Undead DVD Review

The small, peaceful Australian town of Berkley's beauty queen, Rene (Felicity Mason), is in debt and losing her farm, so she packs her bags and heads to the big city. She blags a lift, but on route there's a freak meteorite shower and they find the road blocked by abandoned cars. The meteorites have bought the dead back to life and in no time the area is swarming with zombies. Rene's driver is bitten and transforms into a zombie then turns his attention to the scrumptious Rene, but she's saved in the nick of time by triple barrel shotgun wielding loner, Marion (Mungo McKay). She follows Marion to his shack in the woods, where they're joined by the few survivors of the undead spawning meteorites; the unhinged Police Sergeant Harrison (Dirk Hunter) and his constable Molly (Emma Randall) and light aircraft pilot Wayne (Rob Jenkins) with his pregnant wife Sallyanne (Lisa Cunningham). The group fight off hoards of zombies before trying to escape the carnage in Marion’s van. They drive off only discover an enormous spiked wall is surrounding the town. The survivors have to find a way out but zombies, aliens and acid rain all stand in their way.

Peter and Michael Spierig's directorial debut is a bizarre comedy horror sci-fi adventure that starts off straightforward enough, with a satisfying blend of zombie gore and twisted humour, then develops into a surreal tale of extra terrestrials and abductions. Mungo McKay's Marion steals the show with his Grisly Adams meets Ash character, skillfully handling his assorted firearms and fist fighting zombie fish. The rest of the cast deliver decent performances too, with the comely Felicity Mason providing eye candy. For a self financed low budget film, Undead looks fantastic, especially considering many of the special effects were created at home on computers, and Cliff Bradley's fine score adds the finishing touches. Undead is a great mixture of sick laughs, blood n’ guts and head-scratching weirdness. I for one can't wait to see what the Spierig brothers come up with next.

Undead. 2003

Directed by Michael and Peter Spierig