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The Dead Next Door
RRP: £16.99
Our Price: £2.99 (subject to change)
Haters are missing the point
Review date: 2008-09-18 Rating: 8 out of 10
Ok, so i've read a lot of negative reviews on this movie, and in all honesty, i can understand why, while at the same time disagreeing entirely. If you're a fan of the glossy, new age zombie flicks of the 00s, and have a distaste for independently made super 8 videos obviously shot in the director's back yard for the most part(see 2nd paragraph), then yeah, steer clear of this one. This isn't pretty to watch - its as grainy as they come, the colour hues are all over the place, some of the audio is out of sync, and the characters are obviously played by non actors - most likely family and friends in this case.
However, im a man that can dig all of the above in a film, as long as its executed honestly, and with ''The Dead Next Door'' it most definately is. The plot revolves around a zombie plague which is already in progress throughout the opening shots - we see cars littering the city streets, hordes of the undead, and a good amount of for-the-most-part very impressive gore effects. It's established early on that the overall tone is very much tongue in cheek. I was reminded of Peter Jackson's ''Bad Taste'' and ''Braindead'' on more than one occasion, and the police militia set up in the form of The Zombie Squad to take out the flesh eating majority highlights the comedy undertone nicely. Also look out for quite funny referencial names such as Savini, Carpenter and Raimi - hey, i found them amusing. The infuential Evil Dead director even helped fund this film, oddly enough. There's also at least one shot that had me scratching my head which doesn't happen very often - zombies clawing at the gates of the White House? Whether this shot is real or not still has me stumped. Wooden model anyone? Who knows. I like to think that J.R. Bookwalter really did just set up cameras - all be it very quickly - on Pennsylvania Avenue and risk getting arrested for the sake of a very entertaining 5 second shot. That's guerilla film-making man afterall.
There's no real societal metaphors a la' George A. Romero, although the emergence of a freaky religious cult intent on preserving the zombies is an interesting device to use in an otherwise mindless splatter fest.
This isn't top notch film-making, it certainly won't appeal to everyone and on a number of occasions even i was longing for less painful character dialogue and more gore and action - hence 4 stars instead of 5, but having said that, it definately deserves its place as a true cult classic and despite a few pacing problems, will no doubt satisfy all the gore-hounds out there who are prepared to switch off their brains for 70+ minutes and revel in one those movies that is quote ''so bad it's good''
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Reviews
whoever gave this rubbish a good review must be nuts
Review date: 2008-06-12 Rating: 2 out of 10
I don't understand how any zombie/horror fan would or could give this crap a good review. We watched this last night and couldn't even get through 15 minutes of it. I would rather eat my own poo than put myself through 2 seconds of this agonisingly terrible film.
The acting was rubbish, ''oh no, there's another zombie after me. I'd better just stand here and let it take a bite before I think about moving out the way.'' yes. That's what you do when there's a flesh eating monster coming after you.
The makeup I have to say was less than convincing. Their faces were painted a bluish grey which literally looked like it had been slapped on quick and very slap dash, no care in making them look realistic at all. Their bodies on the other hand, were just left normal. Not really the typical dead body look.
We've seen many zombie films, some good, some excellent and some not so good. This one however, should be destroyed.
Good zombie action, worth a watch.
Review date: 2007-12-20 Rating: 8 out of 10
The plot is quite good and the zombie scene are very good.The grenade in the zombies mouth and out the window is a classic.
The thing that spoilt it a bit is the fact that the zombie squad are so thick.One manages to put his hand in a zombies mouth,another casually stands by a operating table with his wrist inches away from a zombie.Training must have been poor.I liked the idea of the cult trying to save the zombies.I could quite imagine that a cult somewhere would do this.
All in all I liked it its not brilliant but worth a watch.
VIOLENT ZOMBIE FILM
Review date: 2007-11-03 Rating: 8 out of 10
In Akron, Ohio, a virus spreads out that turns the population into flesh-eating zombies. In response to this, the government sets up a special task force known as the Zombie Squad, but they always arrive after the feasts. After losing one of theirs on a mission, Capt. Raimi (Pete Ferry) and his squad, Kuller, (Jolie Jackunas) Mercer, (Michael Grossi) and Capt. Klein, (Floyd Ewing Jr.) head back to base in Washington DC to recharge. After meeting with Dr. Moulsson, (Bogdan Pecic) about what to do with the virus, they decide to head back to Akron to find the original virus, but the original creator has long since died. Learning that a fanatical cult is nearby and trying to protect the zombies. After several skirmishes with the church and it's leader, (Robert Kokai) they have to fight their way out before total chaos is unleashed.
The Good News: This is one really gory zombie film, and it should definitely be one any gore-hound has in their collection. This one almost rivals "Dawn of the Dead" with the amount of gags in it. Some of them included a couple people getting run over and their heads caved in, one has his leg snapped at an impossible angle and then twisted off, fingers bitten off and spurting blood, and so much more. Most of everything results in blood-spurting here, so lots of blood shoots out here. In true zombie tradition, at least one person is pulled apart from the zombies on-screen, allowing for even more gore opportunities. In here, more than one person is ripped to pieces, which is pretty brutal. I also thought this was a pretty original way of treating the zombie threat. We had zombie protesters, who picketed the destruction of the zombies, the fact that they didn't die from a gunshot to the brain or removal of the head and the fact that some of the zombies actually talked in the movie, and made more than the normal grunting sounds we all know they make in every other movie about them. It was quite a surprise to seem them doing something different with the genre, and especially the last act of the film in particular. It is completely different from most other zombie movies to try something like that, and the fact that it comes off spectacular as well is a major plus. A little change was greatly needed, and this one works well. With more action-packed threat scenes than normal, the zombie apocalypse seems more believable as well. Also, these are some gruesome-looking zombies, and are far more influenced by the Italian style, that actually looked decayed and rotten, than the Romero ones that just look like Grey pancake mix was applied to the extras. Here, we get lots of different zombies with rotted out faces, arms with different kinds of spots and sores all over them, and various wounds over there bodies. One of the more impressive ones features his face melted in different areas, his jaw missing, one eye gone, and his chest completely melted away to reveal the interior organs dangling on his chest-plate. These are quickly becoming favorite zombies, as they are quite horrifying. It is also really short, so just when it gets interesting it just ends. Kinda a cop-out, but it still leaves with the impression that more could've been put in to beef it up.
The Bad News: Many of the effects pieces are pretty obviously cheesy and can be spotted as fake pretty quickly and obviously. To some, this may serve as a distraction to the movie as it takes them out of the reality of the movie. It doesn't bother me, but it can hinder other's when it looks completely fake. Also, one thing that was really aggravating was the continuous way the zombies kept popping out of hallways to attack their victim. They'd be standing on the side by a walkway, then suddenly the zombies would grab them. Works once, but every time is a little much.
The Final Verdict: Any zombie fan desperately needs this fan in their collection. It has everything: gore, shocks, zombies and a nice twist to the whole affair. Ignore the fact that it can be obvious that the make-up is pretty obvious and this is a solid film.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Bogdan Pecic
Michael Grossi
Robert Kokai
Peter Ferry
Creators:
Peter Ferry (Primary Contributor)
Michael Grossi (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Starz Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Starz Home Entertainment
EAN: 5060020625381
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2006-05-15
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 78 minutes