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Undead

Lions Gate Films / Year: 2003

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Synopsis

Peaceful, rustic Berkeley is a charming fishing community where life is sweet and the people friendly. All that is about to change.

After losing her childhood farm to the bank, local beauty Rene decides to leave town and head for the big city. Suddenly, an avalanche of meteorites races through the sky, bombarding the town and bringing an otherworldly infection. Departing is going to be much more difficult than she had planned.

The living dead are awakened and Rene is now caught in a nightmare of zombies hungry for human flesh. She manages to find salvation in a small isolated farm house owned by the town loony, Marion. There she is met with four other desperate survivors. Together they battle their way through a plague of walking dead and discover that there is more transpiring than just an infection.

Review

Paying homage to the films of Ed Wood and other comparable B-movie gems, filmmakers Michael and Peter Spierig — in their directorial debuts — have created one of the most unpredictably bizarre combinations of certain horror and sci-fi genres. Undead follows five residents of a small Australian fishing village who must battle for survival after falling meteorites turn many other residents into blood-thirsty zombies. The group consists of two police officers, a pregnant couple, a discontented local beauty pageant winner and a heavily-armed town loony who had prophesized the events. Campy, over-the-top fun ensues as the group attempts to escape the town and unravel the mystery behind these sudden and strange supernatural events. Odd and unexpected twists and turns follow that make it clear that Undead is certainly not for all tastes. Though certainly not without some memorably humorous moments, something is lost in the fact that the film is intentionally as abnormal and outlandish as it is. The appeal of a film like Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space comes from the fact that the director, cast and crew were unaware that the film that they were making would not be embraced or even acknowledged by the masses. Because of the fact that Undead lacks this aspect, there is less to keep the viewer invested in the relentlessly peculiar on-goings. However, the fact that the film does not take itself seriously and means to entertain in such untraditional ways adds a certain bent charm.

-- Robert O'Neill