Undead Like Us - DVD

Movie: Actually Bart Gregory (David Anders) only wanted to serve his country. But during a mission in Iraq, the soldier is killed in an ambush. Family and friends mourn the young man, especially his best buddy Joey (Chris Wylde). But he's astonished when, days after the funeral, Bart suddenly shows up on his doorstep, undead and hungry for blood. Joey wants to help his zombie friend, of course, but innocent people should not serve as a food source. But quickly a solution is found: Why not kill two birds with one stone and fill their bellies with murderers and drug dealers? And so Bart and Joey wander through nocturnal Los Angeles, taking the law into their own hands in their very own way. But when Joey is mortally wounded on one such outing and Bart turns him into a zombie as well, the undead friends' vigilante forays threaten to escalate more and more.

Undead Like Us takes on the zombie myth in an inventive and amusing way. A bit of Shaun of the Dead-style comedy, a bit of vigilante thriller, a dash of Tarantino and a touch of drama, all make this wicked horror comedy a real must-see for all fans of original horror films. On a fairly low budget, director and screenwriter Kerry Prior, who previously worked on the special effects for films like The Abyss and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, has created a respectable genre representative.

Prior repeatedly plays with various clichés of the subject, only to break its rules again. Thus his zombies are no slowly shuffling undead. Rather, they're people like you and me, with just a bit of a stench, an unhealthy complexion, and an enormous hunger for human blood. However, they can converse and even have genuine emotions. And that's where the movie gets its appeal. The conversations between the zombie friends are, like their bloody forays through L.A., of absurd comedy, which is underlined by the partly very self-deprecating staging.

Towards the end, the comedy clearly loses its wit and even takes on really dramatic features towards the finale. This break in style seems to take some getting used to at first, but directs the film in a consistent way to the last act, which even leaves room for a possible sequel. So in the end it all adds up to a coherent whole that makes Undead Like Us a very pleasant low-budget surprise. While the film does not reach the class of Shaun of the Dead, a really entertaining genre fun it is all the same. So if you ever want to make the streets of Los Angeles unsafe with zombies of a different kind, you should not miss this home theater premiere. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Technically, this home theater premiere can convince despite a low budget. Although there is some blurring especially in the darker scenes, but overall the picture is satisfactory and color atmospherically implemented. The sound does not offer overwhelming surround effects, but dialogues and music are mixed well understandable and are coherently complemented by some nice sound effects. Good!

Extras: The DVD has three audio commentaries to offer. The first commentary is narrated by director Kerry Prior, who has some very interesting details to share about the making of the film and its various versions. For instance, Undead Like Us was shown in a different cut at festivals before it was bought by a studio, which in turn requested some changes, such as an extended opening sequence. An insightful and sympathetic commentary. Things get fun with the second commentary, for which cast members David Anders, Chris Wylde, Louise Griffiths and Jacy King are gathered behind the microphone. Here, the information content is admittedly much lower, but the entertainment value is higher. More factual is the third commentary, which is delivered by the visual effects team. And here the participants also have some interesting facts to offer about the special effects.

In addition to the commentaries, there is a rather short, but very amusing making of and some unreleased scenes. Good!

Conclusion: Undead Like Us is an original horror comedy that stands out from the genre crowd with wicked wit and some nice touches. Although the film takes a little while to get going, horror fans will get their money's worth here. The DVD is technically on a good level, the extras are especially the director's commentary and the short but nice making of. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp