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 Death Warmed Over More at IMDbPro »Death Warmed Up (original title)

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10 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
"Spider" comments on DWU, 18 November 2009
Author: letchdave

I was told about this site from a friend. I'm the guy who played SPIDER. As someone commented, no eyebrows. We did it way back when we were all in our twenties. It was a great amount of fun to do. The creative team came from both film and theatre industry. I'd just finished a pirate movie with Tommy Lee Jones, Michael O'Keefe and Jenny Seagrove and a lot of theatre. Michael (Hurst) was also a fellow theatre actor and we went on after this to do a couple of stage plays together. As was also noted, Michael went on to do 'Hercules'. At the time, Fangoria was the genre magazine of choice, and, with David (Blyth) and Murray (Newey - RIP) and the script by Michael Heath, with the 80's sex chic of the nurses, designed by Micahel Glock, we hit Auckland with all the energy that a 4 week shoot can muster. It's amazing to read comments from watchers/viewers some, what? 25 years later! Don't get too analytical....we just went for the jugular and hoped that somewhere along the line it'd all make sense! Along the way we shot stuff in a deserted and rather creepy abattoir, the tunnels on the island off Auckland city, and got right into ridged knives with back splatter.

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10 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
"Something bloody weird going on, mate.", 24 October 2006
4/10
Author: Nigel Edwards (zeppo-2) from United Kingdom

So says one of the characters in this odd little number from New Zealand. It took me a little while to realise that the leading man was played by the same Michael Hurst, who is better known for playing Iolaus in the long running Hercules TV series.

There seem to be a myriad of other films that this one has either borrowed from of been influenced by. Mad Max, Night (and Dawn)of the living Dead, Island of Dr Moreau or any other mad scientist movie. The actual story structure is somewhat disjointed, as we never really find out why the mad doctor wants to transform ordinary men into 'demented mutated killing machines.' Is there a world wide shortage of demented mutated killing machines? I don't think so if the news is anything to go by.

It does make sense that he does programme our hero to kill his parents who are standing in the way of his experiments but why let him live afterwards to come back for revenge? The whole island laboratory to do his crazed work on is straight out of 'Dr. No.' But with less sense or reason.

Not totally explained why the hero turns up on holiday with his friends after been released from the insane asylum, just happens to be the same island where his nemesis resides.

But enough of sense and logic, the actual film is decent watching and holds the interest till the end and at around 75 minutes on the DVD I saw, it doesn't outstay it's welcome. Plenty of gore scenes for those who like that stuff, maybe the villain just liked doing brain work as his motive for it all.

The ending is rather pointless as my fellow reviewer pointed out and it does seem they just ran out of ideas and decided to go out on a supposed shock ending.

Just two last points to make, there was a Pakistani shopkeeper who was a very bad racial stereotype and there for 'comicial' effect. Not sure if it wasn't a white actor blacked up either, it was that unpleasant.

Also at the beginning when he is supposed to be younger and running around in short trousers, he just looks ridiculous. I know Michael Hurst isn't the tallest bloke around but he just looks like an overgrown schoolboy or the lead singer in AC/DC. And there are gay overtones when he is in the shower afterwards as well but that plot line is just left hanging.

Overall, a strange but otherwise interesting film.

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6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
They must have some really mind-blowing mushrooms in New Zealand…, 15 March 2008
5/10
Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

