Opening Day: 20 April 2006


Synopsis :

The night Nathan chooses to tell Jessica that he's in love with her is the night he dies. Fortunately, through the ancient power of voodoo, his mother brings him back from the dead. But he's not the same: he can't feel pain, he has no pulse, and he has a desire to eat human flesh. One careless bite in a fight with the school bully and he spreads the infection. The town is soon terrorised by teenage flesh-eaters and Nathan is the only one who can save Jessica and the rest of his friends before he turns against them.

Movie Review:

The movie title somewhat suggests that viewers should not be expecting too much from this 95-minute film. The movie poster also does not hint of anything intelligent or thought-provoking. In fact, everything about this movie seems to be telling audiences not anticipate anything great from it. So, if you leave your brains at the door before entering the theatres, trust us, you may actually find this teen horror flick enjoyable.

If you grew up reading R.L. Stine or Christopher Pike novels in the 1980s and 1990s, you will find the movie plot very familiar. Nathan (played by the very charismatic looking David Leon) dies in a freak accident after failing to tell Jessica (Samantha Mumba in an awkward role) his feelings for her. He is then brought back from the dead by his mother, who chanced upon a book of voodoo spells. Anyone with common sense will know that this spells trouble. Soon, the whole town is infested with flesh-eating zombies, and lots of chaos follows.

We can already hear people saying, how can anyone tolerate this silly storyline in this age? Well, this zombie movie may not be as clever as George A. Romero’s social commentary Land of the Dead (2005), but it is definitely more hilarious than most zombie movies, provided that you are in the mood, pardon the pun, to laugh your head off.

The movie is littered with lines that play with words, and some of them are in-your-face laughably silly. In the name of fun, any viewer with a sense of humour will enjoy the script.

It is interesting to note that this movie is an Irish production, and of the horror and comedy genre. What viewers eventually see on screen is a teen movie that is similar to what we already have from Hollywood. Cue a pop song every ten minutes or so; enter the stereotypical bitchy girls; complement that with a bunch of horny boys – you get the picture. Whether this suits your taste simply depends on what mood you are in while watching the movie.

The only familiar name or face you may recognize in the cast is singer-actress Mumba, who unfortunately plays the most uninteresting character in the movie. The boys get all the fun in this movie. First, there is Leon, who plays the male lead, Nathan. The poster boy does an adequate job playing a normal angst-ridden heartbroken student who unfortunately got transformed into a zombie. With a characterization like that, it is not difficult not to play the role well.

Then there are Nathan’s sidekicks, played by Lawrence Kinlan and Tadhg Murphy. The pair constantly surprises with their antics and silly lines, which makes them an utter joy to watch. The rest of the cast consists of hypocritical scowling girls and mean-spirited boys, all clad in school uniform. Other than that, there are also lots of zombies walking around in blood-splattered shirts, trying their best to look menacingly flesh-hungry.

Kudos has to go the art department of the movie though, as they painstakingly create every bloody scene. There are gory body parts, fresh red blood and things blowing up. Sometimes, the effect comes off as hilarious instead of scary, which may not be a bad thing. As long as the audience enjoys what they are watching, and have, pardon the pun again, left their brains at the door, why not?

Movie Rating:

(Be warned, it is one of those movies with a premise so awfully bad, you may actually enjoy it.)

Review by John Li