Undead (2003)

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.

Directors:

Michael Spierig (as The Spierig Brothers), Peter Spierig (as The Spierig Brothers)

Writers:

Michael Spierig (as The Spierig Brothers), Peter Spierig (as The Spierig Brothers)

Stars:

Felicity Mason, Mungo McKay, Rob Jenkins

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Felicity Mason	...	René Chaplin
Mungo McKay	...	Marion
Rob Jenkins	...	Wayne
Lisa Cunningham	...	Sallyanne
Dirk Hunter	...	Harrison
Emma Randall	...	Molly
Steve Greig	...	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

Storyline

Peaceful, rustic Berkeley is a charming fishing community where life is sweet and the people friendly. All that is about to change. After losing her childhood farm to the bank, local beauty Rene decides to leave town and head for the big city. Suddenly, an avalanche of meteorites races through the sky, bombarding the town and bringing an otherworldly infection. Departing is going to be much more difficult than she had planned. The living dead are awakened and Rene is now caught in a nightmare of zombies hungry for human flesh. She manages to find salvation in a small isolated farm house owned by the town loony, Marion. There she is met with four other desperate survivors. Together they battle their way through a plague of walking dead and discover that there is more transpiring than just an infection.

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Plot Keywords:

pump action shotgun | shotgun | cricket the sport | psychotronic film | decapitation | 

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Taglines:

Prepare Yourself

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and gore, and for language

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

When the party enters the General Store, Marion walks in completely naked. In the next shot, inside the store, we can clearly see him wearing striped boxers.

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Quotes

Harrison: I'll fuckin' finish you off faster than a fuckin' birthday cake at a fat chick's fuckin' birthday party!

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Crazy Credits

"The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or living dead, is purely coincidential."

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Connections

References Evil Dead (1981)

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Soundtracks

Little Green Men
Written by Cliff Bradley & Damien Taylor
Performed by Buttkrak
Recorded and Produced by Cliff Bradley
©Cliff Bradley 2002

User Reviews

Another great splatter horror film from the Southern Hemisphere!

Another great splatter horror film from the Southern Hemisphere! It is so rare these days to set eyes upon a film that is not subjected to the boring, rehashed, commercially-hungry, modern American sub-genre of horror movies such as Cabin Fever and a host of recent slasher movies that try, beyond hope, to scare or shock the viewer by throwing as much blood and fast camera movement ("Boo, are you scared?") at the screen, with little to no success. Undead finally gets back to the roots of true splatter horror in a way that would make Jackson and Raimi proud and is a superb treat to the mature viewer who has grown up with these classics and is not simply into gratuitous pure shock-value.

Undead is "cheesy" and off-the-cuff. It pays hommage to a number of cult classics out there such as Romero's Trilogy of the Dead (the isolated farmhouse from NotLD, "Let's shop!" from Dawn and the police powerplay from Day), Raimi's Evil Dead ("Join us!"), Jackson's Braindead (the shovel in the bank manager's head) and Bad Taste (the alien contingent and appearance).

Do not expect great acting (though I am sure these actors are more than capable of doing so) or a totally original script (though the ending was actually quite unusual and surprised me), for this is not what this film is about. It is about having a fun 2 hours and, in my opinion, rewarding the fans of cult classic splatter horror (and hopefully introducing a number of younger individuals to this fantastic genre).

Not a great film, but a fun (non-American, something that is so rare these days) film!

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 September 2003 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Undead

Filming Locations:

Queensland, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,527, 3 July 2005

Gross USA:

$41,196

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$187,847

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spierigfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1