The Hellishly Overlong Review of Season of the Dead

[TwoGunBob]

Season of the Dead review To set the stage… I made a trip to the Only 99 Cents Store and picked up a few kung fu DVD’s and some other miscellaneous junk that you find at these dollar stores. So I got home and watched Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) season one, episode seven, Robot Monster. After some laughter induced time with Joel and the Bots I popped in one of these 99 cent lock n’ block kung fu movies, Death Duel of Kung Fu with Eagle Han with a double feature of Dragon, the Hero with Dragon Lee one of the more humorous Bruce Lee clones. After about two hours of 70’s style kung fu my brain had mostly just switched off under the assault of guys blocking each other’s blows for a majority of both films. I have a love of Kid with the Golden Arm, Chinese Super Ninja (Five Element Ninja, whatever you want to call it), The Eighteen Bronzemen, etc. but a lot of the 70’s kung fu just bores me near to death. Story in the Temple Red Lily was one that nearly killed me. Anyway, I was giving myself a slow tortuous death with half a loaf of kung fu. As I was getting up to get a cup of apple juice Miss TGB mentioned I had received a package she had forgotten about. It was, of course, Season of the Dead much to my surprise as I had totally forgotten about well… everything not relating to family, work, or my part time job pretending I know how to manage spread sheets and inventory. My first viewing experience was completely tainted by the cinematic atrocities I had subjected myself to. Maybe some of you can quip your way through an Eagle Han kung fu movie but I can’t. Being an MST3K junkie I cannot help but riff on films and Season of the Dead went through the wringer on my first viewing. In the end I felt better at the expense of Season of the Dead and really didn’t have a review to show for it. I try to make it a solemn oath not to trash a movie without analyzing it unless Jess Franco is involved. Being that Eric Kent was smart enough to keep Jess Franco away from his film I watched it again with the commentary to see what Eric thought about his own film a few days later. I was also in a more positive and critical mood to write an even handed review. I’m not going to stick my tongue down anyone’s trousers (unless it’s a female with short hair and a penchant for striped tights and even then… sorry sidetracked) cause anyone making a film, especially small budget indies, needs honest opines rather than congratulatory backslapping that sometimes happens. I’ve worked on two movies and one of them is quite possibly the worst horror movie ever made. I was lucky to actually catch it at the Texas Frightmare Weekend and see what became of it and it was… pretty god awful. It was a learning experience on someone else’s dime. The other film was Risen and I don’t talk about that one cause it’s still being worked on and all that. I’ll probably write about Risen and my experiences some day after it gets released. That worst movie ever made? No, I’m not telling the title of it. You’ll just have to be thankful you’ll probably never see it. Suffice it to say, some honest opines might have helped that film but the creators got so full of themselves and believed their own hype to a degree they thought they had a classic when it was actually a petrified piece of fecal matter. So, where does this leave Season of the Dead? Yes, I was getting back around to mentioning this film eventually. Eric Kent was dealing with a cast of three, some extra zombies, and a microbudget. Did he make the most of his resources? Well, like anything the answer is a yes and no. He started the film with a jump of action but the choreography of the struggle with the zombies is a little shaky. The opening dialog between Marcus and Shane is a bit stiff which even they as actors admit to not being warm to the camera. It’s something that plagues the film until near the end where I’d say Eric is just starting to get used to being in front of as well as behind the camera at times. I think the dual roles hampered the onscreen performance. Eric was just starting to find his feet when the film ended really. I’ll mention that the zombies irked me, the shed attacking zombies mostly. The problem with having a small group of zombies is that certain things like a Rasta zombie really stick out. There was also the girl with nice hair zombie that distracted me. I’ve always been of the school of thought that zombies should be dressed in earthen tones to blend together more as it makes them seem more numerous. The uniformity of dress set up in Night of the Living Dead really works to make it seem that there’s an endless number of ghouls on the prowl. It’s a personal thing and something even Romero didn’t stick with, Hare Krishna zombie, clown zombie, overly super obese zombie, etc. The crowd of zombies away from the shed blend together more and the framing of the shots works better for it. Worthy of mention is the scene of the zombie busting through the shed door. The extra portraying the zombie here does an excellent job and the shot is excellent. Really, when watching these films I tend to look for that more than anything. A lot of self made films really just use the tripod method with little or no creativity or thought about composition of the framing and setting up clever shots. It’s not something Eric Kent mentions in his commentary but he does make use of quite a few clever angles throughout the film. The zombie extras act like, well, extras when confronted with a chainsaw. They had a lot of acting stiff rather than zombie stiff. As the actor noted, his character Shane would have lopped the zombies to pieces with the chainsaw and I’m sure Kent would have directed it as such if he had the budget. As such there are a couple attempts at effects but they do get rather hamstrung by the budget versus a weapon of carnage like a chainsaw. The escape by the character Marcus led to riffs of Miss TGB: “He’s in the forest.” TGB: “And he’s running.” TGB and miss TGB: “Run, Forrest, Run!” Of course on second review I actually paid attention to the composition of the shots and also paid note that Kent did a good job of matching the backyard scenes to the park scenes without any noticeable hiccup. There is one long shot with the silhouette of a zombie a distance down the path that looks well thought out.

