Dead & Deader

I caught the start of this on the Sci-fi channel a while back but I fell asleep before the end (not a testimony to how bad it was or anything, it was on at 3am). Much to my delight I found it for £3 online so I happily added it to my zombie collection.

The story revolves around Dean Cain who is dead, a zombie but not quite the evil kind unless he gets hungry (good idea to carry a bag of steaks around in his presence). He wants to get to the bottom of why he's dead yet alive.

There are some incredibly silly parts including the fact Dean Cain heals instantly every time he is hurt. How would his cells regenerate if he was dead? That and the overacting from his sidekick who steal's Will Smith's number one catchphrase.

If you're expecting a hardcore zombie film you'll be sorely disappointed. If you want a lighthearted look at the living dead with some nice green splatter special effects and Dean Cain flashing his man-boobs then this is exactly what you need.

A slightly above average 6 out of 10.

A bunch of special forces soldiers in Cambodia get blown up and one of them wakes up on the autopsy table apparently fine, except he's got a scorpion inside his arm. He shows no life signs but is otherwise perfectly normal. His friends seem to have come off worse, waking up as more traditional people chomping zombies.

At first the situation seems quite interesting and you go along with it but the crappy Pulp Fiction style popular culture chats about movies and suchlike between the main character and the black sidekick quickly get very tedious.

I've got to give it a four out of fairness because it's watchable, but I didn't find it funny or really that interesting after the first half hour. Most people seem to have liked this one but I think that says more about the ever decreasing expectations of the audience than the quality of this movie. It's got some OK zombie moments and reasonable acting but they could have put all that military hardware and zombie makeup to far more entertaining use.

After dying in Cambodia, a team of soldiers wake up back in America to discover... they're not quite dead. But also, they're not quite alive. Bobby Quint (Dean Cain), the most human of the team, decides to stop the rest of the soldiers before they infect the whole world with their zombie illness.

There should be some discussion about what this film is, and what it isn't. While the film is funny to a point (or at least it doesn't take itself seriously), Fangoria's assertion it's a "zom-edy" like "48 Hours" is overstating this more than just a little. I enjoyed this film, but certainly didn't think it was really laugh-out-loud funny (for that, rent "Shaun of the Dead").

What this isn't is a high budget film with professional quality. It's a made-for-TV film from the Sci Fi channel. However, keeping in mind it's in this category, it's quite good. Unlike "Abominable", this film is decent... and considering it is made by a first time director, I was quite impressed with what they accomplished (calling in an all-star cast and Greg Nicotero for makeup was a good idea).

Also, this probably isn't a film for the general public. They might enjoy it, but I will say this: my number one reason for liking this film (besides the sexy Susan Ward) was the constant barrage of references to other films ("Dawn of the Dead", various James Bond films, "Bullet", etc.). If you're not a film geek, much of the humor will go over your head. The rip on Michael Bay was the bait for me, and the hook came with the lengthy analysis of "Dawn of the Dead" versus the remake (which correctly, in my opinion, pointed out the key differences including the consumerism aspect and Ken Foree's role in both films).

Much of the plot doesn't really make sense if you think about it and plot holes are more common here than one might like (and we are left with questions such as the sexual ability of zombies). But this film isn't here for the plot... it's here for showcasing makeup and was clearly made just to have fun. The makeup, by the way, is great... although some of the props -- such as a fake arm -- were sort of cheesy and filmed from poor angles.

If you're skeptical about this one, don't rent it. But for the right audience I think this film has something to offer. I certainly enjoyed what it was trying to do, even if some things seemed really thrown together hodge-podge (the witty black sidekick, the gratuitous shower scene). And if Sci Fi is showing this, keep your remote control on the coffee table, because this is the best thing you'll get out of them for a while.

One thing I've always liked about Sci-Fi channel is their fun movies they like to produce themselves.

Army Lt. Bobby Quinn (Dean Cain) and his platoon are assigned to a special trip to Cambodia to find out why a secret scientific lab stopped sending communications to the United States, and upon arriving at the secret lab, they are confronted with dead soldiers and scientists who are zombies infected by a mysterious mutated species of insects that the lab was working on. The zombies attack and kill Cain and his platoon and are later discovered by another expedition sent in to investigate.

The second group transports Cain and his platoon back to the United States to another secret research compound where he is presumed dead and awaiting processing in the morgue, when he wakes up during autopsy. Although Lt. Cain was bitten and infected and died like his platoon, for some reason, he doesn't completely die and turn into a flesh eating monster like the other soldiers. Seems that he has something in his blood that limits his zombie traits although he does take on some of the characteristics of the zombies like needing to eat raw meat. He is told that he has to stay on the compound but Cain's platoon, now flesh eating zombies, start waking up and killing the military and scientific staff at the compound. During the confusion Lt. Cain escapes the military compound with the help of his new friend, army cook Hieronymous Judson (Guy Torry) who, by the way is very comedic. Judson, Cain's new sidekick, is very funny and provides plenty of comic relief throughout the movie. Keep your eye on Guy, I'm betting you see more of him in the future.

So, Caine and Judson go on a crusade to find the compound with the source of the infection in the other secret compound. In a bar where Cain and Judson stop for a bite to eat (ha ha) he meets a saucy bartender named Holly (Susan Ward), a beautiful but independent heroine that is typical modern American woman: she can beat you up while looking beautiful. When Cain is caught by local authorities to take him back to the military compound where he's accused of murder, Holly steps in and rescues him, and gets caught up in the crusade after she sees friends at the bar die at the hand of hungry munching zombies. As the movie progresses, it becomes obvious that Holly has a thing for Cain.

As these three go from location to location looking to destroy the source of the infections, and kill zombies, they encounter bad guys and plenty of hungry zombies who love a good fight. There's lots of humor and flirting going on between Cain and Holly, and lots of good fun and cheesy zombie effects. So people, when you watch a Sci-Fi movie like this, be glad that they choose to carry on the great tradition of weekend horror movies that provide light entertainment and enjoy them for what they are: fun times and some good scares and laughs. This movie is recommended for a good time with that good friend, some popcorn and your favorite beverage!

A bunch of soldiers get blown up by a hand grenade. When the bodies are shipped home, one of the victims reanimates while his autopsy is being performed. How? A scorpion is living in his arm. Then his buddies do the same and they transform into zombies.

It's all just an excuse for the usual zombie formula: a few humans are getting picked off one by one by an ever-increasing mob of low-paid extras with some Halloween war paint yelling and screaming in deep-gurgle language. The humans always have dozens of guns and rifles that never seem to run out of ammunition, blasting the ghouls in the forehead or chest where they always seem to explode into red dye. Although this film takes a slight turn: a few of the infected have black blood; I guess the evil scientist and his scorpion minions had a hand in that. The dumb sidekick who won't shut his mouth and spews out lousy cultural reference jokes is just annoying; I kept hoping he'd get it.

Plenty of spraying blood and carcasses on the ground. It's got a lot of all the zombie necessities. The only thing it lacked apparently was a budget.