(2010)
****
In the midst of the zombie apocalypse, two men, one American engineer, one African soldier, travel north through the country in an attempt to find a plane, and the soldier's son.
Of all the zombie movies I've seen, this one comes the closest to invoking Romero's style and spirit. The zombies are painfully slow and non-threatening. The horror comes more from surviving the journey than the flesh-eaters. The really neat thing about this film, is although the environment is just as daunting as the zombies, the cinematography is beautiful. I've never seen a film that has made me say, "Wow, I'd like to visit Africa!" But this one comes close. Filmed mostly in Sierra Leone, The Dead, makes the country look beautiful, which contrasts sharply with the desperation these two characters feel. 90% of the film is focused on just these two characters, and they give very good performances as seeming simultaneously hopeful and desperate.
A sequel is on VOD, which contains none of the original cast members, and takes place in India. Basically, I'm assuming it's a remake type of sequel. Hopefully, I'll get to it before 'thon ends.
7 comments:
Welcome to the party, Trevor! Wow, I've never heard of this movie. How is it possible that the title "The Dead" was never used before? I'm happy to hear that this is a fresh take on zombies because I'm a bit tired of the genre. Nice find!
Welcome back Trevor! Tony and I watched this a couple years ago. We felt the same way you did it was a fantastic film. Great review.
Yay, Trevor is on the board! Sounds like a great first film, nice find!
Excellent review--I definitely want to check this one out.
Sounds like a must-see!
Welcome Trevor! JPX and I were a little worried that you hadn't posted yet.
That's a good point JPX. For all the various prefixes: "Night of the living, Dawn of the, Apocalypse of the, Day of the, Rise of the," etc., Nobody ever just went with The Dead. I know it's the title of a James Joyce book that there's been a movie of, but I can't say that's the definitive reason for not using the title.
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