Noite dos Zumbis

Zombies come out at night and two families must survive until morning.

By now, I think we all know to expect bad things from the SyFy Channel and the movies they show. And if you are familiar with the Asylum, who makes these movies, you know that they spare every expense in order to pump out low-grade, low-budget fluff. Some of it is entertaining (I confess), but none of it has ever been good.

Somehow they managed to get some real actors on board for this one. Not just one washed up actor (I am looking at you, Eric Roberts) but some decent names -- Anthony Michael Hall and Daryl Hannah. Alan Ruck may not have the name recognition, but everyone recognizes him from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" or "Spin City".

The most unfortunate thing is that the director is John Gulager, who is a legitimately talented man -- "Feast" was incredible, and I absolutely loved "Piranha 3DD". Somehow not even he could save this picture... how did they all get roped into working for the Asylum?

Two neighbouring families attempt to survive the first night of a zombie outbreak.

Feast director John Gulager helms Zombie Night (2013), one of the better SyFy/Asylum outings-an under-the-radar undead flick that, while flawed, still has a little bite. With a score by Alan Howarth (of Carpenter collaborator fame) and shambling Romero-style zombies, the film has enough going for it to warrant attention. Unfortunately, it's let down by a flat, made-for-TV aesthetic (despite its 1.78 : 1 aspect ratio) and a cacophony of unnecessary screaming that drags it into DTV territory. That said, the lighting, Damian Horan's cinematography, and use of practical locations lend it some much-needed atmosphere.

Leading the cast are '80s stars Anthony Michael Hall, Daryl Hannah, and Alan Ruck-each delivering grounded performances that rise above the material. The night-bound premise is intriguing, and Gulager's love for Romero's mythos shows. Zombies don't run-they creep. You don't turn from a bite; you turn from death. Classic rules. As a possible homage, this could have been marketed as Night of the Living Zombies, with moments lifted straight from Night of the Living Dead and a similarly clothed zombie and attack echoing Uncle Rege from the 1990 remake. It also borrows from Romero's Diary, Dawn and Day of the Dead.

There are some decent gore effects, especially for an Asylum production, with creepy undead, and moments of genuine tension-particularly in the greenhouse and cemetery-set finale. But a lack of visual polish and character reactions dull what could've been a tight, small-scale horror.

Overall, a missed opportunity, but still one of Gulager's more watchable post-Feast efforts. Strong leads and solid zombie work, but ultimately held back by its shrill tone and TV aesthetic.

3 stars for the gore effects, quite obviously the majority of the limited budget went into them. If the writers would have tried to make this a humorous affair, the appalling acting, script writing and storyline might just have worked. In fact, it could have been good if the film didn't try to take itself seriously. The film almost titters on the brink of humour before you realise it's a very serious affair failing badly.

Even Zombie fans should be upset with the film. We all know Zombies don't care, they just amble directly at their target. No moving obstacles out of the way or bypassing defenses or defending themselves from attack. All of which the Zombies do in this film... ruins the 'Mindless Zombie Killer' effect we all know and love.

In the end we are left with a film that has you thinking "that would have been funny if...." and "some of the effects are not too bad" and... "Wow ! I could drop a piece of paper in a cage full of Monkeys and find a better script written on it ten minutes later. Then hire the Monkeys to act it out".

Zombie Night (2013)

* (out of 4)

The Asylum are back and this time they're brought an Oscar-winner with them. The "story" is pretty simple as a zombie outbreak happens but the good news is that people just have to survive until the sun comes up. It turns out that these zombies are just out for one night so a group of people must try to survive not only the zombies but each other. ZOMBIE NIGHT certainly isn't NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD but I personally didn't expect it to be. You've gotta have rather low expectations when it comes to these films to appear on SyFy but there's certainly no excuse for a film to be this bad. There are all sorts of issues with this movie but the real criminal is the screenplay, which is just downright confusing and boring. The "plot" deals with about three different families who find themselves battling the zombies and then each other. I'm guessing this was originally meant to tell three separate stories and then bring them together (ala PULP FICTION) but it fails horribly. The entire film is just very sloppy in regards to the story and quite often you're sitting there dumbfounded trying to figure out what's going on and why so many humans are acting so stupid. Horror movies need characters to do dumb things but these here are just too dumb for their own good. The direction really doesn't add any excitement as the entire thing just has a rather slow feel to it. The shocking thing is that even the zombies are rather lame because they just don't have anything that sets them apart from the countless other films in the genre. The gore level is pretty high and there are a few nice death scenes, which at least keeps the entertainment going a little. Daryl Hannah and Anthony Michael Hall are the main stars here and it's nice seeing both of them even if their talents are wasted. Oscar-winner Shirley Jones (ELMER GANTRY) appears here briefly and even gets to spit out some blood. Rachel G. Fox rounds out the cast and is fun to watch. ZOMBIE NIGHT is about as bad as you can get but sadly it doesn't reach a "so bad it's good" level like many other films from The Asylum.

Ok. Went into this hoping for the best as I like Anthony Michael Hall, Daryl Hannah and Shirley Jones. I also can accept that a 'TV' movie will be a bit more dialed-down to appease the masses and the censors. Which is the only reason I gave it 4 stars...I could look at Daryl Hannah all day. What I can't accept is complete, and utter stupidity on the part of the characters. That, and the fact that all of the characters were eminently unlikeable and irritating, from Shirley Jones' blind mother to the petulant teenage boyfriend to Anthony Michael Hall's protective father character, they all come across as utterly unprepared for something as mundane as an empty peanut butter jar... "WHAAAT? There's NO peanut butter ? How am I going to make a P&J without peanut butter????" From leaving perfectly working automobiles, wondering if they can 'hotwire' a car when one member's car is in their garage to taking shelter in a SEE-THROUGH flimsy plastic structure to the family looking at someone as if they had just massacred a village for locking a hysterical person in a bedroom, the movie just irritates to no end...well...there IS an end, fortunately. But it takes a lot longer to get there than the stated run time.