(Delayed) Review Week: Undead

Were you worth the wait?  Today's film is Undead, a movie that I've just never gotten around to.  Here is some back-story, since I assume that you care.  I bought this film for cheap a long time ago, most likely from a Hollywood Video.  Fun Fact: one location is still intact in town- just empty.  Don't have a use for the lot?  Where was I?  I've meant to do this for a while, but...well, I haven't.  No funny story or silly anecdote- I just haven't.  I finally sat down and watched this movie that was gathering dust on my DVD rack for months & I really regret not covering it by now.  The plot- zombies show up in Australia thanks to a silly reason.  It was going to be sillier a while ago, but I have actually seen a plot like this done before- hint hint.  The movie is a mix of horror, comedy and sci-fi.  With all of those eggs in one basket, can they succeed?  To find out, read on...

The film takes places in Berkeley, a small fishing town in Australia.  They're struck by meteors, which causes people hit by them to become zombies...with super-strength.

The zombie attacks strand a bunch of people, including a pregnant waitress, her fiancee, a farmer with a gun fetish, Final Girl, the Constable and his Second-in-Command.  Just keep holding that skull, buddy!

 Stop me if you've heard this: a lone woman flees from a zombie attack to a farm house, only to end up working with a competent man who can fend for himself.  Subtle.

These zombies look neat, but really befuddle me.  A small portion are created by the meteors hitting them.  Others are killed by zombies.  Others still are just kind of dead already (see the guy below).

This is also from the Buffy school of Make Monsters Have Thick Brows.  I still don't get that.

To fulfill some sort of quota, Farmer McGunFetish has a triple-mounted Shotgun.  All the power of a Shotgun- now with 3x as long of a reload time!

Did I mention that this plot involves aliens?  Well, it involves aliens, as shown by this sepia-toned flashback by Farmer McGunFetish.

I'm skipping the part where they build a giant spike-covered wall around the town, by the way.  I just wanted you to know that.

As it turns out, the aliens are actually good.  The meteorites- and the dust they sent up- turned people into zombies, so the aliens quarantined the people and cured them with sci-fi rain.  No joke.

With the town cured- and no longer floating in the air-, the day is saved by random aliens.  The End.

Oh wait- one guy was never rained on, kills Farmer McGunFetish and starts another plague.  Despite interceding last time, they apparently don't come back, leaving our heroine to hold the silly shotgun and guard a 'farm of zombies.  The *real* End.

If nothing else, it's really, really weird.  The good parts: the silly action, good effects and unique take on the Zombie Apocalypse.  The bad parts: the weird tone, inept characters and silly ending.  The movie is a mixed bag, that's for sure!  I liked the silly aspects of Farmer McGunFetish...to a point.  Having him as the only useful person with a gun was not bad.  The problem is that everyone was either a terrible shot, can't reload a gun or just refuses to take action.  The Waitress is reasonable to see as a bad shot- granted.  The Constable and Second-in-Command- how are they so gun-shy and afraid to take action?  They overcompensate with the non-action characters to make Farmer look good.  Even with that, they still go over the top, including a scene where he clings to a wall by his boot spurs, does an upside-down shot or two & flips back to his feet. Bull and shit, movie!  The alien idea is neat, but certainly isn't represented all that well.  Why does it take them so long to make rain appear?  Why didn't they think of a better, more sure-fire way to do this?  Hell, to cure our heroine, the alien trio has to appear and splash water in her face, since she was wearing a rain jacket!  The movie's biggest appeal and biggest fault is the silly gore scenes with the zombies.  They're fun for a while, but you eventually figure out that they are all the film really has in mind.  There is too much of a good thing, at least for me.  As a whole, this is a weird, weird zombie film that certainly deserves a watch.  You may be mixed, you may love it or you may make the same face as Black Aborigine here...

Next up, another film that I have kept putting off.  Will Dean Cain redeem his