REVIEW: Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane
First there was Snakes on a Plane, the next logical step would be to throw a bunch of rabid zombies on a plane and you get Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane a pun on Night of the Living Dead. This movie was surprisingly good and very well put together for a sleeper straight to DVD. The plot centers on a group of conniving scientists who have brought a container containing a dangerous virus that turns people into zombies aboard a two-story commercial airplane. Much like Snakes the people aboard the plane all have different stories and there is even a cop transporting a criminal. The movie was very claustrophobic at times, the actors did a wonderful job and there were a lot of good, gory zombie effects. It was one of the best zombie movies I have seen in a long time.
Before we get into the gory bits of this movie let me talk about the claustrophobia of this film. Now many of you may question what claustrophobia, well there was a lot of it and it really made me uncomfortable at times. There where several scenes where the main characters were crawling through the inner tubes and air ducts of the plane when all of a sudden a zombie pops out or they end up getting chased by a zombie; a wonderful use of the plane setting. In fact, the whole movie, like Snakes, uses the plane setting very nicely.
The acting was decent and it wasn’t bad but there was room for improvement. The supporting cast seemed better than the main cast when it came to acting but it still was pretty good. I think that the best acting credit should go to Kevin J. O’Conner who plays the petty criminal Frank. His sarcastic, asshole, antihero archetype fits with his long career of roles and I think he was the perfect comedy relief for this film. Derek Webster did a great job with his role to and it just proves that golfers have a special place in the world when it comes to zombie killing.
Now, lets look at the gore of this movie. No zombie movie is complete with out the gore and the guts, which this movie does not disappoint. There are mass amounts of gore, legless nuns, loose skin and just an overall mess of a movie. It is really gritty and you can tell that the director/writer really has no remorse for his characters. Even the headshots are wonderfully bloody and a delight to see.
There were only a few minor complains that I had about this movie. First off, I am all for the zombies in this movie but it was a little awkward seeing them screech like a Raptor. It fits, but it’s something that I have to get used… it could be a lot worse I suppose. The other complaint that I have is something that baffled my mind throughout the entire film and I guess it’s just me being picky; after all the shooting that was going on why wasn’t the cabin depressurized? It was just something that was bothering me all the way through but it’s a movie so I guess I shouldn’t be too picky.
So, overall, this is a fun movie with some dark humor, a great atmosphere and some pretty damn good gory effects and acting. I had a lot of fun watching this movie and it truly is one of the best zombies movies out there… better than some of the stuff they release. Don’t go into thinking there’s going to be character development, the characters are fun and the movie is zombie fueled. I had a blast watching it and if you love zombies than I strongly suggest watching it. You won’t be disappointed.
Available at Amazon.
