Released on DVD February 14th, 2012
This week, Direct to DVD Dissection takes a look at a zombie movie, released in a sea of zombie related products, as we look at The Ford Brothers’ “The Dead”
Promotional Poster for the DEAD
The Story:
An American engineer is the survivor of a crash in the African terrain, in the middle of a zombie outbreak. Teaming up with a local member of the army trying to reach his own family, they team up to make their way to a safe zone and try to survive while the army of the dead surround them.
The Cast:
Rob Freeman as Lt. Brian Murphy, the American engineer dropped into zombie infested Africa after a crash. Freeman is best known for some minor roles, like the son of Ryan in “Saving Private Ryan” and Coach Quigley in a handful of Smallville Episodes.
Prince David Oseia as Sgt. Daniel Dembele, the local African soldier who meets up with Murphy. Daniel is loking for his son during the movie, which is his main motivation in the film.
David Dontoh as The Chief, the leader of the village where the main characters find themselves in. As a safe house to various survivors, it eventually finds itself surrounded by the undead, looking to break in.
The Dissection:
When dealing with zombie movie genre, and let it be known there are no shortage of those, most films try to build on the formula set by George A Romero many years ago. Either by adding new personas to the zombies, adding new abilities and facets, and using new tricks in production and special effects.
"The Dead...presents this beautiful visual look,"
However, in this case, you won’t find the slow motion cameras or the big budget gore effects. Instead, you will find a movie that strips the genre down to the bare essentials and focuses on the plot of the movie and the atmosphere.
The first thing to talk about this movie is the visuals. When it comes to independent movies, a lot of them sacrifice visuals due to their lack of funds. However, this one keeps the indy feel, but also presents this beautiful visual look, changing up the look of a dark environment, and showing these horror elements in a place covered in sunlight, while still keeping the terror aspect intact.
The acting is mostly hit or miss at times. Prince does a good job here, at times doing better than the more professionally experienced main star. While Freeman comes off well in some scenes, any dialog heavy scenes gets dragged down over time due to his vocals showing fatigue. The story itself is told well, though, even with the weaknesses in the dialog. It’s a story that could have come straight from Romero himself back during the making of “Night of the Living Dead” back in the 60’s.
Rob Freeman as Lt. Brian Murphy
The effects are simple, but effective. There are moments of bad special effects, as in most lower budgeted horror movies, but it does keep some good work at times in order to not sour the mood they spend time building up during the course of the film.
As for complaints, one major issue boils down to the fact that the movie, in taking the simpler route, passes up the opportunity to do some interesting things at times. The flow of the movie doesn’t stop for much at times, and there are a few scenes, namely one shown in the trailer where it feels like it could be something interesting down the road, but it doesn’t go as far as it should.
Extras-wise, on the DVD itself, you have an interesting DVD Commentary with the brother directors, Howard and Jonathan Ford, about filming the movie and the trouble they faced. It’s very interesting to hear. Along with that, there are some deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage, and production details for those interested. As for languages, it’s English language track, with both English and Spanish Subtitles.
The Verdict:
If you’re someone who has gotten tired of the overwhelming number of zombie entertainment on the market today, this could be a good opportunity to go a simpler route and enjoy a movie that has deep roots in a more classic era of horror.
Recommended.