Personally I'm convinced "Death Warmed Up" was completed by a clique of people suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder (the infamous A.D.D. syndrome)… Either that or a bunch of mushroom-addicted guys with a permanent overdose of acid in their blood. How else would you clarify the film's total lack of narrative structure, the exaggeratedly high amount of nonsensical plot-twists, the overzealous editing, the demented characters and the copious number of grotesquely over-the-top grossness? "Death Warmed Up" is a wildly incoherent and thoroughly bizarre horror effort from New Zealand – reputedly the country's first full-blooded genre outing – that more or less describes itself as a demented and very loose interpretation of the legendary "Island of Dr. Moreau" tale. But then again, Dr. Moreau at least had a clear mission he wanted to achieve whereas Dr. Archer Howell, the lunatic scientist in this film, seemingly just surrounds himself with a large collection of genetically altered freaks for his own personal amusement. Throughout the entire film, his motivations for performing medical experiments on random island people remain unexplained. He has freaky half-man and half-monster guinea pigs working for him, creepy guys without eyebrows running loose and an entire army of deformed abnormalities locked away in a basement. The predominant storyline, however, revolves on one of Dr. Howell's very first victims seeking vengeance for the agony he cost. As a teenager, Michael got brainwashed and shotgun-massacred his own parents under the malignant influence of Dr. Howell. He spent the following seven years in a mental institution, but now Michael's back (with a new and Blade Runner type of hairdo) and unstoppably furious. Along with his girl and a befriended couple, Michael ferries to Dr. Howell's island resort, but they'll have to face his creations first before they can get to him. "Death Warmed Up" is, well, shall I say … completely bonkers! The script makes very little sense (or even no sense at all) and leaps from one subject to another all the time. Michael & C° supposedly come for revenge, yet they start their trip by going to the beach and during several situations it's actually Michael's friend Lucas who proves to be the most courageous one of the bunch. There are plenty of odd homosexual undertones in the film, as well as some misplaced attempts at humor (the Indian store clerk) and a bizarre type of ambiance I can't possibly categorize. One thing "Death Warmed Up" does deliver plenty of, however, is gore and bloodshed! The aforementioned shotgun killings are supremely nasty, and they're just at the beginning of the film. Furthermore, there are repugnant brain surgeries, impalements and gooey zombie make-up effects aplenty. The zombie creatures are quite menacing, particularly the bloke without eyebrows (displayed on the cover-image) and the typical New Zealand accents and slang are a joy to listen to. The acting performances are below average and insignificant, still devoted horror fans should keep an eye open for a brief appearance by Ian Watkin (awesome, arse-kicking uncle Les from "Braindead") as Bill the ferryman. "Death Warmed Up" is far too unbalanced to be considered as a worthwhile horror outing, but it's still a fun and gore-soaked excuse to spend 85 minutes of your time.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
pre Peter Jackson splatter, 11 April 2011
3/10
Author: trashgang from Midian

This one was made 3 years before Peter Jackson's Bad Taste and was the first horror coming out of kiwi-land New Zealand. So for the real collectors it's a must have and for somehow it wasn't that easy to find a copy of it. There are a lot of bad copies to find and even mine was a bad copy even as it was a DVD release. Is it worth searching, well, there's splatter in it but overall it bored me a lot and I had the skip button ready in my hand. If you see what Peter Jackson did 3 years later that is unforgettable but here the storyline is really stupid, it's all about the gore but again, made in 1984 it could have done much better. There's a bit of nudity in it but don't mentionable. If you are a hunter for splatters than you must have it in your collection or for being the first kiwi-horror. Don't expect some kind of eighties German splatter or Jackson splatter, just watch it and forget it.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Death Warmed Up, 24 May 2009
5/10
Author: Scarecrow-88 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Maddening variation on the zombie theme, from New Zealand, about "experimental mistakes"(..which evolve from humans into grotesque walking fiends which cause mindless violence), thanks in part to a deranged scientist's insane attempts to create a method for eternal life.

Gary Day is Dr. Archer Howell, a determined, and just plain nuts, scientist who will stop at nothing to see his experiments become a success. He uses Michael Tucker(Michael Hurst)to kill his father, Howell's partner who threatened to expose his sick, dangerous experiments. Michael is injected in the butt while showering from behind by Howell, and forced against his will(..through a form of mind control, I gather, since Howell's expertise were in the brain and it's functions)to blow his parents away with a shot gun. Thrown into an asylum, the years Michael spent locked away Howell had moved to his own island to continue his experiments in relative peace..once a tourist destination, Howell's presence has caused the island to stagnate in popularity. Meanwhile, Michael prepares for revenge, with girlfriend Sandy(Margaret Umbers)and pals Lucas & Jeannie(William Upjohn & Norelle Scott)tagging along with him to Howell's island. What Michael and his gang were unprepared for was a duo of Howell's former patients, Spider(David Letch)and his very ill partner whose condition isn't responding well to heat. Spider plans to get Michael back for a scuffle they have on board the ferry. Spider becomes an even more intimidating antagonist that Howell, reacting negatively when the scientist rejects his plea to save his friend, seeking revenge after being considered obsolete, due for extermination, letting those locked away free. This, in turn, sets off a chain of events threatening life on the island. Even worse is that Howell seems to realize that those he had performed experiments on before will mutate into homicidal creatures causing potential global catastrophe!

