Dead Meat (2004)

Director: Conor McMahon

Synopsis: A Mad Cow epidemic spreads to humans in the Irish countryside.

My Take: At first I was skeptical of a zombie outbreak due to a mutated mad cow strain. And then when a stuffed cow kills a farmer in the opening scene, I was about to shut the movie off, but for the fact that I was laughing too hard. Then the movie got started.

As Helena (Marián Araújo) tells her boyfriend as they are driving on a lonely road, the countryside is beautiful. What a great setting for terror and mayhem. It gets going fairly quick and the pace of the movie holds up throughout. The last fifteen minutes or so are pretty intense. The awesome ending is icing on this delicious cake.

The camera work is imaginative and brilliant. The acting was fine (but it could be the thick accents that made it seem that way). McMahon, who also wrote this feature, gave the characters a lot of depth. Helena is very dynamic. At the start she seems to be the typical , scared weakling in high heels. Surely she will die early.... Or did I judge her too soon? (I made a point to emphasize her heels, as did the director in a curious camera angle. Keep an EYE on those heels!)

This movie had all the zombie essentials. A good amount of ACTION, with the best scene saved for last. ORIGINALITY in story and setting. INVENTIVE kills and decapitations (NOT ONE GUN WAS USED IN THE MAKING OF THIS FILM). And - a must for any horror movie - an excellent SCORE (by John Gillooley), which fit so perfectly. Also, a little bit of COMEDY never hurts.

I really liked the group of survivors in this one. Finally, a bunch of smart people in a zombie crisis! Everyone is self-reliant and resourceful. The guy and his wife are kinda nuts but it is funny.

The Rundown:

• Best Death: Vacuum + Eyeball + Brains= That filter is gonna be clogged....
• Creepiest Moment: Though I am still not completely comfortable about the whole cow thing, a bunch of zombies SLEEPING (!?) while standing in a field is pretty eerie.
• Funniest Moment: The little fat girl getting stuck while trying to climb through the fence was pretty hilarious.

Rating:

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Director: George A. Romero


Synopsis: On the heels of the outbreak that started in Night of the Living Dead, two soldiers, a helicopter pilot, and a woman head to a mall in their helicopter. First they must bunker in, then collect supplies from the stores in the mall. They almost have everything under control when a band of marauders come to ransack the mall.

My Take: Unlike the 2004 remake, the zombies have swarmed the mall, adding to the danger and overall creepiness of this film. I also like how Romero decided to tell the story over a longer period of time (rather than one night in Night). Much more stuff was able to happen.

This is my favorite in Romero's Dead series and is one of my favorite zombie flicks of all time. The characters had more time to assess the situation they were in, and this really didn't cause the movie to drag. They were smart (for the most part). If something like a zombie outbreak is going down, the mall makes a nice temporary base of operation. We see the characters getting through all the types of obstacles you might imagine they would face.

The Rundown:

• Worst part: The young soldier pissed me off. I am surprised the others didn't let him fend for himself after he kept acting like a fool.
• I saw that coming: The helicopter pilot teaches his girlfriend to fly the helicopter. I'll bet THAT comes in handy...

Rating: