Had really high hopes for this zombie series, hell, anything with zombies in is worth a look even more so when it's on television as a series. Unfortunately, the zombies weren't the problem, it was every thing else! As everyone is no doubt aware the series revolves around a zombie outbreak and the remaining contestants in the UK Big Brother house. Add in a few television crew and some outsiders and you have what is a few days of survival horror against an army of the undead. Plus, these aren't your shuffling Romero undead, they're more your Snyder fast zombie. Sounds good eh? On a personal note, I still prefer my zombie to be slow and menacing, rather than fast and instant... if you get what I mean.
However, bar the build up and the initial zombie attack, we're left with so many annoying characters trying to survive that quite frankly you won't be cheering for them more than you'll be cheering for the zombies. Why is it that the majority of the female characters seem more in control and sensible than ALL of the male characters? Even the female lead (Kelly) seems to have had fire-arms training (apart from the fact she seems to constantly want to chamber an extra bullet before firing - sorry, nitpicking a bit). The male characters range from loud and annoying to stupid and panic stricken. Yep, come the end, you'll be clapping every time one of them gets eaten alive.
The camera work has been mentioned before but I feel needs highlighting again. Why is it that some directors seem to believe that true horror can only be gained by having the camera shake around constantly. I'm all for building up the tension but this can be done with storyline, music, acting.. etc.. not by putting the camera in the hands of a 5 year old on a skateboard. Plus, Dead Set does feature some very nice gore effects (top marks for this) yet 'shaky-cam' distracts from this. You'll be trying to see through the shakes just to work out what's going on.
Saying all that though, the fact that this was a series on television and it did feature some very disgusting moments, makes me give it a 6 out of 10. I can only hope that it isn't a one off and we will see more like it. Yes, maybe even a weekly zombie series. Just please stay away from the 'shaky cam' routine, and lets have some characters we want to like, rather than characters we just want to see become zombie lunch!
However, bar the build up and the initial zombie attack, we're left with so many annoying characters trying to survive that quite frankly you won't be cheering for them more than you'll be cheering for the zombies. Why is it that the majority of the female characters seem more in control and sensible than ALL of the male characters? Even the female lead (Kelly) seems to have had fire-arms training (apart from the fact she seems to constantly want to chamber an extra bullet before firing - sorry, nitpicking a bit). The male characters range from loud and annoying to stupid and panic stricken. Yep, come the end, you'll be clapping every time one of them gets eaten alive.
The camera work has been mentioned before but I feel needs highlighting again. Why is it that some directors seem to believe that true horror can only be gained by having the camera shake around constantly. I'm all for building up the tension but this can be done with storyline, music, acting.. etc.. not by putting the camera in the hands of a 5 year old on a skateboard. Plus, Dead Set does feature some very nice gore effects (top marks for this) yet 'shaky-cam' distracts from this. You'll be trying to see through the shakes just to work out what's going on.
Saying all that though, the fact that this was a series on television and it did feature some very disgusting moments, makes me give it a 6 out of 10. I can only hope that it isn't a one off and we will see more like it. Yes, maybe even a weekly zombie series. Just please stay away from the 'shaky cam' routine, and lets have some characters we want to like, rather than characters we just want to see become zombie lunch!