'The Dead And The Damned II'
(Richard Tyson, Robert Tweten, Christopher Kriesa, et al / DVD / R / 2014 / Inception Media Group)
Overview: In this high-octane sequel, in a savage land where zombies roam freely, Lieutenant Colonel Sawyer is armed with machine guns, body armor and adrenaline-pumping fearlessness. On a mission to give his fallen family a burial at sea, he must first enter a quarantined, infected zone and fight through hordes of bloodthirsty zombies before reaching the coast.
DVD Verdict: Army Lt Colonel Sawyer (Robert Tweten) is on a quest. He needs to scatter the ashes of his wife in the ocean during the zombie apocalypse because ... well, without that we don't have much of a story, to be quite frank! Anyway, along the way he meets a few people, including Stephanie (Iren Levy) a deaf mute who can scream occasional words, but can't talk!
Yup, she is also the only other developed character in this sequel to a movie that used to be called, 'Cowboys & Zombies'! We discover the cause of the zombie outbreak and get a generic class warfare speech to boot at the end of the film ... in case you cared, or were still actually watching at that late stage!
So yes, this movie is low budget (no budget, clearly at some stages!) and as for the zombies, well I prefer shambling zombies that are unable of running and zombies that doesn't sound like marauding lions from the sound they do make! But that's just me, of course. So, for me, that was a real bummer in the movie. The zombies also had that classic, low-budget-way-too-gray make-up on their faces, and for some reason their blood was green. And I just loved how the blood would spray up into the air whenever a zombie was shot, and then the blood simply just dissipated into thin air!
Effects-wise, then 'The Dead And The Damned II' wasn't actually too shabby. The zombies, aside from the lame sounds and the gray-skin, actually looked decent enough and the effects were alright. The setting of the movie was also quite good and believable, aside from the poor choice of music, which seemed really unsuitable for such a genre of flick. So, OK, the film is not totally terrible, but it is full of lazy clichés. It's watchable, if you think you can bear another low-budget zombie film. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1:77.1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.
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