Grave Mistake

After a man by the name of "Karl King" (Stephen W. Eckles) murders his wife and buries her in a field, he makes an even worse mistake by dumping chemical toxins on her grave which produces a type of virus that causes a zombie epidemic to hit a small town in New Mexico. The story then meanders from one character to another who team up to face this epidemic in a quest to survive. So far so good. However, after the first few minutes it got really, really bad. As a matter of fact, at some point it got so bad that it was actually funny. Now, I initially considered the idea that because it was so funny the best way to watch this movie was to invite some good friends over and serve lots of beer. But as the movie progressed I discovered that it became less funny and more awful and then realized that this could result in the loss of good friends--and lots of beer. So I reconsidered. Be that as it may, other than possibly the actress Tracy Melhorn (as "Linneah Savini") I really didn't see any redeemable features in this film. Add in the fact that since her role was so limited I now believe that the best thing a person should do is to skip this film altogether. Failing that, I suppose they could probably try the "good friends with lots of beer" approach. But they shouldn't blame me for what happens afterward because I have tried to warn them.

This film really wasn't bad at all. It obviously had a limited budget, but compared to similar offerings, 'Grave Mistake' produces a surprisingly entertaining 90 minutes of viewing. There isn't anything particularly innovative here; it's a zombie movie that follows the usual pattern and uses the kinds of stock characters that can be found in many horror films. Indeed, the film's strength is that it understands the genre well and therefore fits neatly into the niche it's aiming for.

The special effects here are surprisingly good as well, considering the type of film. The zombies look a lot better than can be found in most low-budget attempts and the gore is more convincing. It's a long way from perfect, but it's not laughable, either.

I think Seth Darling did well in the lead role for someone who has no other credits to his name. Then again, I can't stand overly Hollywood young actors, so I might be biased :) The other cast members range from okay to awful, much as one expects from this kind of film.

All in all, though, there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes. One to avoid if you want your horror Hollywood perfect, but if you don't mind a little rawness, it might be worth a try.

When the opening frames of Grave Mistake hit my screen I sighed, the camera effects were one of those they use when the budget is limited and it looked dreadful. I prepared myself for the worst and maybe that's why I came away quite surprised.

Grave Mistake though advertised as a horror is more of a comedy and tells the usual story of a group of survivors during a zombie apocalypse and does it quite well.

The first half is full of laughs, interesting deaths and competence.

The second forgets its a comedy and becomes a generic clichéd zombie flick and a distinctly average one at that.

And that is a damn shame as the first half really entertained me and was an example of what you can do to make the most of a minimal budget.

Full of quirky characters, some great deaths, oddly good sfx and some great comedy it's worth your time but expect disappointment by the end.

The Good:

Great first half

Really quite funny

Interesting characters

Strong sfx considering the budget

The Bad:

Weak second half

Camera effects are shoddy

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Fu-Manchu is a martial art

The creators definitely had a thing for zombie children

Try as I might, I just couldn't get into this film that much in the beginning.. The special effects were pretty impressive for a budget this size, the pedestrian acting I can easily overlook, and unlike, say, Storm of the Dead (another film in the Catacomb of Creepshows box-set) this one had, you know zombies. But none of the plot lines either the kid running away from his abusive stepfather nor the lovebirds angle resonated with me a whole lot. And a zombie survival guide 'master' whom acted kind of like Bill Murray in Caddyshack was pretty annoying, but not as annoying as the stepfather character (although I suspect only one was by design) However I like the film more as it wore on, so it's not totally worthless.

Don't get me wrong, this is a pretty bad movie, but it does have some redeeming qualities. First, the idea of a knight guarding the entrance to an office building was novel. I don't know if all of the soundtrack was original for this movie, but I really liked a lot of it! I also enjoyed the scene when they cut to a band and went to the renaissance part. Many times, I thought the zombie makeup and effects were unusually good for a B movie as well. Or maybe it's just that this is a more modern B move than I usually see. It's worth seeing once.