From Spierigfilm comes a sci-fi/ horror film, with a touch of comedy in the right places titled- Undead. Undead (released 2003) is an Australian film that boasts originality and creativity - especially considering the extremely low budget and its cast of nearly unknown actors. The movie itself started with a series of short films by the same name as the feature length film. When the Spierig brothers decided to make a full-blown movie, they first mocked the entire thing up in animation on their computer as well as sketched storyboards. Obviously this helped solidify the concept of the film with the cast and crew, resulting in a film that can stand toe-to-toe with the best horror films Hollywood has to offer this year.

The movie takes place in the quiet, happy town of Berkeley, where a meteor shower carrying a zombie plague strikes the entire town and forces the six remaining survivors to try to escape to safety. The cast of characters, although uniquely different, definitely add to the plot in there own strange ways.

The lead actress Rene (Felicity Mason) has recently won the local "Miss Catch of the Day" crown, but has also lost her family house to the bank. Fed up, she decides to leave town but gets trapped by the zombie townsfolk of Berkeley, which force her to the farmhouse of the gun toting survivalist Marion (Mungo Mckay) - the local town nut who claims he was abducted by aliens a few months prior. They are soon joined by the local pilot Wayne (Rob Jenkins) and his pregnant wife Sallyane (Lisa Cunningham) who is the previous Miss Catch of the Day. Rounding out the group of survivors are the local police: Molly (Emma Randal) - who is undoubtedly having a bad first day, and her commander Harrison (Dirk Hunter). Both leave you with little respect for the local police.

I'd have to say that for someone newer to film, Mungo Mckay, who plays Marion, makes for a great action character. His calmness in all situations (whether shooting zombies or just knowing how to survive when forced to) shows his ability to act. I'm also quite impressed with the lead actress playing Rene (Felicity Mason) - she really convinced you of her character's growing inner-strength that develops throughout the film.

This movie proves you don't need a big budget and the latest in special effects technology to make an exceptional film. In this, their first film, the Spierig Brothers (Peter and Michael) show great talent by not only directing, producing and writing Undead, but also creating most of the special effects at home on their own computers. A lack of money not only forced them to use their personal truck in this film, it also forced them to build there own camera dolly (and if that's what helped them with the excellent cinematography found in this movie, maybe they should share it with others).

The movie is obviously great and the Extras on the Undead DVD are the icing on the cake. The movie extras include; Behind the scenes-with cast and crew interviews, the making of Undead, homemade dolly construction video, animatic to film comparison, trailers, deleted and extended scenes, a Saw 2 preview and more.

All in all i found this film to be original horror survival film with a good plot, some very great action scenes, some key special effects moments, good overall acting and dialog. I don't have any qualms about recommending it to anyone who likes zombie movies and wants to see one with some new style and twists.

Important Details:

Street Date: 10/11/05

DVD SRP: $27.98

Rating: Rated R for strong violence and gore and for language

Genre: Horror

Closed Captioned: English

Format: Widescreen

DVD Running Time: 104 Minutes

The Cast:

Felicity Mason

Mungo McKay

Rob Jenkins

Lisa Cunningham

DVD Extras:

Crew Commentary, Cast Commentary, "Making of" Featurette, Zombies Internet Featurette, "Midnight Madness" Toronto Film Festival Screening, Camera and Make-Up Tests, Homemade Dolly Construction Video, Animatic to Film Comparison, Deleted and Extended Scenes, Artwork and more.

More Information:

• Undead Official Site