The movie is nutty as a fruitcake. The film has some wild camera-work to complement it's really bizarre story-line. Replete with violence and ugly characters, often shot in darkened buildings with the director effectively using small lights to not completely establish what the human monsters look like. David Letch as Spider, a real wacko, will probably walk away the most memorable face of the film, he's the reason everything falls apart(..along with Howell, that is)to begin with, unleashing a threat to the human race. Day, as Howell, is never seen as sane, walking around with a cane, his face carrying a look of crazed dedication to his own work, not caring the least little bit the consequences of his actions. Hurst, as Michael, never appears completely well;even in his scenes with Sandy early on, you can see he's not operating at full capacity. After entering the hospital and meeting his enemy once again, Michael goes over the edge, unstable, realizing that Howell has polluted the population with his "scientific breakthrough". I was never quite sure of Howell's motives regarding his experiments, and how he could succeed in actually continuing his work when it's obvious he's a lunatic.

DEATH WARMED UP features Howell's handiwork, cutting into the skull's of human guinea pigs, blood squirting on his nurses faces, seeing the harmful side-effects of his experiments. We also see humans, who were experimented on, their foreheads bulging, vomiting puss/mucus, noticing how Howell's work has caused severe abnormalities, the body rejecting the wrongful tampering of the brain. The slaughter of the parents with a shotgun by Michael's hand, is rather shocking. Like in past movies featuring experiments-gone-awry, DEATH WARMED UP shows the chaos that ensues when a scientist attempts to tamper with life's cycle.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Bizarre and banal in equal measure, 16 November 2010
3/10
Author: Mondo_Giallo from Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

This Kiwi sci-fi/horror film mixes the bizarre and the banal in equal measure. It's about a mad scientist who conducts a form of brain surgery to create zombie-like killing machines. The plot-line is not exactly the movie's strong-point, as it's so unfocused and you're never all that sure about character motivations. I wouldn't really say that it's well directed or acted and overall there is an unmistakable feeling of the lackadaisical about everything. This lack of urgency or direction makes Death Warmed Up a somewhat hard movie to really get behind. On top of that, a lot of scenes seem to have near enough been shot in the dark, which doesn't exactly help matters.

On a more positive note it throws in a fair few schlocky gore scenes. And there are a number of moments that can best be described as 'eighties cheese' – like another reviewer said, the mad scientist's hospital resembles an 80's night club. Having said all of that, it does seem to take itself quite seriously, and the only bit of comedy relief I can remember was the Indian shopkeeper – he was a character that would not have looked out of place in an early 70's British sitcom he is so racially stereotypical.

I can't wholeheartedly recommend this film to be perfectly honest, as it just lacked a bit of punch. Having said that at least it isn't too derivative and it does have its moments.

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"We have got an emergency on here - a breakout of psycho cases!", 7 April 2012
3/10
Author: classicsoncall from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Well it never ceases to amaze me how movie viewers get their kicks. There are a dozen reviews here already for "Death Warmed Up", and most are pretty thoughtful ones going into detail about the story and it's twisted characters. I learned a whole new bunch of terms here like 'Kiwi horror' and 'Jackson splatter', so I guess my time wasn't wasted in terms of rounding out my viewing experience. But the film - man, what a mess! The whole idea of trans-cranial applications (that would be brain transplants for the uninitiated) at the center of the story is just pretty much of an excuse to turn this thing into a zombie flick once it revs up into high gear. I won't go into detail because others have done a pretty good job of it already, but if exploding heads, brain surgery with a handy man's drill and claustrophobic motorcycle chases in a tunnel are your thing, this should be right up your alley. The best, and others have mentioned it, is the mad scientist Howell (Gary Day) conducting his experiments in an Eighties themed disco club. But why listen to me, there's a review on this board from one of the principals himself, David Letch the eyebrow challenged Spider guy. Just be warned, at the end of the flick you'll be asking yourself the same question as girlfriend Sandy - "Michael - Why?"

