Undead (2003)
Written by The Spierig Brothers
Directed by The Spierig Brothers
Runtime 97 min.
4 out of 5
After having lost everything, Rene (played by Felicity Mason) tries to leave her hometown of Berkeley but is unable to get out when the town is struck with a meteor shower. Instead of leaving giant craters and demolished buildings in their wake, these meteors leave something else: an infection that transforms humans into zombies.
The town now overrun with the undead, Rene barely survives and meets up with Marion (played by Mungo McKay), the town nut who claimed he was abducted by aliens a long time before. Soon joined by others, the group of survivors find temporary solace in Marion’s cabin before the dead come a’knockin’ and force their way in.
Blood and guts ensue as this band of not-so-merry-men try and fight their way through throngs of the undead and leave town.
They almost make it, too, if not for that giant, spike-laden wall bordering the town, keeping everyone inside.
This flick starts off as your run-of-the-mill zombie movie. Nothing wrong with that. Not at all. The blood, the guts, the guns—ah, yes, everything that makes up a good zombie flick. Even Marion’s Matrix-like fighting style works well in the context of the story (though when that style was first introduced, I had a hard time buying it but quickly got used to it).
What separates this zombie flick from all others I’ve seen is the twist it takes when we find out these aren’t your standard zombies, but instead the product of “something beyond,” namely intergalactic stuff. Toss in a few aliens and you got yourself a unique zombie film that pays more homage to the zombie clichés than actually follows them like a rulebook.
This is an independent film and I only point that out because it being indie really added to the gritty feel of the whole thing, enhancing the movie. This didn’t carry that too-smooth-yet-too-cheap look that B-movies have. Even the directors’ love for the genre really shone through in this and the cast did a fantastic job.
I can understand now why this movie got the cult following it did.
If you dig good solid zombie flicks, check this one out.