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[Brain Dead]
Plot:The story of six people caught in the unusual predicament of being stranded in a deserted fishing lodge with a host of alien-infected, mutant amoeba-controlled zombies at their doorstep.
Cast:Joshua Benton,
David Crane,
Andy Forrest,
Chad Guerrero,
Elizabeth Lambert,
Greg Lewolt,
Tess McVicker,
Dennis Michael Tenney,
Michelle Tomlinson,
Jim Wynorski.
My Thoughts:Vintage Tenney.
Review:"Brain Dead" falls into the category of "shlock horror". The film is by Kevin Tenney, who directed the old "Night Of The Demons" movie from way back in the day. So it has a lot of his influences within it. The film is a simple, scifi/horror indie, that isn't shy about sex, blood, gore, nudity, or morbid humor. Again...much like Tenney's "Night Of The Demons" wasn't either. "Brain Dead" follows a small spacecraft which crashlands on earth. The creature inside then begins taking over peoples bodies, and using them to do the same to others.
The creature feeds on brain matter, and then creates a black, gooey-like liquid, which it vomits onto other people. This in turn, turns them into killer zombies also. Like I said, a simple storyline, but it works for this type of movie. After all, it's a Tenney film, and it's supposed to be camp, cheese, all of those things. The characters in the film are a very diverse mix also. We get two escaped cons, two female campers with very contrasting personalities, a perverted traveling preacher and his bubble-headed female companion, and a female ranger.
It's actually one of those rare horror movies where the number of females in main lead roles, outnumber the guys. The movies flow is kind of disjointed at times, with some of the "alien infected" people disappearing for long periods of time, but most of this can be over-looked considering the human characters play off of each other well enough and the movies humor is quite strong. The kills of the film are also typical Tenney, very over-the-top, bloody, gory, and very graphic.
We get heads ripped off, smashed to pieces, brains eaten, etc. So if you like your horror/scifi movies or horror movies in general graphic and gory, "Brain Dead" would be one to see. And because it's a Tenney film, the gore effects are very indie, very 80s, and very practical. In fact, "Brain Dead"...when looking at it as a 2010 release, it's so old-school and throwback influenced, that it could've come out in the late 80's and no one would know the difference. Beyond the camerawork, which is a lot less grainy than it was years ago, this movie literally looks like a film that was transported here from two decades ago. That's how 80's influenced it looks and feels.
And it also boasts that typical gore film storyline of a group of mismatched people, having to band together in extreme circumstances, to battle something otherwordly. All of them holed up inside a cabin deep in the woods, as the monsters rapidly approach. Thus, it's a waiting game as we watch and see them get picked off one by one, and wonder who will be next. This all culminates with what's happening inside the cabin, as the strong personalities of those inside begin to conflict with one another. And soon it seems at some point that some of the people might be better off outside with the monsters.
Then again...when it all breaks down, you might be surprised at who steps up to take on the creaturistic threat. "Brain Dead", like any film...does have weak spots though. Which mostly come from the acting. Some of the actors don't perform as well as others. But their performances aren't a total disaster or anything, but you can certainly pick out, and separate the better actors in the movie from the not-so-good ones. "Brain Dead" ends on quite a comedic note, but still includes that exciting final battle element that any good monster movie needs to make it's finale viable and worth watching. "Brain Dead" is a film for true indie horror afficionados. If you're not into the low-budget gore stuff, you might wanna skip it.
Positives:Good script, great blood, gore, and high gross-out factor. Nice finale also.
Negatives:Some of the acting was weak in a few areas.
Overall:Two and a half out of four stars.
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