Dead Season

I've probably seen most zombie related movies which include all of Romero's work, 28 days/weeks and the less serious 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Fido'. 'Dead Season' fits right around the middle simply because it doesn't add much to what's already been done. It feels like an extension to one of the other movies where you follow the characters after they finally get away from the main population.

The acting is obviously a little uneven because only the four main actors have real experience which always seems to be an issue with indie films. The secondary actors are noticeably less experienced but not enough to be a problem, they are really just scenery for the most part. The rest of the production is so well done that it's shame the story is so generic.

If you're a fan of all things zombie and need a new one to watch then I would recommend it because it's well done overall even with the flaws.

I'd been going through a number of horror titles from 2012 on my favorite film site & quite honestly, a lot of them were not just bad, but sad as well.

There were some that had competent acting, directing, scenery & sometimes a combination of all three (very few times) but failed to deliver the story well enough to make it interesting. Now while some of the acting here is definitely low tier, I wouldn't necessarily call it "incompetent." While no one in this film was cheated out of an Oscar for their performance, it can also be said that none of he actors were deserving of membership in the "Bad Actor's Guild of America" either.

The two main leads in this movie deliver their characters in a relatively credible, albeit (at least initially) more subtle & lowkey than might be given by more seasoned veterans, in the first act, but once the threat becomes more actualized they do both hit their marks.

Without including spoilers, two obvious topics/scenes that are included in this film which are almost always avoided in the more vanilla zombie stories (& will disturb some people) contribute to giving this film more grit & credibility & sets a tone (as well as closes it) to the level of barbarity that a reconstruction of "civilization" would likely bring.

There's a decent story here about hope & starting again that doesn't defy credibility, or come off as cliché despite the Zombie aspect.

Like many watchers/writers & readers here, I've seen all manner of gore, ghouls, undead & even real life brutalization that often makes me callous to seeing the same thing over & over again, but this film kept my attention from beginning to end.

After adding this to my film watching history I have no regrets about viewing this movie & I think most who aren't expecting a Lucio Fulci, or George Romero tier knockoff, won't regret it either.

A lot of thought went into the script, and from the looks of it, a lot of love went into the production and performances of this way better than average zombie chiller. Suffice it to say that the story packs some real surprises, previously unexplored within the genre. The locations look sufficiently post-apocalyptic, and the humans appear to be honestly at the end of their proverbial rope. And that's a smart idea. Too many movies like this have a bunch of well-fed, good-looking actor armed to the teeth with seemingly endless supplies of ammo and enthusiasm. Dead Season does not disappoint. On the contrary, it serves up good scares, a good story and some good gore make for an nail-biting thought-provoking good time.

Dead Season (2012)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Better than average film starts off after a zombie apocalypse takes out most people. Survivors Elvis (Scott Peat) and Tweeter (Marissa Merrill) meet by chance and soon the two jump in a boat and head off to an island. Once there they find more survivors being led by a man (James C. Burns) who is up to something darker than zombies. DEAD SEASON suffers somewhat from its obvious low-budget but for the most part this was an entertaining film that managed to have some brains for it, which isn't the norm for this type of picture. Unlike most movies that turn up on DVD, this one here isn't about cheap gore and dumb action. Instead we're given a pretty interesting story that actually had me caring about the characters, their issues and the situation that they're in. I thought the entire story was pretty good and I enjoyed seeing what a group of survivors might be doing to try and continue their lives while everything around them is pretty much dead. A lot of credit must go to the performances, which I found to be very good. I especially liked Merrill who was great in her role and I hope to see more of her in the future. I also enjoyed Corsica Wilson who plays a daughter locked up in the village. The gore effects are pretty graphic for this type of picture as there are several damaging bites and heads being shot off. I think a higher budget would have allowed for some of the plot to be developed more but there's still no question that this film gets quite a bit done and the majority of it done very well. Fans of the genre should be entertained by this one.

Another Zombie Movie.

I love zombie movies and the series The Walking Dead so when I see zombie movie I just have to watch it. I don't finish them all because some of them are just terrible and based on just blood and gore.

I Watched the movie with my wife and thought it was so bad, but we watched it all, we couldn't stop so it has to say something.

Most frustrating things were people doing things not logical and leaving weapons behind. Interesting take on the shortage of food but it does not make up for the bad acting and "special effects". Camera work wasn't bad so there is someone with a future that was involved in the movie.

Nothing special but be warned when you start U probably won't stop.

Acting not so great, story line not so great.