Unlikely to satisfy horror fans...but the Spierigs might have a future in this genre if they put more effort and imagination into their scripts.
Undead (2005)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:73
Fresh:21
Rotten:52
Average Rating:4.3/10
Consensus: This low-budget homage to the zombie genre borrows heavily from superior predecessors and revels in a pile of its own campiness -- neither original nor watchable enough to entertain.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong violence and gore, and for language.
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Jul 1, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: Australian brothers Michael and Peter Spierig directed this entry in the flesh-eating zombie genre, a full-on gore and gag fest, outback style. The plot finds local beauty contest winner Rene... Australian brothers Michael and Peter Spierig directed this entry in the flesh-eating zombie genre, a full-on gore and gag fest, outback style. The plot finds local beauty contest winner Rene (Felicity Mason), about to head out of her isolated lakeside hometown to the big city when a meteor shower animates some corpses, with the usual grisly results. She and some other survivors hole up in an old farmhouse owned by the taciturn antihero, Marion (Mungo McKay), who likes performing slow motion back flips while blasting the heads of zombies with his endless supply of .45 automatics. When everyone tires of shouting at each other they try and escape the endless zombie onslaught in Marion's van, only to run into a giant, spike-covered wall blocking the road out of town. If that's not enough, there's the problem of acid rain (resulting in the need for the foxy Rene to remove her over garments) and random alien abductions of insects, livestock, and supporting actors. Shot on digital video with an array of surprisingly convincing (for its obvious low budget) special effects, the film plants its forked tongue firmly in cheek as it references other Aussie gross-out hits like Peter Jackson's BAD TASTE and DEAD ALIVE, as well as midnight favorites like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. Highlights include a fight scene involving some undead fish, and a hair-raising twist ending. While it's more satiric and self-mocking than genuinely scary, there are still some major shocks and youngsters might blanche at the plethora of gore and severed body parts. [More]
Starring: Felicity Mason, Mungo McKay, Rob Jenkins, Lisa Cunningham
Starring: Felicity Mason, Mungo McKay, Rob Jenkins, Lisa Cunningham, Dirk Hunter, Emma Randall
Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Screenwriter: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Producer: Peter Spierig, Michael Spierig
Composer: Cliff Bradley
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Get This Movie
Reviews for Undead
The Spierig brothers' horror comedy has some twists of its own and a fine pair of heroes in beauty-queen Rene (Felicity Mason) and stoic action-man Marion (Mungo McKay).
Watching it is a smidgen like listening to the same monkey-walks- into-a-bar joke for the 105th time, but for the Spierig brothers, it is clearly a demonstration of fast-cheap capabilities and a one-way ticket straight out of Queensland.
Directors Peter and Michael Spierig have a tendency to push the performances into camp, but that energy and slapstick mayhem helps keep the film racing along.
It's downright boring for an hour, then picks up, at least visually, when the zombified are hauled into space and hung there as if in a cosmic closet.
An amusingly outrageous Australian variation on the familiar zombie theme, played mostly for laughs.
What the movie lacks in clarity it makes up for in gallons of campy gore. Undead sure ain't art, but it sure is fun.
No amount of Zombie Rules can explain a movie like this, or the recent filmmaker fascination with a creaky old genre.
...so amateurish and unimaginative, the big mystery is why anybody bothered to put it in theaters. It's the first horror film that's shot like a sitcom.
...we need more quality zombie films like this to show Hollywood how it should be done.
Undead is sort of imaginative and considerably scattershot....succeeded only in making me groggy.
Unendurably boring in its superfluousness, its ersatz feel accentuated by a plethora of digital effects, Undead is simply a stiff
...it is difficult to not give a little respect to a film with zombie fish that stars a guy named Mungo McKay
Absolutely unhinged in a way only Australian filmmakers can ever get right.
Though it sometimes veers toward the ludicrous, at least it's never uninteresting.
The film will frighten only those with phobias about boredom and amuse only viewers with expectations lower than the filmmaker's miniscule budget.
If only the Spierigs had put as much effort into their writing as they did into the special effects, Undead"might not be such a recycled, redundant bore.
The kind of movie that would be so bad it's good, except it's not bad enough to be good enough.
Latest News for Undead
October 06, 2005:
Summer Tomatometer Wrap-up #4: The Worst of the Summer
Over the past few days, we've tried to counter the common misconception that this summer's cinematic fare was bereft of quality. However, that doesn't mean the season was... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Fresh Links
Featured

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.

Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.

The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



