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Overall Rating : 2.5/10
Directed By : Adam Deyoe
James C. Burns (General Hospital (TV) )
Scott Peat
Marissa Merrill
Corsica Wilson
Supplied By : Image Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : July. 30, 2012
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| PLOT When a worldwide viral outbreak leads to a plague of zombies scouring the earth for the living, two survivors flee the chaos of America to a remote island, hoping for a chance to start a new life. What they find is unrelenting horror. Beyond the hordes of the flesh-hungry undead, the other people already on the island force the pair into a fight-or-die battle amongst themselves. Armed only with crude weapons, they must descend to savagery and cutthroat tactics just to make it through each day. | ||||
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| THE REVIEW In DEAD SEASON, Aaron "Elvis" Strawbridge is an EMT, who is just one of few survivors of a plague that originated in his native Pittsburgh, before going to state, and then the rest of the world. As for the reason of the world, technically, they're dead, but not in the usually sense, in that they still walk the Earth, and are hungry for flesh. Aaron has survived the conditions, yet it has not been easy, as he has had to endure the deaths of both his wife and child, after they too were infected. Along the way, Elvis meets a young girl named "Tweeter", and together, they look for shelter from the chaos. Their search finally brings them to a remote island, that initially, seems deserted. But it isn't long before a group of survivors, lead by, Kurt Conrad, makes their presence known. Both Elvis and Tweeter reluctantly join the community, and at first, feel that they are safe from harm. But of course, this all changes when it becomes apparent that the dead also inhabit the island, and in large quantity. Another film with the word, "Dead" in it's title, another post-apocalyptic type setting, ye, this is yer ANOTHER zombie film in the never ending modern zombie cinema cannon. I review a lot of different films each yeah, and i'm guessing that at least 6 of them already for this year, have been zombie films. I've let my feelings be known on several other zombie film reviews, so it is not necessary for me to elaborate on that here. However, I will say that DEAD SEASON is just another to throw into the pile of nameless zombie films that continue to be released. Now, by no means am I saying that Adam Deyoe's DEAD SEASON is a poorly made film. It's just that the film just does not have an originality of its own. In all fairness, the film itself, is well made in terms of the indie Horror, and the gore is great too. But the point here is, any film can look good, but if the story doesn't have something unique and attention grabbing about it, then, all it is, is a pretty shell> Unfortunately for DEAD SEASON, it comes along when everything has been seen already. It seems as through I said this very exact same thing in regards to the last zombie film that I reviewed, but it still rings true for this film. The story is, similar, and tied; a lone, but resourceful survivor of an outbreak, comes across others whom have survived, they get to know each other, and then, eventually, they find off the undead together. Correct me if i'm mistaken, but have we not seen this done many times before, and most recently and prominently on AMC's "The Walking Dead"? As i've said before, i'm not a huge zombie fan, but if written well, I can find myself enjoying, and I do enjoy "The Walking Dead" quite a bit. As with "The Walking Dead, with Dead Season, I was looking for some character development, the kind that really intrigues the viewer, enough so that they actually do care, and maybe a little back story as well, which is also missing. Here however, I thought that the characters were only mere outlines. Sure, there is mention of Aaron's deceased wife and kid, and then there is the young boy who becomes infected, near the film's beginning, resulting in him being shot down by Aaron), these plot points, as well as others, do little to build any true emotion. Essentially, in the end, all that the film amounts to, is nothing more than a gore-fest shoot'em up, just for the sake of being one. And although the gore is executed quite well through out, the remainder of the film renders itself as being pretty generic. Although I kind of liked the addition of cannibalism, as Conrad's crew would eat bodies parts of the freshly bitten(before infection), to ensure their survival. Fortunately for DEAD SEASON, this element is sort of original, but unfortunately, it's about the only original thing that the film has to offer. The film is put together nicely, the cinematography is decent for this type of film, and it's gore is nice. Again, the gore is the real star of DEAD SEASON, because story-wise, it's just another clone by the simplest design. If gore, is a primary thing for you, there is a chance that you might be happy with the film. However, if you are the opposite(like me), whom look for, not only a fun horror movie, but a possibly long lasting one as well, then chances are that DEAD SEASON will not provide you much. Why? Because you have seen this type of thing before - and besides, it features fast zombies, and in most cases, fast zombies, are bad for a film! |
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| GORE
METER 5/10 Multiple impalements, flesh ripping and tearing, head smashing, and multiple gunshot wounds. | ||||
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 4/10 Mostly uptempo suspense/action scoring. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM DEAD SEASON comes to us on DVD, and in my eyes, like, many, many, many others, it is just more of the same thing. Zombie films are becoming the most repetitive of the genre, they're just not fun, nor interesting anymore. With DEAD SEASON, as with any zombie film, I was looking for something to enjoy, and with the inclusion of an "island" into the plot, I thought it might be. But unfortunately, this film too, is overshadowed by the seemingly endless amount of zombie films that are being released at present. Check out DEAD SEASON if you must, however, I find it diffult to recommend. | ||||
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