The Dead the Damned and the Darkness (2014) - Film Review - iDiC Entertainment

*** This review may contain zombie spoilers ***

A group of uninfected band together to escape the mutants to get to a coastal road.

After a wacky action packed opening, director Rene Perez delivers a low budget infection affair. Perez's heavy score is excellent when reminiscent of Euro splatter flicks and it harks back to Italian horror's when a woman's shirt (Raven Lexy) is ripped open exposing her breast. Writers Barry Massoni and Perez offer some interesting moments, mainly those involving a deaf character Stephanie, played notably by Iren Levy. Lead Robert Tweten with a practical and cool costume also deserves a mention.

Akin to Zombie Massacre's dead make up, the mutants also growl. Nevertheless, plenty of effort has gone into the production which is traditionally shot, its not another PoV or found footage movie. It's a zombie mash up, while not as well executed as Wyrmwood or as stylised as Bomshell Bloodbath, thankfully it's not as sleazy as Zombie 108 or Zombie Fight Club. Sadly, Perez links it to his 2011 predecessor Cowboys and Zombies a.k.a The Dead and the Damned in the latter half, jarringly taking the edge off this with some unnecessary flashbacks.

At times in the spirit of B exploitation flicks its better than anything made for the Syfy channel, zombie completest may get a kick out of this low budget offering.

2/5

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Anger of the Dead - Film Review - Uncork'd Entertainment

In a world ravaged by a virus that turns people into cannibals, survivors endeavor to reach an island, however, it's not just the zombies that are a threat.

Right from the opening where a little girl gets eaten you know it's not going to be a fluffy DTV addition to the genre. Writer/Director Francesco Picone's offering looks bigger than it is with real locations, lots of gore and a steady pace. Zombie completists au fait with Eaters (2011), Apocalypse Z (2013) aka "Zombie Massacre" and Zombie Massacre 2: Reich of the Dead (2015) will be familiar with the makeup style and saturated look that the talented (and friendly) Luca Boni and Marco Ristori have delivered in the past. Here they hang up their directing hats and don producer roles (along with Uwe Boll who incidentally has very little involvement, House of the Dead - this is not).

Picone takes up the reins and delivers similar aesthetics to Boni and Ristori. Jokes aside I tip my hat to Boll and company who appear to be single handily reviving the Italian zombie scene with another sub-genre addition.  However, Picone's film is more refined, it's void of comedy, the make up is more realistic and the script along with the acting are better.

The blood, bite wounds, severed limbs are effective. After the strong opening it then jumps four months after the outbreak with a road trip storyline that includes a pregnant woman Alice played memorably by Roberta Sparta. It has emotion and some tension between her and Peter as they are chased down by the sound attracted fast moving infected. The characters have to make hard choices along the way. Both Désirée Giorgetti as the Prisoner and Aaron Stielstra as Rooker are notable, their story thread is hard hitting at times with a nasty female abuse subplot reminiscent of Joe Chien's Zombie 108's (2012). However, when the story follows Alice and Peter and the zombies are in the forefront it works much better.

The acting, make up effects and camera work is solid enough, and even though all the players appear to be named after characters or actors synonymous with the zombie genre it's not a Syfy channel production. Also refreshing its not set in the USA, the locations are quite interesting and to Picone's credit it benefits from a nihilistic down beat ending.

Anger of the Dead (A.K.A Age of the Dead) is worth viewing especially if you liked the aforementioned films, that said Picone's offering is appreciatively far more serious and debatably superior due to it's darker tone.

3 for effort

 

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Navy SEALs vs. Zombies coming soon from Anchor Bay

NAVY SEALS VS. ZOMBIES Available on Digital HD on September 25, 2015 Available on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand on October 6, 2015

Rick Fox (Former NBA player, "Dope", “One Tree Hill”, “Sharknado 3”), Michael Dudikoff (“American Ninja series”, "Olympus Has Fallen"), Molly Hagan (“iZombie”, "Election", "Some Kind of Wonderful", “Instant Mom”), Ed Quinn(“Revenge”, “Mistresses”, “True Blood”), Olympian LoLo Jones and real Navy SEALs star in the upcoming action horror thriller Navy SEALs vs. Zombies. The film arrives on Digital HD on Friday, September 25th and on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand on Tuesday, October 6th from Anchor Bay Entertainment and is directed by Stanton Barrett (NASCAR driver and Hollywood stuntman) in his directorial debut.

After losing all contact with the Vice President during a routine campaign stop in Louisiana, the U.S. Government sends in a team of Navy SEALs for the rescue. Dropped into a warzone, the SEALs quickly discover that they aren’t dealing with a normal enemy. The city is under siege by hordes of fast moving, flesh eating undead. The infection is spreading and urban warfare has been unleashed. With no cure in sight and time running out, the elite unit has to survive their most horrific mission of all.

Navy SEALs vs. Zombies will be available on Blu-ray and DVD for the suggested retail price of $26.99 and $22.98, respectively.

Blu-ray Details:
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English SDH and Spanish Subtitles

DVD Details:
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH and Spanish Subtitles

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