Awaken the Dead (2007) User Reviews

Awaken me up !!!!!

[CorblimeyGuvnors · 2/10 · 5 February 2015]

I love zombie movies and especially no budget ones. So this should have been ideal for me. Unfortunately it was not.

Awaken the dead is about two strangers that meet up in a safe house. One is an ex-assassin haunted by horrific events in his past. The other is a woman who, we find out later, is a prostitute and the daughter of the priests ex-colleague. They are in the safe house protecting themselves from a horde of zombies. The story is their plight to find the girls father and the people that they meet on the way.

I found this a struggle to sit through, as there are long stretches of times when nothing really happens. The way that it was shot did not add to the enjoyment value as it was very grainy with washed out colours. In fact most of the film looks like it was filmed in black and white. The acting was (as expected) of the amateur variety. On their travels they meet a lady who follows them round for about 15 minutes, adds nothing to the story, says about two lines. Is she there for fodder for the zombies, well of course she is !!! There is not that much gore and the zombies looked OK (some better than others). I really just lost interest quite quickly and nothing really kick started me back to attention.

There are some positives. I liked the music kinda like a haunting rock soundtrack. A couple of the zombies look quite cool. The director tries to shoot the scenes in a different way, with some of the camera set up's. Eg in one scene there is a spider that crawls down the lens and then stops and frames a zombie coming toward the camera.

I just felt that it needed something more and came away disappointed.

Catacomb of Creepshows #23 (of 50) or Gary Kohn is the only notable thing about this film

[movieman_kev · 3/10 · 14 October 2012]

Gary Kohn as a man of the cloth forced to deal with a sudden zombie outbreak is one of the only things I can actually recommend about this film. His acting chops make him seem to be destined for bigger and better things. The rest of the cast is acceptable for a film of this ilk I guess. But save for Kohn, no real standouts. Also there was absolutely no chemistry between the two leads rendering a few scenes meaningless at best and grating at worst. As far as extremely low-budget zombie films go, I've seen worse (hell thanks to the Catacomb box-set, I've seen worst in the last month) But its not anything special.

Terrible, but almost okay

[duckman_079 · 4/10 · 11 September 2020]

Good music and interesting variation on the old zombie outbreak theme. I think it could have been a good movie if it were a higher quality production and had more money backing it. It's not quite refined enough for me to recommend if you're looking for a movie to watch, unless you are really into examining zombie movies.

Awful sums it up.

[jic-1 · 1/10 · 9 July 2008]

I tend to be undemanding with micro-budgeted horrors, especially when they are made by inexperienced filmmakers. I'm predisposed to look on the bright side, to excuse technical limitations, clunky scripts, plot holes, incompetent direction, bad acting, etc. Instead, I'll focus on the positives: the odd witty line of dialogue, a gripping plot, interesting characters, an unexpected exceptional performance, isolated pieces of directorial flair, surprisingly imaginative and effective special effects and stunt work, or even a well-chosen soundtrack. Things that show promise of future growth, of better movies down the line.

This movie contains none of these things. In fact, it may well be the worst movie I've ever managed to sit through from beginning to end. The barely competent direction and cinematography tries for style, but ends up pretentious and annoying. The grainy and colourless (almost monochrome) visuals don't seem to be the fault of technical limitations, but rather an aesthetic choice that simply doesn't work. The plot is senseless, the characters worthless clichés; the dialogue tries to be witty, but fails. The effects are unconvincing even when the budget is taken into account. There are no shocks, no scares, no laughs, no thrills of any kind. There are a lot of tracks on the soundtrack (in fact, much of the movie plays like a series of music videos), but they are uniformly lame. The acting never gets above adequate, and is often far below that level. You can tell that the three lead actors are better than their material, but there is nothing here for them to work with.

As bad as this movie is, I recognise that completing any kind of movie is very difficult, and I have to give the filmmakers credit for their effort. I wish them all the best for their careers. From here, the only way is up.

Horrible on all levels

[StuntsForFilm · 1/10 · 27 September 2008]

Let me start by saying I like Zombie movies and I like "bad" movies. This movie was just horrible on all levels. It was Dawn of the Dead but instead of a mall....it was shot in what I assume was the 'directors' mom's house. The 2 lead 'actors' were so bad and the dialog was so childish...it almost became a tolerable bad film. It seemed like a film student that was trying so hard to be artsy but failed miserably. I've been to many wrap parties where pieces of the film were shown to party goers and I cant imagine anyone seeing this and thinking "Wow...we've really got something good here".

I paid $4 to rent this on On Demand and I want my money back and my 90 minutes of my life.

Top 5 worst movie I've ever sat through.

An Alternative Zombie Movie

[Uriah43 · 5/10 · 24 December 2012]

This is probably one of the best low-budget zombie movies I have seen in quite a long time. Although the special effects were uneven the acting was very good. Essentially, "Father Christopher Gideon" (Gary Kohn) is a troubled priest who is sent to a residence for reasons unknown to him. When he gets there he encounters a woman named "Mary Payne" (Lindsey Morris) who also has a note telling her to be there too. While they are inside the house, a zombie epidemic develops practically on their doorstep. They are joined by several people at different times with the first being a Jehovah's Witness named "Stanley" (Nate Witty). At any rate, rather than divulge any mysteries and spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't see it, I will just say that this film is "different" from any zombie movie I have ever seen. I suppose a person could call it an "alternative zombie movie" because of the plot and background music used. Anyway, I thought Gary Kohn performed in an outstanding manner. Lindsey Morris also performed very well too. However, my favorite performance was by Nate Witty who was simply hilarious. Be that as it may, I thought this picture had suspense, comedy and intrigue which is rare for a film produced with such a low budget. And while it definitely had its faults (like the covert agent standing around observing the carnage) I think people who give it a fair chance might be pleasantly surprised. The director (Jeff Brookshire) has every reason to be proud of his work.

