The Eschatrilogy: Book of the Dead

I was fortunate enough to attend the premiere on 7th September and thoroughly enjoyed this film.    Three stories cleverly interlinking with each other which had me trying to guess how the story would unfold. I even started to build a rapport with some of the characters, albeit unlikely ones and was egging them on .. Naturally not going to give anything away now!   This film is deemed a low budget film, it sure doesn't give that impression to me as the editing and music were 1st class.  Various locations were used as well as a decent sized cast who clearly were giving it their all. The only negative aspect, which isn't really one is that I wanted it to be longer, I didn't want it to end.   Could there be a sequel? .. Yes please says me! ... You will not be disappointed, go see it!

It is easy to be cynical about the state of play of the filmmaking industry in Britain with the recent closing of the UK Film Council and the cuts made to arts funding by the government. Low-budget independent productions such as The Eschatrilogy blow these doubts out of the water, however, as they prove that money isn't everything. What is really important is the creative collective drive of passionate filmmakers determined to make something special and passion is something this film has by the bucket load.

The film opens with a montage of sole survivor Matthew (Tim Mcgill Grieveson) biding his time in a desolate forest hut. In between transporting zombie roadkill to the forest in a wheelbarrow he attempts to send out radio signals for other potential survivors. This sequence is beautifully shot, edited and acted, giving an indication of the fantastic cinematography right from the get-go. Although it is a lengthy scene to begin the film, we really get a sense of Matthew's loneliness and depravity in a bleak situation and this sets the tone for the three 'nightmare' segments that follow: 'Dead Inside', 'The Dying Breed' and 'A Father For The Dead'.

Now I won't spoil either of the stories - it is really something you have to see to believe how well the three sections are tied together by the survivor plot - but I can tell you that you won't have seen anything like this before. Clearly Romero's zombie series was a huge inspiration for The Eschatrilogy; however never once did you witness Romero's zombies show emotion and remorse for the beasts they had become. The overriding theme here is family and, like Romero, director/writer/actor Damian Morter weaves what can be interpreted as a social commentary of the present day. Cal (Morter) travels the land whilst documenting tales of horror in his book to act as a warning for others to support one another no matter what the circumstances. It goes to show that in the midst of economic crisis and war faith can be restored in humanity by supporting family and friends through difficult times.

In short: watch this film if you are even marginally interested in British horror. I can assure you that you won't believe it is such a low-budget production with all the talent on display. Safehouse Pictures UK is certainly an independent company to watch out for in the future.

I read a few reviews, some giving this movie a 4 Star review and then the there are the ones that gave this 10 stars with some @*%# about how others that gave this a low rating just didn't understand something about this movie. Well, this movie plain and simply gives proof that Britain should not be allowed to make, export or give advice when it comes to horror movies, and should only be allowed to make comedies.

First of all I will start out by saying that the cover for this movie has absolutely nothing to do with the contents of the actual movie. Two words: false advertising. I bought the movie because it is a zombie movie and because of the cover, so I was sorely disappointed with a slap to the face.

This is a compilation of three tales that are interwoven. That being said, I will have to stress that the stories weren't particularly entertaining, neither alone nor in their tied in connections, nor did the overall feel of the movie come off as anywhere near captivating. And come daybreak of the next day you will have forgotten about this movie already, trust me.

There were a bit too many wrong Things with the zombies, such as they could remember their Family members, some were quite fast and agile, and of course the typical poor zombie make-up in low budget zombie movies - where they paint the face a horribly bad gray color and forget about the rest of the body, with the neck and hands standing out like sore thumbs.

As an avid zombie aficionado I devour, pardon the pun, anything even remotely zombie. This movie, however, falls into the lower aspect of the zombie genre, and I can't recommend it to anyone because it is boring and bad on the level that only low budget zombie movies manage to reach.

Poor almost non existent story, shockingly poor acting.

How can anyone possibly think this film is good?

Mixed up, slow, makes you ask "why are they doing that" every few minutes.

Can't believe I sat through this junk.