I write this review with serious doubts that anyone will have kept reading through all the 50-odd previous comments to get here. There is, however, the problem that this movie is getting some seriously mixed reviews here. In order to do my part, I cast my vote for "It Sucked!" and hope I can save someone the depression that follows renting a movie with glowing quotes on the box, only to wonder if those quotes weren't from the people who actually made the film.
I'll give it this; it's an educated film. Made for horror fans, by horror fans (who have a shoestring budget and no sense of continuity). Throughout the movie you'll see various references to influential directors (I saw the "Stab" poster, and as far as I know "Nails" cigarettes don't exist outside Kevin Smith movies) and various homages to previous zombie movies (like, all of them). This is, unfortunately, one of it's downfalls because much of the movie is extremely predictable. Also, the director tries to run with what works in the genre (anxiety, extra gore, handy power tools {Where the hell did that chainsaw even come from?}), but it is often executed poorly, regardless of budget. I didn't expect Citizen Kane here, but I also didn't expect a home movie made in a weekend.
For horror fans who think they can look past the directorial mishaps, think again. The zombie volume is next to nothing (2 henchmen zombies and a couple dozen shady figures in cobwebs), the special effects just remind you how crappy the film is (if someone is getting electrocuted, sparks will do nicely, we don't need this crappy cgi fireworks display that looks like a screen saver), and the death scenes are mostly tame (1. character vanishes in mist, throw bucket of blood from off camera. 2. Character has head removed, off screen. Carry crappy fake head back into scene. etc.). The irony here is that the characters in the movie were in the process of filming their own horror movie which actually looked better than the one they got caught up in.
So why did I give it a 3/10 and not a 1/10? Well hell, I can't make a movie. The effort alone is always worth something, no matter what the outcome.
I'll give it this; it's an educated film. Made for horror fans, by horror fans (who have a shoestring budget and no sense of continuity). Throughout the movie you'll see various references to influential directors (I saw the "Stab" poster, and as far as I know "Nails" cigarettes don't exist outside Kevin Smith movies) and various homages to previous zombie movies (like, all of them). This is, unfortunately, one of it's downfalls because much of the movie is extremely predictable. Also, the director tries to run with what works in the genre (anxiety, extra gore, handy power tools {Where the hell did that chainsaw even come from?}), but it is often executed poorly, regardless of budget. I didn't expect Citizen Kane here, but I also didn't expect a home movie made in a weekend.
For horror fans who think they can look past the directorial mishaps, think again. The zombie volume is next to nothing (2 henchmen zombies and a couple dozen shady figures in cobwebs), the special effects just remind you how crappy the film is (if someone is getting electrocuted, sparks will do nicely, we don't need this crappy cgi fireworks display that looks like a screen saver), and the death scenes are mostly tame (1. character vanishes in mist, throw bucket of blood from off camera. 2. Character has head removed, off screen. Carry crappy fake head back into scene. etc.). The irony here is that the characters in the movie were in the process of filming their own horror movie which actually looked better than the one they got caught up in.
So why did I give it a 3/10 and not a 1/10? Well hell, I can't make a movie. The effort alone is always worth something, no matter what the outcome.