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Wildly entertaining New Zealand horror splatter schlock, 27 February 2012
8/10
Author: Woodyanders (Woodyanders@aol.com) from The Last New Jersey Drive-In on the Left

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Mad scientist Dr. Arther Howell (a nicely nasty turn by Gary Day) experiments with brain procedures on human test subjects in his hospital on a remote island and creates a bunch of murderous zombies in the process. Meanwhile, vengeful young Michael Tucker (a likable performance by Michael Hurst), who was hypnotized by Howell to kill his parents seven years ago, gets released from an asylum and tracks Howell down in order to exact revenge. Director/co-writer David Blyth crafts a deliriously bonkers story that doesn't make much sense, but does zip along at a constant brisk pace, generates a good deal of tension and vitality, and delivers oodles of graphic gore along with a smidgen of tasty gratuitous female nudity and a dab of sizzling soft-core sex for good measure. Moreover, Blyth's flashy hopped-up style, the throbbing synthesizer score by Mark Nicholas, and James Bartle's glossy and dynamic cinematography give this picture an extra galvanizing buzz, with a bravura chase sequence in a tunnel rating as a definite exciting highlight. The acting is passable: Day and Hurst do solid work in the lead roles, with game support from Margaret Umbers as Michael's sweet girlfriend Sandy, William Upjohn as Michael's loyal buddy Lucas, Norelle Scott as the fetching Jeannie, David Letch as the crazed Spider, and Bruno Lawrence as ill-fated patient Tex. Good trashy fun.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Well, That Was Just...Awful, 17 January 2010
3/10
Author: TheExpatriate700 from United States

This New Zealand-made movie focuses on a mad scientist who is performing experiments on mental patients in an effort to defeat death. Unfortunately, his efforts spawn a dangerous collective of Mad Max extras, and even worse, he tends to plaster his island compound with gigantic photos of himself, a la Big Brother from 1984.

The plot gets moving when a young man with a decade old grudge against the scientist shows up on the island to get revenge, for some reason bringing his young adult friends with him. What follows just goes to show that revenge and vacations just don't mix.

This film is bad in so many ways that it is almost impossible to list them here. The dialogue is laughable, with the best line being "I'll get you-I'll get you all," which is repeated at least five times by the head Mad Max escapee. Furthermore, the mad scientist's headquarters looks like an ultra trendy 1980s night club, with punked out nurses to match. The film tries, lamely, to adopt a punk sensibility, with main titles and transitions that look like they were designed by the artist of a Sex Pistols album cover.

On the plus side, the film's gore and overall approach foreshadow the early work that Australian director Peter Jackson would put out several years later. However, it's not really worth wasting your money on when you can just rent the real thing.

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2 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Blood-splattering and Head-exploding Zombies in Australia!, 7 July 2009
5/10
Author: wes-connors from Earth

"A deranged scientist is on a remote island working on his experimental brain procedures on human test subjects. Unfortunately, many of the patients suffer side effects from the procedure that transforms them into murderous zombies. Arriving on the island is a group of youths that include the son of the scientist's chief rival. Years before, the mad doctor had hypnotized the youth and had him murder his own father, so the young man has come to track down the scientist and make him pay," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

If he'd only added some exposition, director David Blyth might have had something with "Death Warmed Over". It has style and promise - like in, for example, the scene where Michael Hurst (as Michael Tucker) and his friends are pursued by a couple of motorcyclists in the underground Australian tunnels. The story is way too distant, though. Villainous doctor Gary Day (as Archer Howell) and the arousable young Hurst seem to have had some past sexual relationship ("You're all sweaty, let's get you cleaned up"). Perhaps, since he strokes his walking stick while watching kids at play, the mad doctor started early with Hurst?

***** Death Warmed Up (11/84) David Blyth ~ Michael Hurst, Margaret Umbers, Gary Day

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