Undead (2003)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Directors:

Michael Spierig
Peter Spierig

Writers:

Michael Spierig (writer)
Peter Spierig (writer)

Release Date:

4 September 2003 (Australia)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Prepare Yourself

Plot:

A quaint Australian fishing village is overcome by meteorites that turn its residents into the ravenous undead, leaving a small group of those unharmed to find a way out.

Plot Keywords:

Meteorite | Living Dead | Plague | Undead | Zombie

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Felicity Mason	...	Rene
Mungo McKay	...	Marion
Rob Jenkins	...	Wayne
Lisa Cunningham	...	Sallyanne
Dirk Hunter	...	Harrison
Emma Randall	...	Molly
Steve Grieg	...	Agent
Noel Sheridan	...	Chip
Gaynor Wensley	...	Aggie
Eleanor Stillman	...	Ruth
Robyn Moore	...	Officer in Locker Room
Robert Jozinovic	...	Man in Office
Peter Mensforth	...	Cricket Batsman
Jacob Andriolo	...	Yougn Cricketer
Michele Steel	...	Screamer

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and gore, and for language.

Runtime:

Australia:104 min | Canada:100 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:97 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | USA:R | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Queensland, Australia

Company:

Spierigfilm

Trivia:

During the beginning of the film, the man that Rene speaks to has a name-tag that reads Marvin "Chip" Chipperson. When he is a zombie later in the film his name tag reads Marvin "Chip" Marvinson.

Goofs:

Continuity: Officer Harrigan fires 14 rounds out of a six-shot revolver.

Quotes:

Marion: ...time is short. So you gotta ask yourself: Are you a fighter, Fish Queen, or are you zombie food?

Movie Connections:

References Utu (1983)

Soundtrack:

Little Green Men

Another great splatter horror film from the Southern Hemisphere!

Another great splatter horror film from the Southern Hemisphere! It is so rare these days to set eyes upon a film that is not subjected to the boring, rehashed, commercially-hungry, modern American sub-genre of horror movies such as Cabin Fever and a host of recent slasher movies that try, beyond hope, to scare or shock the viewer by throwing as much blood and fast camera movement ("Boo, are you scared?") at the screen, with little to no success. Undead finally gets back to the roots of true splatter horror in a way that would make Jackson and Raimi proud and is a superb treat to the mature viewer who has grown up with these classics and is not simply into gratuitous pure shock-value.

Undead is "cheesy" and off-the-cuff. It pays hommage to a number of cult classics out there such as Romero's Trilogy of the Dead (the isolated farmhouse from NotLD, "Let's shop!" from Dawn and the police powerplay from Day), Raimi's Evil Dead ("Join us!"), Jackson's Braindead (the shovel in the bank manager's head) and Bad Taste (the alien contingent and appearance).

Do not expect great acting (though I am sure these actors are more than capable of doing so) or a totally original script (though the ending was actually quite unusual and surprised me), for this is not what this film is about. It is about having a fun 2 hours and, in my opinion, rewarding the fans of cult classic splatter horror (and hopefully introducing a number of younger individuals to this fantastic genre).

Not a great film, but a fun (non-American, something that is so rare these days) film!