Shatter Dead DVD Review

Shatter Dead begins with the Angel of Death, who’s an ample breasted winged female, fecundating a mortal woman. 17 months later, Susan (Stark Raven) is trying to travel to her boyfriend, Dan (Larry "smalls" Johnson), through a world populated by zombies. The undead have no appetite for human flesh, they spend their time begging on street corners and some try to pass themselves off as the living. After having the fuel stolen, Susan’s car grinds to a halt along a quiet road, where a preacher man (Robert Wells) and his dead followers, commandeer her car. She makes it to a neighbourhood where she is given shelter in a safe house. She shares a room with another young woman named Mary (Flora Fauna), who has taken her own life so that her youth and beauty would remain forever. Unfortunately for Mary, Susan has other ideas and sets about redecorating her physiognomy. Susan eventually makes it to her boyfriend’s apartment where she faces the nightmare of being a mortal in a world of zombies.

Shatter Dead is a real enigma. It suffers from the limitations imposed on film makers on a very tight budget, the quality of the performances and the special effects are sometimes a little rough around the edges, but despite these shortcomings, Scooter McCrae has created a fascinating, nihilistic, often surreal and thought provoking horror tale. The plight of the dead is intriguing and handled well; they don’t age but injuries sustained never heal. As Mary says to Susan while receiving some serious head trauma from her: "I'm sorry but I’m not up there. It’s not the brain but the soul". Also, the problems that the newly dead gentleman faces with the lack of penile blood flow are dealt with in an resourceful manner. Theology, the ephemerality of humanity and immortality are themes that are skillfully woven into this existentialist story. This is one of those rare movies that leaves you thinking about it long after the memory of any visual imperfections has faded. S.J.T.

Shatter Dead. 1994

Directed by Scooter McCrae.