The Dead (2010) Review

If you could pick the absolute worst place to crash land during a zombie uprising, where would you pick?

If you chose “The African Savannah”, then you know the situation that Lt. Brian Murphy (Rob Freeman), a military engineer finds himself in; stranded in an isolated African country as the Dead begin to rise. Joining up with an AWOL African soldier (Prince David Oseia) who is trying to find his son, the two men trek across barren African lands, on their fight for survival.

Review

I have been looking forward to this movie for what seemed like forever; ever since the first trailers showed up on youtube almost a year ago. Word of mouth coming out of the film festival circuit has been good, bordering on phenomenal. The stories about what went into making this movie would make a compelling story in itself. So when I was lucky enough to catch a screening at ZomBcon in Seattle, I tackled it harder than Ray Lewis on a fourth down blitz. So was it worth the wait?

Well, yes and no…

First, the good news…

In THE DEAD, The Ford Brothers (who wrote, produced and directed) have crafted what might be the most gorgeously shot zombie movie ever. Shot on location in Ghana and Burkina Faso, the cinematography brought the barren and desolate landscape to frightening life. Even without the threat of zombies, the idea of being stranded in such an isolated and unforgiving landscape is a horror unto itself. The colors pop off the screen in a way reminiscent of anything you would see on the Travel Channel. Considering the hassles the film makers experienced while shooting (Military hassles and corrupt Government), what came out on screen is nothing short of extraordinary. This is probably the movie’s strongest point.

The kills were pleasant if a little uninspired. There weren’t any unique kills that hadn’t been seen in other movies. Basically it was Bite, chomp, and moving on. There was precious little, if any CGI used. Lots of practical effects, including the use of real amputees, gave the action a tinge of added realism.

Now, in any zombie flick, the movie is only as strong as the undead. In THE DEAD, The Ford Bros. have created a very realistic zombie. They shamble slowly, seemingly unsure on their feet. It’s nice to see a zombie that actually looks like what a newly risen dead person would look like. They don’t haul ass like 28 days later. They aren’t even as mobile as your typical Romero movie. These zombies shuffle slowly, have limited lateral movement, and aren’t bestowed with any kind of Hollywood add-ons. These are realistic dead, and for that, I’m grateful.

This, however, presents an odd dilemma. The dead are slow and not very mobile, so if you are driving your beat-to-hell truck through the African backcountry and the truck breaks down, just walk. You could probably skip past the zombies without incident. I might be out in left field on this one, but it was something that nagged me throughout the movie, but it wasn’t the movie’s biggest problem.

To my pea brain, the movie committed the biggest cardinal sin as it comes to Zombie movies. It was dull, almost painfully so. I found myself checking my watch repeatedly as the movie entered the third act. It seemed like the movie was essentially a continuous loop of walk-look around-occasional boo scare then repeat. I would have liked the military engineer to act like he was actually in the military and knew how to reconnoiter a building, but it was not meant to be. And, if I may add something here, is it too much to ask to see some African wildlife in a movie filmed in Africa? If I hadn’t stayed through the end credits, I’d have thought the movie was filmed somewhere in the desert. There wasn’t an elephant or antelope in sight. OK, rant over.

The two main actors did a passable job, but didn’t have the chops necessary to carry what was essentially a two-man show. Rob Freeman played the military engineer with a sort of dejected weariness. Starting out shell-shocked after surviving a plane crash, he lacked the gravitas to morph into the solitary crusader that the script called for. Prince David Oseia, playing the AWOL Sgt. Dembele, fairs a little better in his first major film role, but ultimately blended into the scenery. He reminded me a lot of Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator) in the way he delivered his lines.

Overall, I felt the movie’s ambitions and potential far outreached what it accomplished. It was beautifully shot, but fell a little short in the action department. It isn’t anywhere close to “Flight of the Living Dead” levels of suck, but it doesn’t quite reach Classic status either. If you like a more low-key zombie flick, you might find yourself enjoying it. It definitely isn’t for everyone.

2 bites out of 5