AWAKEN THE MOVIE!

[nogodnomasters · 1/10 · 29 January 2020]

My DVD box said the movie was in color, but mine was the color of of a washed out VHS movie. This is a "Night of the Living Dead"- light. A group of bad actors with a bad script are held up in a secured house while there are zombies and a guy curiously taking notes outside.

The zombie make-up ranged from mediocre to rubber masks. The box reveals some of the "mystery" of the plot by describing the girl as an "assassin's daughter." The writer, director, producer, and editor are all the same person, Jeffery McMichael Brookshire. The real mystery of this movie is why Mr. Brookshire didn't star in this film.

Do not waste your time or money.

Nice.

[NewAgeFilmCritik · 10/10 · 20 November 2007]

I saw this the other day and I really liked it.

It's worth a spin.

It's not glitzy just entertaining.

The music is killer and the jokes are pretty spot on. What really got me was that it played like a fairly real situation. I'm not saying it has great FX or super production value but it's solid and a really decent way to spend an evening, especially with a couple of beers. Look, bottom line is entertainment.

I was entertained.

I liked it better than some of the high tech low drama zombie films I've seen on the big screen.

Not that bad

[mindsclay · 6/10 · 12 July 2008]

I would have to dis-agree with the comment "Awful sums it up". This movie wasn't all that bad. There were only a few weak points in the story, but overall it was good. It's a zombie movie with a different slant on why there are zombies. The two main characters seemed real to me. Those two actors did a good job. And the lead actress is some sweet eye candy.

Most of the movie was grainy, probably due to low light levels because it was less to none grain for the exterior shots. The makeup was cliché. But then again this is a low budget movie, however it did cost approximately $100k. I would have expected more for $100k. This movie looked like it could have been done with $10k, unless the location at the end of the movie cost $90k. Anyway, I really appreciate low budget movies and I weigh the budget with the final product. So this one is a disappointment in that ratio, yet it was a better movie story-wise and feel-wise than bigger budget "Hollywood" movies.

The movie kept me watching and I liked the ending. The story had a beginning, a middle and an ending. It had some decent actors. It even had a bit of humor added. All the elements of a good movie. Not great, but good.

I wish there were more movies of like this out there.

Indie treat

[samitoss · 8/10 · 24 November 2007]

Good, solid, entertaining indie fare.

When you watch something like this, you have to put it into perspective. Is it a big budget, multi-million dollar film. No. But the cool thing is that it doesn't try to be. My boyfriend bought this because he loves zombie films and gets everything. I really didn't want to see it but then found myself really liking the priest, the girl in the house and the Jehovah's witness. They were like real people and the story was fresh and compelling. I even got quite a few chuckles out of it. It wasn't a bloodfest but rather a story with multiple threads and some nice surprises. The actors were competent but the script was what helped to raise this thing up beyond what I expected.

Very Solid

[silveryoga · 10/10 · 19 November 2007]

I watch a ton of indie horror flicks so I don't really expect them to be super polished but this one was very cool! Nice story, sweet lines and pretty ambitious. I really liked it. It's raw but it's really well done too.

It's got SHAUN OF THE DEAD humor, you know, dark and quirky but also has real drama.

Though, I've gotta admit, the coolest thing was the priest with guns. It's also filmed with a grainy, dreamy texture that I liked.

All in all, it was a cool was to pass the time. Look, it reminded me of some of the early Evil Dead stuff.

A worthy effort.

[silverstormprod · 10/10 · 30 January 2010]

Recognizing that any creative endeavor in today's society is easy fodder for the listless would be critics who hide behind the anonymity of the internet, I want to thank everyone who contributed to this movie. Within the limitations of time and budget, this film tries to break out of the muck of the indie horror world ruled by blood, tits and self adoration. I doesn't rely on gallons of blood, extended nudity or fall prey to the "I made this movie so I'm going to star in it" trap to get it's audience going. It makes a genuine effort to entertain and provide an interesting story in an interesting style.

So judge it on its own merits.

It was not developed for horror genre fans. It was not intended to complete with the polish of Hollywood production. It was intended to tell a story and be entertaining. It's not perfect. Few ultra-low budget films are.

So, if you genuinely enjoy movies of all types and wish to be entertained, watch it. If you only like big budget films or dedicated genre films, then pass on it. Every movie has hype. Take that into account. Every movie also has armchair critics who bash everything from AVATAR to BRUNO to CITIZEN KANE. Take that into account as well.

Ultimately, only you will know whether you will enjoy it but there's only one way to find out.

Didn't have much expectations

[justinglass · 10/10 · 31 March 2018]

But for a cheap indie movie it was very entertaining! The characters were awesome zombies were cool and the music in the movie was amazing

Very scary

[jacobjohntaylor1 · 9/10 · 10 March 2017]

If this movie does not scary you know movie will. This is a very scary movie. It is very underrated. It is not a 2.2. It is a 9. This movie has a great story line. It also has great acting. It also has great special effects. This movie is scarier then The Shinning. And that is not easy to do. This movie is scarier the A Nightmare on elm street. And that is not easy to do. This movie is scarier then Friday the 13th V a new beginning and that is not easy to do. This movie is scarier then Halloween resurrection ever could be. This movie is scarier then Silence of lambs ever could be. This movie it is a great horror movie.