Saturday, December 31, 2011

Stag Night of the Dead and Breaking All the Rules: A Movie Review

*a screener of this film was provided by Left Films.

Director/writer: Neil Jones.

Cast: Sebastian Street, Sophie Lovell Anderson and Joe Rainbow.

There are three rules of Zomball in Stag Night of the Dead: 1) stay together, 2) look out for the recharge station and 3) never humiliate a zombie. The characters in Stag Night of the Dead break all of these rules and unsurprisingly, many of the characters do not make it to the end credits. Stag Night of the Dead will release on DVD and iTunes January 9th and this film is a satisfying romp through a zombie apocalypse. The grainy film stock and a few poor character choices are the only elements that hamper a comedic movie watching time.

The film begins with six men on stag. Dean (Sebastian Street) is the groom and he has only one more night of freedom before marrying his very bitchy sweetheart. A stripper tags along and soon these men are limoed to a military base for a game of Zomball! The rules have been outlined above. These six friends break every rule while they try to stay alive with electrically charged guns. The charge of the guns only lasts so long and the zombies only stay down for a little while, so the lads must run from bunker to bunker or hangar to hangar to stay alive. Meanwhile, a rogue military officer is pulling their strings and letting loose much of the zombie mayhem.

This is one of the first films to offer a zombie midget. With that comedic tidbit aside, Stag Night of the Dead is comprised of two primary characters and a whole slew of minors. Understandably, Dean is the main character because the central plotline involves his eventual marriage. The stripper (Sophie Lovell Anderson) is also a primary character and it is amazing how many call girls in film have a heart of gold. Other important characters include Marky (Bruce Lawrence), a playboy and womanizer. His carnal ways breaks up any possibility of a happy ending. DJ Ronny (Joe Rainbow) plays the fool and he also creates many of the laughs. Number 48 (Mike Busson) is the man behind the curtain a la The Wizard of Oz. He is in charge of holding the zombies at bay; yet, they escape anyways. Each of these characters and others are given the required attention necessary to draw the viewer in. Just do not hold on too tightly because many of these characters are destined to become zombie food.

The only major critique this reviewer has of the film involves the film quality. Neil Jones purposely chose to make the film look like the '70s. Therefore, the film stock looks grainy. Watching this film is like watching a film on VHS and Jones made a mistake here in his choice of film stock. Positive film elements include a solid soundtrack, the aforementioned attention to characters, a funny script and the use of a large outdoor set (military base). The positives outnumber the negatives and this reviewer enjoyed the mostly thrilling ride though Zomball, the stag and into a devious military side plot.

This film is definitely an independent production, but none of the film elements are overly hampered by production issues. The characters are at the heart of this film and they are the ones who keep the film believable and entertaining. The acting is solid and there is even a twist or two housed within the film's story. Check this film out in January and prepare for a light hearted romp through a dangerous countryside where strippers can Karate kick and groomsman can stab you in the back. And what fun would a zombie film be without a few nefarious characters?

Overall: 6.75 out of 10 (the film quality is average, characters are interesting, the story is action driven, lots of gore, some CGI and a thrilling ending).

*special features on the release include: a "behind the scenes" featurette, a "how to make a zombie" reel, trailers, deleted scenes, outtakes, and stills gallery.

**this title is being released in a Region 0 (Region Free) format.

Another review of this film is available at Horror Society (MGD Squan):

Stag Night of the Dead Reviewed at Horror Society

Join the film's fan page for future release details:

Stag Night of the Dead on Facebook

Stag Night of the Dead at Left Films w/more plot details:

Stag Night of the Dead at Left Films


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