. I saw the premiere of this film at the Canadian Filmmaker's Festival last week and it was a bucket of fun.

The film stars Billy Zane (Dr. Hunt) and Maggie Castle (his daughter Amy) as they attempt to navigate the usually rocky terrain of a family road trip, complete with Amy's boyfriend and the Doc's girlfriend (played to bitchy perfection by Shauna MacDonald).

I can't say too much without giving the premise away, but suffice it to say, when the zombies appear, there's a pleasant amount of blood and gibbets of flesh to go around.

Zane does well in a comedic role, and the supporting performances are strong.

This movie does exactly what it's supposed to do: makes you laugh, frightens you, and leaves you feeling satisfyingly entertained.

One additional thing I have to mention: saw the cover art for the upcoming DVD and it doesn't really speak to what the movie's about: this is a zombie comedy, not a purely gruesome horror flick. Just my opinion.

I take any bet that everyone rating/reviewing The Mad lower than with a humble 3 never had the experience nor joy to watch a really bad movie - and the zombie genre really got a lot of unwatchable schrott produced. Anyway, The Mad is a zombie comedy that is no revelation or new cult but got me here and there smiling (including a tango dance of the father with a zombie girl) and on top we get here and there some little gore injected. For sure a B-movie that got a decent level of cheese and trash, maybe with some lengths here and there that could have easy cleaned up with some cuts. Recommended only to the lover of the genre that does not mind to dig in trash to reveal something worth to watch.

I'm not sure what the fate of The Mad is but lovers of zombie films should give it a go whenever and however it becomes available for public consumption. The Mad is a surprisingly funny and twisted addition to the zombie genre. I laughed really hard at a few moments in the film and I am usually immune to laughter. But the script is very funny.

Billy Zane is pitch perfect, as is the actress who plays his daughter, Maggie Castle. The rest of the cast is admirable but the real standouts are this father and daughter duo.

It took too long to get going and lost a bit of it's steam throughout the second half. And only because it could have used more zombie action and less meaningless effects segues have I rated it as such.

Family bickering during a zombie crisis was never this good.

"The Mad" is a decent but very silly horror flick.

The Plot: Jason Hunt (Zane) and his family stop at a small town restaurant. While there, the townspeople turn into zombies after eating the hamburgers. Now Jason and his surviving daughter Amy (Maggie Castle) have to escape and figure out the mystery.

For a direct-to-video horror movie, this wasn't so bad. I expected the worst because it's distributed by the same company that put out UKM. Zane saved the movie with a funny performance. There was some good gore scenes too. The only flaw in the movie is the editing. There's no need for the movie to turn into a epileptic fit. It only happens a few times though.

"The Mad" is a good rainy day movie. It's fast-paced and gory, topped with an entertaining Zane performance. Recommended.

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Billy zane and co get up to mischief in this 80-some minute long movie.

It definitely has its moments that warrant a good chuckle, and the writing had decent flow, but it rapidly overstays its welcome.

The cinematography is kinda all over the place, and the editing leaves much to desire, what with the whole early 2000s vignette, which was the style at the time.

There's not much else to critique it on, ultimately the movie is okay and will get a few giggles out of you, it doesn't do much new. If I had to pick a specific issue, it's that it runs for way too long and boils down to them repeating the same joke for the entire span of the movie, kinda like a bad SNL skit, but they don't look at the camera after doing something they think is funny.

You could do worse, maybe it'll be right up your alley, give it a shot if you want, but you'll not miss much by skipping over it.