Rise of the Dead (2007) (V)

Director:

William Wedig

Writers:

Jeff Crook (writer)
Josh Crook (writer)

Release Date:

13 November 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Suspense | Gun | Ghost | Nudity

Cast

Erin Wilk	...	Laura Childs
Stephen Seidel	...	Jack Walther
Peter Blitzer	...	Sheriff Brown
Chris Ferry	...	Deputy Greer
Matt Regney	...	Rick Gerber
Vickie Myers	...	Catherine Myers
Jaime Whitlock	...	Amber West
Emily Ackerman	...	Barbara Clemens
Doug Sobon	...	Hank Clemens
Brooke Delaney	...	Sally Sherman
Patrick Pope	...	Sam Sherman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dani Baker	...	Waitress
Steve Downer	...	Doctor
Jack Gordon	...	Cade
Michael Grenier	...	Laura's Boss
Chris Lavelle	...	Rick's Friend
Greg Levitre	...	Orderly
Jamie Lewis	...	Rick's Girlfriend
Jason Madera	...	Sam Fulton
Danny Ray	...	Possessed Man
Anna Vukovic	...	Psychiatrist
Daniel Wedig	...	Warden

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity and language.

Runtime:

USA:72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Athens, Ohio, USA

Company:

Crook Brothers Productions

Trivia:

The original title for Rise of the Dead was TANTRUM and changed upon being bought by Lightning Entertainment and Lions Gate.

Amazing film for such a ridiculously low budget!

I just finished listening to the commentary on this (non-zombie but rather spirit/ghost possession) small little film and I have to say that this thing is quite a freaking achievement! With a total budget of 20 thousand dollars and a crew willing to work basically for free they were able to make this movie, which not only cuts together, it looks completely professional! And has lots of death and murder! Not necessarily some of the best scenes I've ever seen from a horror film but damn: This thing is glossy! It even has a super creepy, twisted and completely original ending (which you'll just have to watch to find out what I mean). In any case, it's creepy and weird but makes total sense for the story (the first kill is specially good and creepy and if anything this scene and the last one make this movie worth watching. There's also a good scene in a church where a women gets her head crushed with a statue of the virgin mary. It's messed up.).

I don't know how many of you out there actually are indie filmmakers yourself but I've had friends who have made 20 thousand dollar films before and they are usually just un-watchably bad. Bad sound, bad acting and bad cuts tend to plague these super-low budget films but this one seemed to gloss over and past those issues to deliver a very watchable, coherent and driven story. Say what you want about the film sucking, being boring, poor production value or whatever other problems the film may have, but don't take for granted that most movies you see are shot for well over 2,000 times this budget (and that's only a 40 million dollar movie, not the giant $150 million dollar movie that blockbuster's like Transformers cost).

I'd recommend this film to anybody who's interested in independent cinema (the film was independently produced with the name Tantrum, which I think suits the film way better, and then sold to Lions Gate for distribution), anybody who's interested in seeing new ideas and scenes in the horror genre and anybody who likes a good old fashioned horror flick complete with all the elements to make for an extremely entertaining Saturday night.