User reviews

Based on the best-selling video games by Capcom, Dead Rising: Watchtower by director Zach Liposvsky brings us an new and original story that follows a young reporter's struggle for survival against a viscous zombie outbreak. In a race against time, he's forced to team up with a couple of strangers in hopes of escaping a quarantine zone before the government's scheduled city-wide purge takes effect.

Within the first 2 minutes, we get to see our hero use a toaster, fan blade and car muffler as weapons to fend off a gun-wielding zombie cop. I think it's safe to say that, like fine wine, this film's definitely an acquired taste. I'm certainly not ashamed to admit that I had a bloody good time, and as a fan of the original games, I was unquestionably impressed with how true to the source material Dead Rising: Watchtower actually was. From a buzzsaw-equipped sledgehammer to a shotgun-machete, the weapons are borderline insane yet completely and utterly amazing to see in real life. Even the infamous "Zombrex" medicine plays a part in the story, which was also a nice nod to all the fun Dead Rising games.

I guess it paid off that the franchise owners from Capcom refused to let the director bring this to life without first proving he's a genuine fan of the games by playing one in front of them. He clearly passed the test because this is probably the best video game adaption to film I have ever seen to date. What sets this zombie flick from the horde, however, is its actors and attention to detail towards the props, sets and gory makeup effects. As a fan of campy B movies, I can't deny that a large portion of them offer next to no acting talent, but this certainly isn't the case with Dead Rising's awesome cast. Featuring Dallas' Jesse Metcalfe, Bates Motel's Keegan Connor Tracey and 24's Dennis Haysbert, this is one TV star-studded cast that doesn't disappoint. Even the great Rob Riggle makes a side appearance as the original game's cocky photojournalist, Frank West, providing some hilarious newscast social satire. To top it off, the cinematography was unexpectedly smooth and includes some very cool points of view through the camera work. What stood out the most, though, was a remarkably long and totally impressive single take which follows a brutally epic zombie-killing spree.

Since the film is sprinkled with bits of dark comedy and campy violence, there's no doubt in my mind that most critics will love to pick this Crackle original feature apart with genuine hate. For the cult classic enthusiast, however, this may just be the perfect storm of hilarious insanity. Flaws aside, at no point does the film ever try to restrain itself from being a glorified B movie and fans of the games are sure to eat it up, even more, because of it. Gleefully self-aware of all its over-the-top antics, Dead Rising: Watchtower is one love letter to the fans that's sure not to disappoint!

In comparison to what is out there in this oversaturated genre, this is actually a decent film despite it being based off of a video game.

For all the people complaining that it's total garbage, you definitely have not watched a lot of zombie movies to know how bad it could really be.

I've watched A LOT of zombie films, and this one holds its own.

Has some nice action sequences, enough humorous moments to not take itself too seriously, decent pacing and ending, and enough subtle nods to the original source material game to warrant the title.

Decent enough film without too much thought required. 7/10

Decided to give it a try after reading a lot of mixed reviews and after being done with this one (Now gotta watch DR:Endgame) I think I understand why a lot of people gave it bad reviews... they never played the game!

If I had never of played any of the DR games, I would have probably given this movie a 3 or 4 but since I have and love the games I totally get it, they stayed really true to the game and there are a TON of references apart from the general "sillyness" tone of the movie (I guess you can call it that).

So yeah, don't expect this to be like WWZ, TWD, 28DL, DOTD, etc etc... in fact, if you haven't played the DR games, you probably won't like it, unless you like a lot of the zombie b movies out there (I don't).

Anyways, thought I'd post this review to help out with those like me who were looking for a zombie movie to watch.

Some of the funniest zombie scenes I've seen and I've seen a lot. Fun movie with horribly terrible zombies.

