deadwrtr
16-May-2007, 03:26 PM
Just saw this flick and I have to say, I liked it.
It's cheesy, has the same dumb decisions made by the lead characters as in most horror movies, and a plot that really goes nowhere...
But, it does have Reggie Bannister from Phantasm fame(although it's more of a cameo) and fairly decent acting by most of the characters, decent make-up and excellent use of downtown LA's ailing industrial neighborhoods.
Basically, it combines Boyz in the Hood with Undead, an odd combination if there ever was one. You'll note that the zombie roar/scream is similar, if not identical to that of the zombies in Undead. Two gangs (independently) visit the local arms dealer (Reggie) and tensions rise when they come face to face with the prejudices of each culture. At about the same time, a strange meteor crashes into the earth (in downtown LA) and turns the dead into forces to be reckoned with.
A side note here... the homeless are gathered together listening to a fellow that looks like Alice Cooper talking about the end of the world, and guess what? Yep, a bunch of homeless folk become the walking dead when the meteor crashes not far from where they're are standing. Meteors from space... familiar?
I don't know if the director actually hired homeless people to play the part of zombies, but they shambled quite well and acted very zombie-like. The warehouse where all the action is going down is being monitored by the police, who run head on into the walking dead. Chaos ensues as the coppers soon join the zombies, devouring everyone in their path.
The head bad guy named "Cholo" (why does that name ring a bell? :rockbrow: ) is from the Hispanic gang and becomes a real problem for the rest of the survivors when his brother is bitten... yep, guess where bad decision #47 comes from? That's only one of many bad decisions made by the characters...
My biggest issue with the movie is, if the gangs were there for a gun buy, where the heck were all the guns? Sure, they find a box of grenades, but no hand guns, no rifles, no assault weapons. They didn't even pick up the M16 dropped by one of the characters.
Yeah, there are problems with this movie, but I liked it. The mood was right, the characters acted well (not too overdone) and the pace was excellent. If the movie had focused less on the Undead variety of zombie and more on the Romero version, this movie would have been awesome.
I'd give it 2.5 spleens out of 5.
It's cheesy, has the same dumb decisions made by the lead characters as in most horror movies, and a plot that really goes nowhere...
But, it does have Reggie Bannister from Phantasm fame(although it's more of a cameo) and fairly decent acting by most of the characters, decent make-up and excellent use of downtown LA's ailing industrial neighborhoods.
Basically, it combines Boyz in the Hood with Undead, an odd combination if there ever was one. You'll note that the zombie roar/scream is similar, if not identical to that of the zombies in Undead. Two gangs (independently) visit the local arms dealer (Reggie) and tensions rise when they come face to face with the prejudices of each culture. At about the same time, a strange meteor crashes into the earth (in downtown LA) and turns the dead into forces to be reckoned with.
A side note here... the homeless are gathered together listening to a fellow that looks like Alice Cooper talking about the end of the world, and guess what? Yep, a bunch of homeless folk become the walking dead when the meteor crashes not far from where they're are standing. Meteors from space... familiar?
I don't know if the director actually hired homeless people to play the part of zombies, but they shambled quite well and acted very zombie-like. The warehouse where all the action is going down is being monitored by the police, who run head on into the walking dead. Chaos ensues as the coppers soon join the zombies, devouring everyone in their path.
The head bad guy named "Cholo" (why does that name ring a bell? :rockbrow: ) is from the Hispanic gang and becomes a real problem for the rest of the survivors when his brother is bitten... yep, guess where bad decision #47 comes from? That's only one of many bad decisions made by the characters...
My biggest issue with the movie is, if the gangs were there for a gun buy, where the heck were all the guns? Sure, they find a box of grenades, but no hand guns, no rifles, no assault weapons. They didn't even pick up the M16 dropped by one of the characters.
Yeah, there are problems with this movie, but I liked it. The mood was right, the characters acted well (not too overdone) and the pace was excellent. If the movie had focused less on the Undead variety of zombie and more on the Romero version, this movie would have been awesome.
I'd give it 2.5 spleens out of 5.