Night of the Dead: Leben Tod (2006)

Thanks for the memories!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

"Night Of The Dead: Leben Tod" is another example of a popular phenomenon of late, the modern B-movie. B-movies were once, of course, cheaply made second films in a theatrical double-feature...they were in fact "real" movies but lacking in budget, solid acting or strong scripts. The fun of these films was finding the gems where someone in the project actually had talent, or something else stood out, despite the limitations. Nowadays, anything shot on film is a "real" movie it seems, whether it plays theatrically or not; real low budget "B-Movie" productions are those shot on high-def video or something similar, with effects and editing care of Final Cut Pro, and independent distribution often going no further than a one-time DVD release. The line is thin--anyone can now make and distribute a "movie" (and, unfortunately, has), or even distribute them, and "Buyer Beware" is the constant warning when searching through the drek for something worth watching."Night Of The Dead" stands out for being remarkably grisly, something that is not hard to pull off if you can afford some rubbery gut effects and pints of fake blood, and if that's all it was it would be memorable enough; however it's also a strangely effective little film.The plot mingles themes from "Re-Animator" and any number of zombie films--a mad doctor has a serum that can bring the dead back to life but the use of this drug has disastrous results. It's really all you need to know going in; this isn't a movie strong on plot.What this one DOES have going for it is some truly horrific gore, in fact the filmmaker revels in it, with gleeful defiance against taste or restraint. Forsberg doesn't hold back in showing knives piercing flesh, hands groping at internal organs, sprays of blood and viscera. There's a nauseating scene involving a zombie frog and a taboo-shattering moment between a mother and daughter that is as sickening as anything I've seen recently, while still somehow managing to stay within the realm of some good taste and avoiding the "torture porn" genre of Eli Roth and company.Forsberg seems to have a good sense of what he's doing; the pace is brisk, the grisly shocks come at regular intervals and build as they go. The acting is slightly above the average for this kind of no-budget affair (there are next to no exterior shots and few establishing shots; ie, no money for location shooting). The effects are weak, but one has to bear in mind, again, this is not a "real" movie, there's only so much one can do on a limited budget and Forsberg more than compensates with interesting themes, tight pacing and editing and the aforementioned buckets of gloppy goo.It is NOT "Re-Animator," or "Dead Alive (aka Brain Damage)" or even close to "Evil Dead." The script needed a lot more work, the characters just aren't interesting or sympathetic and the look of the film, all neon hospital lights, is monotone at best. But it works. I laughed at the outrageousness, reached for my vomit bag more than once and jumped a couple times, and that's saying something for a film that cost me $2 to purchase at the LA County Fair. If you like your low budget horror without restraint on the gore as I do, you could do far worse. I look forward to more from this director, especially if he gets a bigger budget next time.**Also on the DVD is Forsberg's short "It Took Guts," a super-8 student film about a guy who graphically mutilates and eats himself that is, apparently, quite famous underground. I can honestly say it's one of the more disturbing and repulsive things I've seen in awhile and qualifies as "gore porn," existing for no other reason than to be offensive and unpleasant...but I don't hold it against the director, especially if it "worked" and got him noticed!**

I must be in the minority of people who actually like Asylum movies. I try and catch one a month. I got behind, so I O.D.ed last week and rented like six of them. I thought 666:The Child was their worst movie, but now, I have to go with NIGHT OF THE DEAD instead. It's just plain dumb. I don't expect Oscar worthy acting in any genre film, be it big or small budget, but the actors here are just annoying and uninteresting. I was gonna grab ALIEN ABDUCTION, but since it's from the same guy, I think I will pass. Most of the Asylum movies have something else going on; a bit of humor, real scares, cool characters, hot girls with quality nudity etc. This one had nothing really going for it. Even the gross out stuff just looked fake and was poorly shot. Please director, make your movie have a point! Or at least entertain me for 80 minutes. Peter Mervis, Justin Jones, Leigh Scott, and David Latt seem to be the Asylum guys to rent.

Well, not a great flick for the average horror film fan. But if you are obsessed with zombie flicks you will either love or hate this movie. They broke all zombie film rules that Romero took his entire career to create. But it was a likable, humorous b-film if you like the old school straight to TV horror comedies!! Romero would never give this film the time of day - but hey if I were to produce/direct a zombie film - I can't say I would have done a better job. Think Evil Dead but maybe slightly more gore and less entertaining! This film was very slow moving. I couldn't make it to the end I had to turn it off. It was illy in the sense that the zombies weren't your typical Romero zombies - I cant say much more without giving any spoilers. The cinematography and editing had a lot of mistakes, but for a low budget I guess not horrible. For film folks - they broke the 180 line like once or twice in every scene. The acting was not great, but on a low budget you cant afford great actors. The beginning of the film had continuity problems. I was confused after the first five minutes as to what was really going on and there weren't even any zombies yet. In a genre such as horror/zombie flicks you don't want to make the audience think to much in the beginning you want to attract them with an awesomely zomberrific first 10 minutes to keep them glued to the edge of their seats for the rest of the film. But hey if you are like me and you'll watch anything zombie then try it out but you may be better off watching the dawn of the dead original again for your millionth time.

The plot of this outrageous, tongue-in-cheek thriller is fairly predictable. Dr. Schrecklich invents a serum that brings loved ones back to life. Problem is that they come back as flesh-eating ghouls who in turn change their victims into ghouls as well. This film is very well done with excellent acting and production values. There is a tone of dark humor throughout that adds an extra frisson to the clichéd plot. The actors believe in the situations and are obviously having a lot of fun so the audience does too. Special praise must go to David Reynolds as the reprehensible, shaven-headed Gunther. He manages to be creepy, funny, and sexy all at once. See this film and enjoy shivering all over again.