Undead (2003)

Directors:

Michael Spierig
Peter Spierig

Writers:

Michael Spierig (writer)
Peter Spierig (writer)

Release Date:

4 September 2003 (Australia)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Prepare Yourself

Plot:

A quaint Australian fishing village is overcome by meteorites that turn its residents into the ravenous undead, leaving a small group of those unharmed to find a way out.

Plot Keywords:

Meteorite | Undead | Zombie | Plague | Living Dead

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Felicity Mason	...	Rene
Mungo McKay	...	Marion
Rob Jenkins	...	Wayne
Lisa Cunningham	...	Sallyanne
Dirk Hunter	...	Harrison
Emma Randall	...	Molly
Steve Grieg	...	Agent
Noel Sheridan	...	Chip
Gaynor Wensley	...	Aggie
Eleanor Stillman	...	Ruth
Robyn Moore	...	Officer in Locker Room
Robert Jozinovic	...	Man in Office
Peter Mensforth	...	Cricket Batsman
Jacob Andriolo	...	Yougn Cricketer
Michele Steel	...	Screamer

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and gore, and for language.

Runtime:

Australia:104 min | Canada:100 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:97 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | South Korea:18 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | USA:R | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Queensland, Australia

Company:

Spierigfilm

Trivia:

The backup battery supply that powers the garage door during the escape in the van has the name "Spierigfilm" written on it - the name of the film's production company.

Goofs:

Continuity: Officer Harrigan fires 14 rounds out of a six-shot revolver.

Quotes:

Marion: They can smell us. They want to feed off us.

Movie Connections:

References Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)

Soundtrack:

Little Green Men

The greatest Aussie horror film since Zombie Brigade!

Something is seriously wrong in the quiet Queensland hamlet of Berkeley: rocks are falling from the sky, carrying a virus that turns local residents into flesh-crazed fiends. And that's just the start of the powerhouse slam-bang debut from Brisbane twin filmmakers Peter and Michael Spierig, an audacious triumph of invention and imagination over budget and genre constraints. Even more remarkable is the fact that two local Brisbane boys have achieved the impossible and created an original Aussie zombie epic that is set to lay waste to the international horror community.

Ever the post-80s horror boom cultural vultures, Spierigs plunder shamelessly from the expected sources - the grey apocalypticism of George A Romero's Dead trilogy, the outrageous gore setpieces of Peter Jackson's blood-soaked Bad Taste and Braindead, the camera histronics of early Sam Raimi and Coen Brothers efforts - while breathing new life into the long-exhausted zombie cycle and making a film that is entirely their own. Undead marries a wholly unpredictable narrative, jawdropping effects (graphic enough for the most jaded of gorehounds) and a frighteningly assured grasp of cinematic language. As expected there's buckets of gallows humour, but the film never trades cheap laughs for its primary purpose: delivering good old-fashioned blood-curdling shocks.

If Aussie horror is a dead duck, Undead blows it out of the water.