Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection 2013 review


Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection 2013

Year: 2012
Stars: Sarah Louise Madison, Sabrina Dickens, S.J. Evans
Directed: James Plumb
Running Time: 86 mins



Ok from the moment I put this film on I have to admit I got a bit giddy as I’m welsh and I related with so much that went on in even just the first 5 minutes. Anyway on with the technical stuff first.
Written by James Plumb and Andrew Jones, it’s been made since 2012 but has only just got universal release as far as I can tell.
Also directed by James Plumb (the upcoming Silent night deadly night: the homecoming also under his belt) Andrew Jones production company helped make the film also.
Staring Sarah Louise Madison (A few bit parts on Dr Who and a part in upcoming Amityville Asylum film by same company) as Eve, also Sabrina Dickens (Nothing noteworthy as of yet but a lot of upcoming films) as Bonnie and S.J. Evans (un-credited parts on popular TV series and welsh soap Pobol Y Cwm, seems he’s trying his hand at directing lately as well) as Rhodes.

Well what can I say? I am Welsh myself and as I said I loved this, the first opening scenes the annoying chav kids, who sorry to spoil it meet their end which I delighted in.
So yes the filming style is gritty and varied and reminded me of the old style filming which is what I hope they were trying to achieve. Everything from the camera angles to the great pacing this film had added to the suspense.
The unfortunate thing is I think this may be lost on a lot of audiences this day and age who are used to straight to the action camera and jump scares, which saddens me as these old school things are what scared people when CGI wasn’t around. They would be like oh but it looks like bad editing or you can’t see the actors face now and then, was it intentional? Yes I personally think it was for the purposes of building tension and adding that old style vibe.
Being as unbiased as I can I am telling you the gritty bare facts about this and not just gushing that it’s a welsh production. So those are the things that initially absorbed me into the film.

Effects wise thanks to fast cams wounds are glimpsed quick to that any imperfections are not seen and I think is a great way to get away with basic make up effects these days rather than unreal dodgy CGI.
The lingering effects such as the first girls full on zombie make up are believable and very decent and again reminiscent of older style productions. Since I had a vintage horror film day with a friend only a few days ago I was instantly thrown into nostalgia for the way the Halloween film was set up and just the way the tension was in here.
So I think from that you can gather that the film was well set up with good intentions at the very least on with the film.

So after our initial Chav carnage we join Ben (Sule Rimi) trying to reach Barbara (yes a nod to the original NOTLD) taking the Wales back roads to avoid the shutdown motorways. A gripe I had here was when he was listening to the radio and changing stations the sound effect added on the channel hoping was a little tacked on, not the voices though thankfully may I add.
When he comes across a seemingly abandoned car, like the typical horror movie guy he stops but thankfully for a reason he is intent on syphoning its fuel for himself.
The next scene is the tension building type I was talking about lingering as he’s slowly reaching for the keys an eerie tune accompanying and it was great because it was not the thing you expect to make you jump that does at that point, makes you realise they really tried and used their creativeness here.
When he runs out of fuel and goes searching the film takes a strange twist that I really wasn’t prepared for, especially since I thought this was going to go almost the same way as the original except in a Welsh setting and probably not the controversial death at the end.

Now I really don’t want to give this fun twist away so I’m going to have to summarise the rest of the film as best I can. Here it is, it’s fun and as a bonus if your welsh you will enjoy two fold with our mannerisms on show.
Threes some shaky scenes and the acting can be a bit a dodgy at times but this is well made up for with great writing and some shining moments I enjoyed it, it’s not perfect but it’s a both a good homage and a good zombie film.
If you like gritty grainy old style flicks this is one for you and THN is proud to give it four stars out of five just because I’m sure some people won’t get it and a watch it recommendation.


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