Vs. the Dead (2009 Video) User Reviews

THIS IS NOT A CODE 12

[nogodnomasters · 3/10 · 25 June 2019]

An experimental drug called "Round Two" which revives dead people in combat, irregardless of what they died from, somehow winds up in Canada. While being transported, the truck has a minor accident where a container with a squirt top gets left at the residence of Dan (Dave Montour) a less than sanitary tattoo "artist."

The town has a struggle between the clean cut looking crowd and the tattooed skate boarders who all like to drink at the same pizza place. Pete (Chris Waldick) the owner of the establishment, in a bad plot point, opts to get a tattoo at Dan's, who by now has said drug/chemical which looks like tattoo pigment. The rest you can figure out.

The movie was shot with a fake grainy "grindhouse" on top of the super clear DVD, giving it an unusual, if not ridiculous look. The blood and head rolls were also very fake looking. The film consisted of bad dialogue and a bunch of swearing that would have an eighth grade appeal to it. The movie also introduces some token female characters that don't play a role, other than to be in a film. Gee, guess what that was all about.

Parental guide: Excessive F-bombs, no sex, magazine nudity.

A good attempt...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 10 January 2016]

While "Vs. the Dead" is a low budget movie, it wouldn't be fully fair to just write it off on that account. As a zombie aficionado I sat down to watch this movie. I mean, it has zombies in it, so why not?

Story-wise, well, then I think that there was too Little time and effort put into the script, plot and storyline. I started to drift a few times during the course of the movie because it just never sank its teeth into me, no pun intended.

As for the acting, well, I will say that it seemed like people were having fun and enjoying making a low budget zombie movie. And that genuine love transcended to the movie and sort of made you look past the actual skill (or lack thereof) of those participating in the movie. It was a shame, though, that the characters were so poorly developed and written into the story.

Now, on to the more important stuff. We all know that the key ingredients to a zombie movie are the zombies and the special effects. And the people behind "Vs. the Dead" actually pulled these off quite well, considering it being a low budget movie.

"Vs. the Dead" suffered horribly from a poor character gallery and an even worse storyline execution - I believe directing might be the right word here. But still, it is enjoyable enough for what it turned out to be.

Canada Grindhouse tribute to the troops !

[guestar57 · 6/10 · 29 July 2011]

This DVD is amazing,Seriously good stuff for a escape to a gentler Exploitation Era !

We got War in Afghanistan,Then the undead soldiers… How is that for a location shot.

The all – Canada actors mostly succeed in getting into character and then the action totally distracts you into the carnage.

The 'Grindhouse School' of effects is great,

Yes…It's overused and pedestrian in other attempts, But this flick succeeds !

Lots of locations,Lots of tit-for-tat violence and characters that are very fun.

Bills Reviews For Short Attention Spans

[bipbop13 · 7/10 · 25 February 2019]

Well now, this was a pleasant surprise. A nice twist on the zombie genre that didn't end up being buried by it's lower budget. It even had creativity to spare. Hollywood hates new ideas, it seems. So I'll just keep hoping and praying that little movies like this keep getting made that show the big guys that originality is not dead after all.

We start out in Afghanistan, where the government has invented a serum called ROUND 2 that you inject into recently dead soldiers. It reanimates them and let's them carry on killing those they hate, and not harming their own troops. The problem happens to be when a reanimated soldier bites an enemy instead of outright killing it. I think you can see the problems, and why the government stopped using it.

Back in the good old U.S.A. a freak accident and some bad luck has a tube of ROUND 2 end up in a tattooists ink supply. I know, it sounds stupid. It is, kind of. But I realized early on, that this was going to be the type of movie that logic does not apply to. Just go with the flow and enjoy the events unfold. At the local pizza shop in town, a few jobless punks tell the pizza shops owner that if he gets a tattoo, they'll leave his shop and never come back. This is the set-up for the Virus to be introduced into the civilian population, and the reasoning is as lame as it sounds. But hey, go with the flow. The tattoo is done, the pizza shop owner returns to his shop, tells the punks to get out, then drops dead... for a minute. Then this fun, outrageous gorefest truly begins.

The gore effects in the film are great considering they must have had a pretty tight budget. There are even a few nice, brutal kills that made me wince a little. They did that good. And whoever edited the film did a great job, using split screen at some points, and giving it a 70's feel. It's almost distracting, especially during the beginning of the film, when we are learning who the characters are. I had the same complaint with the Tarantino film Grindhouse, and that was to give us two versions of the film, so that we can choose to have the grindhousing effects on or off. Actually, since it was done digitally, it could just be an option on the menu to have those effects on or not.

I can overlook that one problem though, as the movie was a joy to watch. There are some humorous moments that help move the film along at a nice clip, and I would really like to know how they got such great zombie makeup effects on their low budget. I hope they release a CD, because the soundtrack to this film was great, and you'll want to have it in your collection. Be sure to watch through the end credits for some more story, and it looks like it's set up for a sequel as well. Let's Kill Some Dead People!