UNDEAD (2003)
Spierigfilm/Imagine Entertainment

By Désirée I. Guzzetta

You got your zombie movie in my science fiction flick! No, you got your science fiction flick in my zombie movie!

Waitaminnit...

Undead is the audacious debut of twin filmmakers Peter and Michael Spierig. The Australian duo have concocted a hybrid horror/science fiction film about flesh-eating zombies and mysterious aliens and the assorted humans who encounter them. It's an over-the-top gorefest that is funny rather than scary and makes for a rollicking good time.

The Spierigs rip-off (or pay homage to, depending on your viewpoint) several kings of horror, notably Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi, and add a huge dose of wicked humor to the grisly proceedings. There's also a nod to the master zombie filmmaker, George Romero.

The plot, such as it is, involves Rene (Felicity Mason), a beauty queen desperate to flee the boring small Australian village of Berkeley once she loses the family farm. One day, meteorites come crashing to Earth (and occasionally, through people), turning all they affect into crazed zombies. Rene and the other surviving human beings, including the town nut, Marion (Mungo McKay)--who resembles the character Torgo from Manos: The Hands of Fate--have to figure out how to survive against the hungry horde. Sounds like typical zombie fare, right?

Well, the movie makes a left turn at the Aussie equivalent of Albuquerque to go from zombie flick to sci-fi shtick as aliens appear, along with a giant, spiked wall surrounding the town. What in the world is going on? Of course, I can't tell you, as that would ruin the surprise; suffice to say it's worth sitting through the whole movie to find out its secret.

Though Undead bogs down in the third act, there's so much to enjoy and marvel at, thanks to the talented Spierigs, that the slowness can be forgiven. For one thing, most of the CGI effects were done on a laptop on the cheap, but look very good on the big screen. Also, the zombies move like the possessed kids in The Evil Dead--I swear I heard 'em say "Join us!" at one point--and the actors take the material seriously, elevating the performances above the usual cheeseball fare you get in B-pictures. Finally, even if Undead is an amalgamation of many of its horror predecessors, the Spierigs give it their own spin, showing promise of future greatness. After all, Jackson did Bad Taste and look where he is now.

I'd like to see what the brothers would do with a better budget, given their wild inventiveness. Still, their joy in filmmaking overcomes the low budget. Catch Undead at a film festival if you can, although it was released on DVD recently in Australia, so maybe it will hit our shores soon. And leave them splattered with body parts and alien goo, of course.

Official Undead Site

Spierigfilm/Imagine Entertainment
Written & Directed by: Peter Spierig & Michael Spierig
Starring: Felicity Mason (Rene), Mungo McKay (Marion), Rob Jenkins (Wayne), Lisa Cunningham (Sallyanne), Dirk Hunter (Harrison), Emma Randall (Molly)
Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Rated: R

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