[TwoGunBob]

The main point of suffering is that Eric Kent really needed to be either in front of the camera or behind it full time. This is a common problem with the smaller films. The splitting of responsibility leads to both portions suffering. I can’t say exactly how much of a hands on director he is but judging from the film I’d say he frames the shots himself and directs the action before stepping back in front. As I mentioned, there are several clever uses of camera angles and creative use of space that show promise. I’d say Kent’s grasp of space and action transition show more promise than his acting ability. If ever Kent was lucky it was the limited access to the Sunland Hospital. The place oozes atmosphere to be certain and I know he wishes he could have gotten more access to the place but snags such as permits and trespassing when making a film do tend to limit such filming to more a less guerilla action as he notes in the commentary. There is that noticeable skip when the character Marcus enters the building and things get decidedly nicer. When Marcus meets Reilly the apartment is just a bit too nice and uncluttered. It doesn’t ooze that post-apocalyptic lived in vibe you come to expect. The candlelight used for ambience sets a bit too much of a warm tone. The natural lights leads to an orange glow that sets a more positive tone. Blues would imply a bleaker setting and add a feeling of isolation and despair to the mood. Oft times the natural lighting leads to an abundance of black spots in the shots as even Kent pointed out at times. This works to the advantage with the zombie Wilson who is the actor that played Shane making a second appearance. Honestly, I never would have known without the commentary pointing it out. The story of Reilly and his place is a little rushed and it’s easy to miss the details. As the commentary pointed out I though it was a zombie in the bathtub rather than a chloroform victim that Reilly had slowly been feeding to his pet zombie. I also question as it seemed implied that Reilly was having a necrophilic relationship with the zombie which was actually quite clever if I read that correctly. The escape itself is well shot and once again witness to a good use of angles and composition focusing around Marcus using his firearm. The use of the abandoned housing development as the site for a nuclear reactor was also well used. It’s obvious Kent spent quite a bit of time doing his homework for location scouting and writing the script around what he had available. Overall The story has some good moments although I think that the opening could have used some better expository dialog explaining who Marcus and Shane are and how they came to be in the sorry mess they are in. I personally would have opened with the zombies already at the shed beating the doors in as it seems the zombies suddenly appear en masse to attack the shed. That’s just me, though. It’s a short film and there’s not really enough explanation to Marcus as a character to build empathy. I began to understand who he was but it was near the tail end of the film. A start with action is great but it still needed more insight into understanding Marcus and Shane and their dynamic. Kent admitted he made a continuity flub regarding the chase and transition to the Sunland Hospital and had to trash the footage of himself as Marcus wandering the empty streets. It’s a shame as it would have given the film a larger feeling and perhaps exuded more isolation and a feeling of the end of all things. The Sunland building itself was a great choice for setting and he is correct that it’s a shame he couldn’t have gotten more use out of it. The run down look of the building had a great feeling but it also showed diametrically opposite once the interior scenes were in place. The interior scenes were hit and miss as mentioned. With some really good use of camera shots but also some issues caused by the use of natural light. A lot of shortcomings were caused by the small crew Eric Kent had available to him. He needs a dedicated person to lighting, a dedicated FX person, someone he trusts to help him tighten up the script in places. As an undertaking and a one man operation the film is a testament to his tenacious attitude and love of the genre. It’s not easy to get out there and do it. Kent should be getting a lot more support and Season of the Dead shows he has a bare bones get it done mentality that most people falter on as well as an eye for camera shot composition. That is something that cannot be trained unlike whatever other shortcomings might be. The acting can improve with practice, the effects and locations can be improved with a budget but the basic nugget of film making is there and with a proper crew of support I think Eric Kent could make an excellent independent film. The blooper reel added in shows just how much of a pain the simply act of clocking someone on the head or getting a headshot to mesh can be. The bloopers as well as commentary do well to establish aspects of making an independent film. The Bad: Special Effects weren’t so special. No naked breasts or zombie loving. The acting needed more practice and time to warm up. Needed more early characterization of Marcus. The Good: The camera angles were clever at times. The shots composition was put together with a three dimensional mindset. The story itself needed to be tighter in places but was rather clever. The gun had muzzle flashes which is something even Day of the Dead 2: Contagium couldn’t do apparently. It’s not as good as Meat Market (but until I receive a copy of a film with more hot vampire lesbians and a masked wrestler what is?) but I still enjoyed it more than Day of the Dead 2: Contagium. It was a good example of working with what is available and seeing it through which is more than a lot of people can attain. I’d suggest the film as a primer to see what a small group of people with determination can do on film. I do see Season of the Dead as a stepping stone for Eric Kent and a valuable learning lesson for him. I personally hope to see him try again as his next project will no doubt be more ambitious than even this and better for what he experimented with on this outing.

[axlish]

Thank you so much for the review! I knew there was a reason that I sent it to you. Very thorough review and I value the advice you have offered. I have a few more comments to make but I'll have to do it later. I also love Chinese Super Ninjas, Kid With the Golden Arm, and just about any other Shaw Bros./Venoms Team production. Check out Two Champions of Shaolin if you haven't already.