Dead & Deader is a film that was actually a made for television movie that premiered on the Sci-fi channel. Yes I know the sci-fi channel does pump out a lot of films that many people don’t care for. However Dead & Deader is actually a diamond in the ruff. Well maybe not a diamond, but it’s a decent little film.
Dead & Deader stars Dean Cain as special forces Lt. Bobby Quinn, whom after raiding a lab with his special forces team, becomes the only survivor after a terrible explosion. However when Bobby is rescued and bought back to base. The medical staff does not know what is wrong with him. He has no vital signs, and yet he is still alive, but has a craving for raw meat. However unlike your conventional zombie; Bobby is able to talk and be somewhat civil with everyone. But he needs to eat some raw meat every now and then in order to keep his cool. Anyway Bobby’s buddies are not so lucky, as they come back as your normal (think Dawn of the Dead 2004) zombies. When things get bad in the base kitchen, which results in a few deaths and some zombie heads blown off. Bobby and the base cook played by Guy Torry are arrested for murder. But as always they escape the base and set out to find the source of the virus. They meet some chick named Holly in a bar, who sees first hand what the zombies can do. And bam our trio is on the hunt for the creator of the virus and where it comes from (which is from a mutilated scorpion) and they end up back at the base for the fight of their lives.
So yes in a nutshell Dead & Deader is your basic zombie film, but unlike most low budget zombie films, which seem to be popping up every day; Dead & Deader in all of it’s B-movie glory is actually fun and entertaining to watch. The story can be a bit slow at some parts and there are plenty of lines in the script that would make one roll their eyes, but their are also some great comedy one liners thrown in their by Guy Torry as well. One can argue that the script has many flaws that make the over all film just plan bad. But for once I kind of overlooked the way the script was put together and just enjoyed it for what it was.
The acting is not the best, I’ll be the first to admit that. Guy Torry pretty much is the show stealer in this film, because it’s mainly his comedic one liners that break the tension and help make this film the movie that it is. Dean Cain is not all that bad, as is some of the other leads actors, but the majority of the time, you can tell that the cast was just having fun making this film and that the serious acting went right out the window.
As far as special effects go, the film has a lot of cheap looking zombie effects, but it also has some good decent zombie effects as well. I understand that some times budget is an issue on these films, so the zombies that have close ups always look better than the ones that don’t. However some of the body parts used in the movie looked very fake, and there is even a point where you can tell the guy playing the zombie in once scene was having trouble pulling off the rubber finger on the other actors hand. So the effects in the film are kind of up and down, but I personally think that you’ll just see past that because of the films entertaining value.
Overall, I can’t say that Dead and Deader is a well made film, because it has it’s issues on the technical aspect and within the script. However I did find the film to be very entertaining in that B-movie kind of way, which is the reason why I’m giving it a three star rating. So if you up for some great B-movie entertainment, Dead & Deader has enough gore and great laughs to please any fan of the genre. Just don’t expect this film to be some great achievement in cinema. Because that; It’s not!
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
