Word is that they are starting the filming of the remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD this June in Toronto. Whatever your opinion is on remakes, whether classics should be best left alone (as in the case of 13 Ghosts and House on Haunted Hill) or whether new life can be breathed into them (ie Night of the Living Dead or Omega Man), it seems Zombies are here to stay...So in keeping with the Zombie theme (and because I did a review of a zombie movie called VERSUS this time in the MOVIE OF THE WEEK, I've decided to go with a Zombie movie here in the WORST OF THE WORST...
You see, I have this theory that the Universe balances out in the end, so therefore, for every awesome Zombie movie that is made, there must be one made that is equally un-awesome, and of course the oposite must also be true. For every God-aweful Zombie movie, there must be enventually made one that is supercool. It is for this reason I credit this WORST OF THE WORST flick for indirectly causing the rash of a damncool Asian Zombie flicks of late. This time its:
ZOMBIE BLOODBATH
Yes, there really is a movie called that. It's not just some joke that other movies and TV shows use to exagerate the shot-on-video low-budget horror genre. This movie is IT!!! No exageration needed!!!
The story in a nutshell involves a nuclear power planet that melts down somewhere in Kansas turning all the employees into Zombies. The government, or whoever, levels the plant and destroys the evidence, and builds houses over top. Years later, a bunch of losers movie in and the Zombies break loose from deep underground wreaking havoc. Who will survive and who will even give a shit??
As far as Zombies go, they are a pretty uneven bunch. Some look really good, but others are just cheap halloween make-up. Many do have themes, like the nurse zombie, which is popular in most Zombie flicks, but the themes have no rhyme or reason here. The zombies that should be workers in the power plant look like someones senior high school class. The movie is one Zombie Cliche after another. If you like the zombie guts-eating feasts, then you won't be disappointed, there is one in the first 2 minutes of the movie, and one just about every 10 minutes after. It seems characters are just introduced out of nowhere just to have their intestines be zombie dinner. The effects are not too bad in a low-budget sort of way. I especially got a kick out of the melting dude at the beginning, but then they over done it just a bit. The acting is simply terrible and worth a laugh or three, in fact, I cracked up a couple times. I mean you can literally sit back and cut-up just about every scene that involves dialouge or anything other than Zombies eating victims. I had to rewinded the Girl Street Gang fight scene to make sure I wasn't seeing things, it caught me in mid-drink and fluid shot out my nose....And the guy that plays the Dad, not the army dad (by the way where were all the guns and explosives he kept talking about?), but the other one, was awesome!!!
The mastermind behind this epic is one TOD SHEETS. And he is no stranger to the zombie movie having made several previous efforts in the zombie genre, most of them named BLOOD OF THE UNDEAD or some permutation thereof. And after seeing this movie, I'd love to see some of his previous unreleased stuff. Still judge not a book by it's cover, and judge not a film maker by one film. From his website and what I've read, and I could tell by this movie Tod Sheets is a die-hard horror fan and a pretty cool cat, and not only that, he has made sequels which are heads above this one, and many other horror films too. Everyone has to start somewhere, and considering obvious budget limitations this turned out to be a watchable flick, even if not for the reasons intended...Today Tod is still hard at it, making, as he terms it, 'horror movies by horror movie fans for horror movie fans.' See, it pays to learn from mistakes and do your homework!!
So if you are looking for a really bad Zombie flick to entertain yourself over a case of beer or a full bowl, check out this one. It even gives Andreas Schnass a run for the money! A super party movie!!!
You might be able to find a used copy on AMAZON.com but I'd try going straight to the horses mouth at:
