NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: RESURRECETION

Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection (18)

Director: James Plumb
Screenplay: James Plumb, Andrew Jones
Starring: Sarah Louise Madison, Sabrina Dickens

When the Sun Goes Down, the Terror Begins



“Night of the Living Dead” is a funny old franchise. Obviously the 1968 original movie by George Romero, is quite rightly hailed as a bona-fide classic, and is the “Daddy” of all modern zombie movies. However, due to a massive cock-up by the distributors, the film entered the public domain. This meant that boot-leg copies became rife and poor old George was diddled out of deserved royalties. It also meant that anybody could purloin the title itself and use it for remakes or flimsily-connected stories. Whilst Romero’s “Dead” films continued on their merry way, we got alternative versions of the original. 



On the plus side it meant that Tom Savini (the FX genius) could do a reverential remake of the film in 1990, which is actually really good and unfairly forgotten. We also got “Return of the Living Dead” (1985), which at least had its own style and didn’t discredit the classic. On the negative side, we’ve had Jeff Broadstreet’s “Night of the Living Dead 3D” (2006) and its prequel which suck badly, despite starring such talented actors as Sid Haig and Jeffrey Combs. Now we have an altogether different branch of the living dead family. “Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection” is a UK take on the story.

Whilst we are used to seeing the zombie apocalypse take part in the USA, or in a major city like London (See “Shaun of the Dead” & “Cockneys vs. Zombies”), this is actually set in Wales. We know the zombie apocalypse is starting because a bloke walks into a newsagent and the headlines scream “The Dead Rise” and “Rabid Grannies bit my baby!” (I’m not making that up by the way…). This doesn’t really seem to have sunk in with the welsh locals though. A gang of chavvy teenagers (incidentally, these are the oldest looking teenagers you’ll see outside of the original “Beverly Hills 90210”!) threaten a local, which ends with most of them getting exactly what they deserve. The film then focuses on a driver trying to escape the inner-city chaos. Once he reaches a farmhouse, there’s a (actually quite impressive and brave) plot twist, and the film then concentrates on an insular family, who are hiding out in the farmhouse trying to make sense of what’s going on. But there’s danger within, zombies are congregating outside, and the survivors of that elderly Welsh street-gang might make a re-appearance.

I wanted to like this. I really did. Some of the zombie make-up is quite impressive for such a low budget. It’s also obvious that the director/writer of the film, James Plumb, has an obvious love and knowledge of the original film. The driver is called Ben (lead character from the original), and he tries to get in touch with a woman called Barbara, which inevitably leads to the classic line “I’m coming to get you Barbara!”. He also has the “Living Dead” girl from the original poster as wallpaper on his phone. Two of the characters have t-shirts with “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “I’ve got wood” (“Shaun of the Dead”). Also, the skewed camera angles and the synthy soundtrack, emulates the atmosphere from the original (either that or he’s a fan of the 60’s “Batman” TV series…).

But … it just doesn’t really work. Once the story settles down with the Welsh family in the farmhouse, things start to go awry. The family patriarch (defends the house with his gun and his impressively bushy eyebrows. However he refuses to acknowledge the obvious danger by locking up zombified relations, with the ludicrous mantra that “They’re still family”. In fact it’s the sort of film where, when a family member dies, they all congregate in the kitchen and make a brew. No wonder the yanks think we’re obsessed with tea! Also, some of the dialogue is laugh-out loud material, albeit in an unfortunate and (presumably) unintentional way. When speaking with her Bible-Bashing grandfather, one woman says “Do you think this is the Apocalypse?” “I dunno for sure”, he replies, “but it sounds like it might be.” Really? Another zinger occurs when zombies are starting to amass around the house and one person has already died. “How’s Gramps?” says one person. “He’s sleeping”, says the Mother, “It must be all the excitement.” Well, no shit Sherlock!! Suffering from a zombie bite? No problem! “We’ll get you lying on the floor, that’ll help”. The Father also takes the opportunity to tell the girls to stop biting their nails … as the end of the world approaches!

Ultimately the film is a bit of a disappointment. The acting is generally hammy, and the soap-opera shenanigans within the family are annoying and unnecessary. The film is also incredibly nihilistic and must be undoing years of good work by the Welsh tourist board. Apparently come the zombie apocalypse, Welsh (Thirty-Something) teenagers will still try to nick cars, get pissed, and perform home invasions, as well as taking time-out for torture sessions! And the volunteer army members aren’t much better. Nice area you live in. I don’t know about you, but if the zombie virus does take hold, I’m running like hell from Wales and going to London or Pittsburgh! 

A sequel to the movie called “Revelations” (what is it about that title and zombie movies + games?) is in the works. The director is also currently filming another horror remake in Wales (“Silent Night, Bloody Night”) for release this year. I just hope that both films improve upon this initial outing…
DVD Extras: Director’s commentary.

Some hammy performances and unintentionally hilarious dialogue prevent the movie from working. Heavy handed metaphors around family loyalties and man’s- inhumanity-to-man don’t help either…