Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis (2005)

Overrated and overhyped

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I will give them credit for have a few references to the films from he beginning. I will also give them credit for making cool zombies. I will then give one more piece of credit to the fact that they referenced an old joke from the first movie. But that is it. Other than that, the movie was not that good. The first half of the film was just boring with bad dialog. The second half had the action and it was decent. The story made sense, but was not really focused on in the movie. One thing that really made me mad as a person who loves zombies. The zombies in this film could be killed by getting shot in the chest. That ruins the whole thing. Now they did have different type of zombies. Ones that were bitten were really smart, could even talk if they were only bitten a little. Then you have stupid zombies. Then there is another type of zombie that does not make sense at all, but you will have to watch the movie to see them. The cast was half and half. Some could act, others needed to die sooner in the film. I love the Return of the Living Dead movies and this one was not a good add on to the others.

This is one to point and laugh. Ironically if you're not a fan of schlocky b-horror, affectionately if you are. I am and had fun with the stupidity herein. A young guy running a motocross bike has a minor accidenet, is transported to the hospital, only to be proclaimed dead to his friends. In the bizarro-world the movie takes place, a hospital can proclaim you dead without having to worry about producing a body. His friends discover he's alive, kept by a villainous mega-corporation who conducts mysterious medical experiments. This is the type of film where a bunch of friends huddle over a laptop to "hack" into a company's system. There's some gun-crazed splatter zombie action in the second half, and Necropolis makes concessions to the legacy of its franchise by having zombies (not Tarman though) bellow "BRRrrainsss!", a zombie picks up a phone to say "Send more security guards" in obvious homage and the familiar gooey green ooze leaking from barrels is the source of bodily evil, but in tone and feel, this is far from the Return of the Living Dead films we loved. The ROTLD films were no Romero to begin with, but they had a campy 80's edge I could appreciate. This is MST3K. Watch it for a laugh.

> More than 20 years have passed since John Russo's feud with George Romero finally spawned his uniquely comic take on the zombie genre; but whilst 1988's Part 2 kept the spirit of the original alive, and the third instalment took an unusual but welcome departure that in essence paved the way for smoulderingly sexy undead-anti-heroines in the early 90s (not least Resident Evil's Alice), the most recent additions to the franchise would well leave anybody that may have questioned the quality of Romero's work in light of Diary of the Dead feeling that their criticism was groundless when this is what's being produced as an alternative. > It's literally only minutes before we get our first glimpse at what we're all eagerly anticipating from a series that last got a sequel when plaid was still in fashion, and surely enough the characteristically B-Movie approach to horror storytelling is present and correct as those ill-fated barrels fall once more into the hands of a malevolent weapons developer whose intentions are for his paymasters world domination at any cost. The predictable narrative focuses around Julian (John Keefe), a High school student who in the company of his arson obsessed younger brother (Alexandru Geoana), have lost both their parents during their employ at Hybra Tech: a veritable Walmart meets the Soylent Corporation amalgamation whose unhealthy yet secretive interest in the undead inevitably leads to trouble for all concerned. Of course what nobody could have possibly seen from a mile away was that the same malevolent weapons developer just happens to be Uncle Charles (Peter Coyote), the primary care giver to the unfortunately doomed orphans who fall into his care. > However despite this perfectly acceptable, albeit far-fetched re-introduction to the series, the request for "brains" from cloudy eyed monsters begins to fade like a distant memory while we, the viewing audience, are pushed back from the edge of our seats and are forced to endure the monotonous antics of a predictably clichéd menagerie of practically indistinguishable teenagers as they attempt to sloppily lay down the building blocks of a decidedly familiar world permeated in all facets by the series unscrupulous answer to Resi's Umbrella Corporation. Queue one minor motorcycle accident later involving Julian's bestest bud (Elvin Dandel), and his reportedly suspicious death leads our hapless heroes to dig a little deeper, finding that he is in fact alive and well in the custody of Uncle Charles. Sure enough this leads them to discover the nature of his ungodly "research", and to Necropolis, as well as the realisation that the death of Julian's parents may not have been so accidental after all. > Of course what I have failed to mention thus far is that the story is excruciatingly slow to get started, and despite an initial offering, it feels like some considerable time before we really get another glimpse of any action; a tremendous downfall for a movie that has one primary responsibility in that it should be ready to deliver hordes of zombies from as early as feasibly possible. Even when the so-called action can be said to begin when the startling gravity of the situation first strikes our heroes, a moment that most films of the genre share, the resulting confrontation left a questionable taste in my mouth as what is usually a tense and horrifying moment as moral deliberation by usually peaceful everymen is quickly outweighed by the need to survive, was instead replaced by an eagerness to seemingly murder two eccentric hobos in a sewer without ascertaining the danger they posed. Even this moment was fairly lacklustre however with no member of the cast looking remotely fazed by exploding heads or the possibility of walking corpses. Their reactions here were largely indicative of their portrayal throughout the entire piece, and left me yearning for the over-the-top and cartoonish frolics offered by O'Bannon's original. > Even quicker than a reanimated body can suck out the innards of a skull, it became painfully clear very early in proceedings that everything that was so lovable about the original instalment has been entirely lost; replaced instead with a moodier and more serious atmosphere that not only feels artificial and ultimately prevents an audience from being drawn in, but that fans simply do not expect. However even this unsuccessful change in style and execution thereof does nothing to distract from rudimentary problems stemming from the bland and mediocre dialogue as the cast of forgettable no-names, with as much acting prowess on screen as your average High School drama class, go through the motions as they churn out their lines without an iota of impact. > Overall what we see on screen is dull and predictable, and what action there is on offer is largely samey and unimpressive. Attempts to cover up this failing and educe some tension with a heavy-metal soundtrack are laughable, and not unlike the amateurish offerings from 17 year olds found in almost any Media class. It is only fair to say that for what was clearly a low-budget production many of the special effects were passable if not a little underwhelming, and the zombie make-up was to a far greater standard than I had expected. I even managed to squeeze out an otherwise suppressed titter when an homage to the original reared its head when one of the ghouls used a radio to request that someone "send more security guards" as the outbreak finished snacking on the clerk at the front desk. In short however, Return of the Living Dead IV: Necropolis can be described as nothing more than a thoughtless by-the-numbers Resi knock-off executed by a director with limited experience and stunted vision as attempts are made to cash-in once more on a tired series. I get the distinct sense that the fifth instalment, filmed simultaneously as its numerical predecessor, will be just as disappointing. I dare say I will find out shortly enough as much like the waning zombie genre itself, I am a glutton for punishment

A ruthless organization (which manufactures everything from cheese to napalm) has a deadly secret...they're keeping zombies for some reason. And the teenagers of the town unite to bring down the company when they take one of their injured friends to the compound.I had a headache watching this film. Seriously, I developed a headache while trying to stomach this filth. There's nothing about this film that's decent, except for the girls, but what else would you expect from a cheaply made, horribly acted horror film? And the fact that the 'star' of the film is a Harvard graduate in real life? Is the job market so bad that a Harvard grad has to settle for this film?