Zombie Rampage (1989)

As Good As It Gets

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I can remember buying a VHS copy of this movie back in the 90s at a horror convention. The first time I watched it I was a bit shocked at how horrible the whole thing was. However, I recently saw this again in one of those 50-pack DVD deals. I found myself sadly nostalgic about ZR. I watched it, laughed, cringed and nearly cried. I have to say, Todd Sheets is no George Romero but he is one of the pioneers of the indie horror scene like it or not. He and his VHS movies have a place in Horror film history. I think only die hard indie horror film buffs who were born long enough ago to remember how hard it was to make a movie on VHS can appreciate Todd's work.Todd if you read this, don't go quietly into that dark night. Come back, and come back with a "Rampage!"

Here's one for the record books, A movie that'll make you wonder exactly how bad does this Z-grade Horror stuff get. A movie that makes Hell Of The Living Dead look big-budget, a movie that makes Redneck Zombies look... well, at least a little better. You have officially reached the bottom of the barrel of the Living-Dead sub-genre. It's not too late to turn back.Yeah, Zombie Rampage was definitely shot on video by a fellow named Todd Sheets. If Mr. Sheets were actually known for something, it would be the worlds worst Zombie movie maker. This particular one, possibly being the worst of the worst. This disasterpiece starts out and ends up as incoherent as it could possibly be, which is fine considering the paper-thin plot. Two rival gangs and one's plot to raise its fallen members from the dead. The other gang, believing they'll control them if they raise them first, perform the ritual instead. The zombies, of course, are controlled by no one, and are somehow up and around long before any rituals take place, which is kinda weird, come to think of it. And a whole lotta sound issues, camera issues, continuity issues, screwed-up lines, and not to mention, a rather humorous amount of angry yelling and screaming. With all that said, Zombie Rampage actually turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for, which honestly makes me question my own state of mind.Todd Sheets once said that he considers Zombie Bloodbath, a movie he made four years later, to be his first film, which is completely mind-boggling if you've seen them both, I'll just leave it at that. Sheets may not put it on his resume, but Zombie Rampage, at the very least, is a movie. While even most bad Horror movie lovers might despise this misunderstood garbage, there are redeeming qualities to be had. For example, it's not every day you get to see a baby ripped apart by zombies, as fake-looking as it may have been. And don't even get me started on the gore, there's more than enough to go around. Ultimately, Zombie Rampage is a heart-warming homage to anything from Lucio Fulci's Zombie to Romero's Night Of The Living Dead, Sheets even steals music from them, among others, which is just sad. I'd love to say it's not as bad as it sounds, or as it looks, but the truth is, it is so much worse. Reserved for the ones with zero standards, unlimited patience, and a blinding passion for Living-dead cinema. And remember, regardless of what Todd Sheet's tells you, Zombie Rampage is definitely a movie, and nobody can take that away from it. 7/10

*** This review might contain some minor spoilers that in my opinion won't spoil you all the "fun" *** Zombie Rampage is a very low budget zombie flick with loads of gore, however ,its plot sucks. Morever, its acting is awful and so are the last scenes. It has loads of gore and violence and some nudity which make this film watchable, while its directing is horrible.I have seen Zombie Bloodbath 1 and 2, and I think that they are much better than Zombie Rampage. It seems to me that Zombie Rampage is Todd Sheets' first attempt to direct a solid zombie. I can certainly tell that this attempt has failed miserably.The thing that made me dislike this film was the lack of dominant zombies at its ending. The zombies actually lacked there. There were always "there", but I couldn't any of see them.In a nutshell, Zombie Rampage is a worthless film, I can only recommend it to die hard fans of zombiefests. However, a fan who has been in the field for a while will certainly agree with me on the fact that its ending lacks of zombies and pretty much everything that a good zombie film ought to include. 3/10

The movie was a mess! Being a fan of Todd Sheets movies, I was a little disappointed. I guess I should've been since this was one of his early films. I couldn't hear a lot of what the actors were saying because the sound was horrible. And the zombies were already walking before the gang did their little "spell" to raise the dead. Also, the ending was abrupt. It left you with a disatisfied feeling. I guess I need to find the sequel to see where the first one left off. If it did that at all. I give it a 2 Very confusing. Also, POSSIBLE SPOILER here. And something else offended me about this movie. THEY HAD A BABY RIPPED IN HALF AND EATEN IN IT!!! That was horrible but I guess Todd Sheets wanted to push the envelope and he did. I guess get it if you're a fan of Todd Sheets.