Deadheads Review

Movie: Deadheads
By: Maniac E
Date: February 16, 2012

The dead will walk, talk and ride shotgun

While the zombie train still haven't left us, we get zombie movie after zombie movie how can you distinguish yourself from the rest of the horde? Well "The Pierce Brothers" looked at Shaun of the Dead and thought we "could make a zombie/comedy as well". What happens if you're dead?

The story:

the story of Mike Kellerman (Michael McKiddy), who's just awakened from a three-year coma to find himself a walking/talking zombie. He soon befriends Brent (Ross Kidder), a bubbly, talkative slacker with a similar issue. The guys are then joined by the mindless zombie Cheese (Markus Taylor) and picked up by Nam vet Cliff (Harry Burkey). The group sets out on a cross-country mission to find Mike's lost love, Ellie (Natalie Victoria) and also to find the answer to another burning question: "Why are they the only zombies that can talk?" The plot thickens when attack survivor Jeremiah (Thomas Galasso) teams up with hazmatters Gillman and McDinkle (Greg Dow and Benjamin Webster) to hunt down the zombie world's answer to Abbott and Costello.

Deadheads jumps into multiple bigger hot selling pools, not only zombies but also grindhouse features are used in the movie and other retro reminders. The "horror" of Deadheads comes mostly from the blood & guts of gun-blasted zombies. Mike loses his arm at one point and uses it as a weapon then Brett loses his "manhood" and is forced to carry it in his pocket. At one point, Brett grabs an intestine and gets dragged behind the back of a truck. Good family fun!

Most of the Deadheads gore is well-designed and effectively played for laughs. The "comedy" of the film shines with a talented cast of mostly-Michigan actors, though the film's comic tone varies at times with some characters being more over-the-top than others. As a child of the 1980's I appreciated the flick's nostalgia value: the references to Transformers cartoons, the wooded area scenes with that foggy, lit look of E.T., and the upbeat score from Devin Burrows. And like many 80's and 90's classics, Deadheads culminates with a school dance, this time in the form of a ten-year class reunion.

The movie isn't a 5 star production keep this in mind. The make-up looks well... pretty cheap almost early Dawn of the Dead type of things. But that is what they wanted to capture everything. It goes without saying that most of the shots in the movie look a bit amateur like. Some would say it would fit the movie but for me it felt like it was shot for a school project. Keep in mind this was a full budget wise production.

The Pierce Brothers, Brett and Drew, are the sons of Bart Drew, the FX artist of the original Evil Dead and they grew up in the midst of production. Evil Dead's own Bruce Campbell has also praised Deadheads. Let's face it Deadheads is an over the top zombie comedy which will give your more smiles than real laughs. If you can enjoy some sentimental road trips to the 80's you can see the humor of things, if you are a later bloomer it will quite possible be that you won't get half the jokes. All in all the movie ended up being more than just ok, but it will come down to taste there have been a lot of different reviews on the net about this flick. As for me it is a solid addition for your zombie collection.

3/5

BLURAY REVIEW

Image quality

The movie is presented to us in: High Definition 1.78:1,High Definition 16:9,1080p High Definition quality and is sharp enough but not very gentle towards the amateur feeling that your are left with watching this movie.

Sound

Solid Dolby Digital 5.1 DTS-HD track can be found here the rawr's of the zombies are of excellent quality here. Shotguns are noisy but make sure you will wake up the moment they are shoot.