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quietearth [Celluloid 02.16.08] zombies movie review horror

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Year: 2007
Director: George Romero
Writer: George Romero
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: quietearth
Rating: 4 out of 10

You're probably thinking, woah, a 4? What the heck? Yes, that's my rating. When the film first started, I was almost in tears it looked so good, but as it progressed it didn't matter how much I wanted to like it. I think we've built George Romero into this demi-like persona being the father of all things zombie and it's clouding peoples judgements. He's long past his prime. His last great zombie film will be Day of the Dead, and even though he's reportedly making a sequel to this one it won't hold up, but I do hope I am wrong. Maybe if he was starving like a boxer just coming up in the ranks, like back in the day..


The film starts with footage from a news crew reporting on a double homicide scene, and while getting the report the bodies being put into the ambulances begin to rise. You've probably seen part of this as a clip of it was released. From here it immediately jumps to a voice over of our film-within-a-film called "The Death of Death". These are the film students who are trying to make a movie when the whole zombie plague starts going down, but there is one real cool thing about this. The speed with which society crumbles is almost immediate, lending a post apocalyptic feel to the entire film. After future retrospection, we might actually need to add this into the PA genre.

The students are making a low budget horror film, with their alcoholic professor in tow, when they hear news of the zombie outbreaks. They head back to campus (in Pittsburgh), pick up another member from their crew, and get out of dodge. They're all planning to head to their separate family homes, and after running over some dead folks, a suicide, and watching an Amish guy killed the undead with dynamite, we come to Romero's signature black power statement. A leader (who turns out to be former national guard) has a whole crew rounding up everything in town, but they generally turn out to be friendly. Don't worry, George didn't forget his love of rednecks.

My two main problems with the film were the acting, which was sub-par to say the least, and the implementation of the storyline. I just didn't like the way the kid was filming or the voiceovers. The Professor's accent was terrible, and so was the girl who was supposedly Texan who kept saying "Don't mess with Texas!"

Now let me tell you about the zombie effects, they were the best I have seen TO DATE. The entire film is worth watching for the effects alone. Whether it's acid eating through a zombies head, or a "realistic" shot of the undead closing in, they were superb, and I felt like I was actually there. It's what I think they would look like closest to actual reality.

Would I recommend running out to see this? No, I'd wait.. Sorry folks, I really wish I could tell you something better.

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Ulises (3 years ago) Reply

Noooooooooooo!! Oh dear gods, nooo! Wow, that's disappointing news indeed! Maybe I won't rush out to see it tomorrow, then...ouch.

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quietearth (3 years ago) Reply

Yeah sorry.. I hope others will like it more then I did, but man, someone has to say it!

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barnesm (3 years ago) Reply

Thanks for the honest assessment,
man this was the one I was really looking forward to seeing.
Keep up the great work at Quiet Earth

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quietearth (3 years ago) Reply

Thanks.. wish I could have said better, I really do.

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spankermatic (3 years ago) Reply

Oh well - still want to see it if the effects are as good as you say. Nothing like a good gore flick even if the acting sucks.

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projectcyclops (3 years ago) Reply

I thought it was pretty good! That said, I was judging it with the mediocre Land of the Dead in mind. The effects were indeed the star of the show but I appreciated George using unknown actors and thought the story rolled along pretty well with some interesting ideas.

Perhaps I'm more forgiving, but I thought it was something of a return to form.

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Dave Kellum (3 years ago) Reply

I was expecting as much from the great-grandfather of zombies, and even zombies with guns (something so self-contradictory it generates horror). It's all been done to death (pun intended) by people on the outside of Romero's gaggle of sycophants, as it should be LOL!!


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