Dead Zone

I watched my first (and last) Tubi Original with the zombie-action flick DEAD ZONE (2022) "starring" Michael Jai White. I say "starring" because White is in the entire film but probably only shown on screen for 13 minutes. The rest of the time, he is suited up in a Halo cosplay outfit with a fogged out visor, no doubt to cover the fact it is a double and he probably worked a day or two on this in Colorado. They also do some Iron Man Jarvis-like inserts of his face. I understand that White has a family and they have to eat, but this is really rough stuff. Director Hank Braxtan (Snake Outta Compton...yes, a real movie title) stages things so poorly with the entire commando unit decked out in identical outfits (except for leader White having a red stripe down his helmet), so you can't even tell who is who. Probably on purpose. Replete with bad action scenes, shoddy CGI and a haggard looking Jeff Fahey cameo, it feels like it was a SyFy movie lost in the editing bay in 2005 and recently recovered.

Even fans of Michael Jai White must admit that this is a real stinker, as nothing works in this movie. Jai White is cool of course, and riffs off some cool military lingo like "ceilings & sixes", while making all the cool military hand signs (backwards fist for "hold up" ; two fingers pointed at the eyes for "look this way" etc but their equipment doesn't work and the dialog is presented from inside their helmets. The shot/counter-shot is quite tedious especially with the audio and the breathing apparatus malfunctioning. The special effects are lousy with the enemy creature being a really bad knock-off combination of Alien/Predator obviously portrayed by a man in a monster mask. Most of the footage is so dark that it is a strain to watch. 2 stars for Jai White who always wins.

Right, well a zombie movie with Michael Jai White in the leading role, what isn't there to like here?

Sure, as I sat down to watch the 2022 action horror movie "Dead Zone", I had never heard about it. But seeing it was a zombie movie, of course I had to watch it. And seeing that Michael Jai White was on the cast list, well that was just a great bonus.

The storyline in "Dead Zone", as written by Jeffrey Giles, Michael Klug and Michael Lurie, was pretty much as generic and unimaginative as you could get. This was textbook how-to-make-a-zombie-movie, right down to the letter. And that didn't make for a particularly good movie. Nay, this was pretty stale and cumbersome.

Aside from a very bland and monotonous storyline, then the character gallery in the movie was pretty weak. I honestly didn't care one bit about any of the character, and I don't even remember their names, and I have literally just gotten out of my seat from having sat down to watch "Dead Zone".

The acting performances in the movie were fairly wooden and rigid, and I do wonder how come Michael Jai White is showing up in so many dubious movies these years. Don't expect to be in for a grand cinematic experience of Shakespearian levels when (and if) you sit down to watch "Dead Zone".

The special effects in the movie were fairly limited, feeling like the movie was on a very strict and tight budget. Having made use of more elaborate and spectacular special effects and CGI might have done wonders for an otherwise stale movie experience. And as for the infected in the movie, they were as low-key as you get, and it just made the ordeal feel very amateurish.

If you enjoy zombie movies, like I do, then do yourself a favor and steer clear of "Dead Zone". Believe me, it simply isn't worth the effort, time or money.

My rating of "Dead Zone" lands on a very generous three out of ten stars.

Greetings from the other side. Firstly, I think they should have picked a better name for this movie. Dead Zone is a Stephen King movie, and TV series, so not the best choice in my opinion.

Regardless of the name, this movie is terrible and boring as hell. I'm not a fan of Michael J White, but we hardly see him anyways, because of the Halo-type suits they wear. We hear him talking, and see a close-up of his face in the fancy Heads-up-display helmet, just like Iron Man, which is cheating. Anything to save a buck I guess.

I'm at the 40 minute mark and hardly anything has happened. It's dark all the time, and we don't get a good look at the zombies. We see them running around at a distance, I read another review that said there's some action at the 47 minute mark, which would be a treat.

Anyways, I can't recommend this movie, especially since I might not be able to watch the Entire thing. It's now at the 52 minute mark and still no action, so the other reviewer was wrong with his time. It doesn't matter since I'm done with it.

I've seen all this before... imagine low-budget versions of Halo, Doom and Resident evil combined. Voila, a moneymaker without anything new. Not recommended unless you've somehow missed all those movies, in which case it might seem original.