Horror isn't my genre, generally because I'm unable to suspend disbelief long enough to get sucked into supernatural storylines. Early on in each tale something some absurdity is presented, I roll my eyes, and begin looking for where I last set the remote.
Zombie film and, to a lesser degree, series are the exception. George Romero's character- and social issue-based efforts got things off to a good start, providing plenty of non-supernatural grist to drive the story. His sendup of consumerism in "Dawn of the Dead" where zombies wandering a suburban mall were tacitly compared to their pre-outbreak counterparts also helped bridge the disbelief suspension gap. Indeed, regardless of one's political persuasions you likely know someone driven by a singular belief they treat as a critical need eclipsing all others, who Romero invites us to compare and contrast to the undead, with that outcome leaving the human race standing in a less than flattering light. Zombies seek brains, humans tend to eschew them in their linear pursuits.
And then there is the whole headshot thing. I've a hard time believing there's any creature out there that will continue to be a threat after a load of Federal Flite-Control 8 ball double ought is applied to its noggin, a sensibility most zombie treatments embrace and often celebrate with gory, multi-angle closeups. Nothing like a bit of ballistic reality to bridge a supernatural gap.
As such I was willing to give "Death Squad" a, uh, shot. Indeed, I found the ratings here, ranging from less than zero to middling high, intriguing. The lack of a string of facile, glowing reviews suggested the bot and shill crowd weren't paid to pump things up, while all the ardent low scores are often given by folks that failed to grasp an ironic or camp element I'd find pleasing. As such I figured I'd give it a whirl and hope to find some sort of gem in the rough.
Fat chance; the show didn't take long to reveal as much. From low production values to shopworn plots to laughable weapons handling and martial technique to formulaic characters, everything about DS screams "pick up the remote and try again." Our intros to the characters are cliche; gee do you think the guy with tats in the wifebeater-T tossing telegraphed wide punches at another muscled gents amid a circle formed by cars with their headlights on superficial gentry letting go of their bloodlust will prove to be the hand to hand "expert?" I suppose a bickering couple that are each explosives experts isn't standard fare, unless the explosives angle is excised, at which point they become all too common. There's the undercapitalized leader that wants to form his own A Team, sundry other ex-military misfits in it for the money for one trite reason or another, and of course the probably evil industrialist financing the venture. Do you think, gasp, he isn't providing critical pieces of information to his merry band that leave them ill-prepared should they encounter the walking dead?
Duh, of course.
I awaited camp or irony until into the third episode before I gave up on any emerging. What I got instead was a linear telling of a tedious plot with silly action elements requiring no suspension of disbelief to realize it was an ennui inspiring waste of time. As much as I hoped this contribution to the horror genre was one where my usual aversion did not apply, this effort was DOA for reasons pedestrian rather than horror related.
Zombie film and, to a lesser degree, series are the exception. George Romero's character- and social issue-based efforts got things off to a good start, providing plenty of non-supernatural grist to drive the story. His sendup of consumerism in "Dawn of the Dead" where zombies wandering a suburban mall were tacitly compared to their pre-outbreak counterparts also helped bridge the disbelief suspension gap. Indeed, regardless of one's political persuasions you likely know someone driven by a singular belief they treat as a critical need eclipsing all others, who Romero invites us to compare and contrast to the undead, with that outcome leaving the human race standing in a less than flattering light. Zombies seek brains, humans tend to eschew them in their linear pursuits.
And then there is the whole headshot thing. I've a hard time believing there's any creature out there that will continue to be a threat after a load of Federal Flite-Control 8 ball double ought is applied to its noggin, a sensibility most zombie treatments embrace and often celebrate with gory, multi-angle closeups. Nothing like a bit of ballistic reality to bridge a supernatural gap.
As such I was willing to give "Death Squad" a, uh, shot. Indeed, I found the ratings here, ranging from less than zero to middling high, intriguing. The lack of a string of facile, glowing reviews suggested the bot and shill crowd weren't paid to pump things up, while all the ardent low scores are often given by folks that failed to grasp an ironic or camp element I'd find pleasing. As such I figured I'd give it a whirl and hope to find some sort of gem in the rough.
Fat chance; the show didn't take long to reveal as much. From low production values to shopworn plots to laughable weapons handling and martial technique to formulaic characters, everything about DS screams "pick up the remote and try again." Our intros to the characters are cliche; gee do you think the guy with tats in the wifebeater-T tossing telegraphed wide punches at another muscled gents amid a circle formed by cars with their headlights on superficial gentry letting go of their bloodlust will prove to be the hand to hand "expert?" I suppose a bickering couple that are each explosives experts isn't standard fare, unless the explosives angle is excised, at which point they become all too common. There's the undercapitalized leader that wants to form his own A Team, sundry other ex-military misfits in it for the money for one trite reason or another, and of course the probably evil industrialist financing the venture. Do you think, gasp, he isn't providing critical pieces of information to his merry band that leave them ill-prepared should they encounter the walking dead?
Duh, of course.
I awaited camp or irony until into the third episode before I gave up on any emerging. What I got instead was a linear telling of a tedious plot with silly action elements requiring no suspension of disbelief to realize it was an ennui inspiring waste of time. As much as I hoped this contribution to the horror genre was one where my usual aversion did not apply, this effort was DOA for reasons pedestrian rather than horror related.