Dead rising was a story about consumerism and then it became about rogue government, army, and the phenotrans. This story continues that the Phenotrans are sneaky jerks working with the government to drive up their stock prices, new ways to make money, and ways to track what town they can destroy next with the now manual infection. Chase Carter(played by Jessie Metcalfe) was a good main character and i rooted for him right away and all the way through. I do feel like he should have been the character everyone knows and loves...Frank West. Frank is in the movie (played by Rob Riggle) He was quite obnoxious and i only laughed at how bad the writing was for him. In the 2 games before DR4 ruined him, Frank was was very likable and you really rooted for him. His situation was so scary and dramatic in the original game that you cared for what happend to him as well. Same for DR2 Off The Record, Frank got a bit more lighthearted and funny but not annoying or obnoxious, you still cared and he was so fun to hang around with even if you arent there with him. Something happend between DR2 off the record and watchtower that completly made Frank an annyoing character Same with Dr4, he is so childish now and not fun at all. Might as well be Hank East. The story did kinda annoyed me especally since DR2 wrapped up the Zombrex story but then DR3 sloved the Zombrex Chip story then sloved that with the cure. Watchtower just ignores that and starts another Zombrex phenotrans story, its not bad but they've already done it. Although this might be a prequel to DR3 because the Zombrex chips we're made to find the one person with the cure in DR3. besides Frank West's dollar store version of himself and a meh villan (no Psychopaths either), the story is very intresting, most of the characters are likeable and there are some very fun scenes that fans of the series should enjoy.

If you have played dead rising then you would rate this movie. Because yea some parts don't make sense but you kinda have to think about how the game is so then those things would make sense. No spoilers but I just think that the rating of this movie is way too low, I think it's because those people haven't played the game

...and luckily I also quite like a bad one, too. Which is just as well, because 'Dead Rising' isn't that good (but then it's not that bad, either). In case you didn't know, it's based on a computer game. And, if you didn't know that, you probably did know that movies that are based on computer games never really fair that well.

You have a city. You have zombies. You have survivors trying to get out. If you're expecting something with tension, heart and character development (and zombies, of course) then stick to the Walking Dead. However, if you just want to see zombies sliced up by weird and wonderful (and very sharp) home-made weapons, then watch this. Part of the enjoyment of the computer game was that you could 'craft' weapons by sticking a lawnmower on the end of a toaster (or something like that) and then mowing your way through the undead hordes. Well, that's basically what the film does, too.

The characters are a clichéd and the story uninspired, yet I can't quite bring myself to dislike it. It's the sort of film that I'm pretty sure I'll forget shortly and then remember in a few years time and watch again. No, I won't buy it, but I reckon that if I can find it for free on Netflix or whatever then I'll happily sit through it again and chuckle here and there.

If I had to say one majorly negative thing about it, it would be that it never really seemed to know what it wanted to be. One minute it's quite 'knowingly cheesy' with its silly antics – the next it's trying to be all dark and conspiracy orientated.

If you can stomach – yet another – zombie film that's simple 'popcorn fun' then you could give this one a go (especially if you don't have to pay for it!).

Dead Rising: Watchtower was quite the surprise having little faith in a film based off of a video game. It's relevant to say as the viewer there was no understanding of the video game or background, just went in open-minded. The notion of government aided shots to diminish the zombie side effects is a brilliant conception. Also, Dead Rising did a fantastic job portraying the despicableness of the United States media and the sneakiness of the government to strengthen our national security. The casting efforts should be applauded for a film that was most likely going to be direct-to-video (instead it was released by Crackle). Jesse Metcalfe and Meghan Ory looked and played the part very well and it was cool to see Virginia Madsen take a role that she can do perfectly. There was always an anticipation for myself of the next news scene between Rob Riggle and Carrie Genzel, having some extremely funny moments. Dead Rising is another bright spot of 2015 horror movies, which turned out to be a great year of non-mainstream horror.

Dead Rising Watchtower: Directed by Zach Lipovsky and written by Tim Carter

Oh video game adaptations. What a weary lot you be. Very few are worth anyone's time to watch. Case in point the Street Fighter movies. This one actually ranks fairly high. It's a faithful adaptation. My daughter is a fan of the games and she knows them very well. She said this follows the games pretty faithfully. Honestly to me that has very little hold on how I view a movie. I take this movie at face value. It is a fairly entertaining zombie flick.

This movie has style to spare. It utilizes a variety of go pro style cameras attached to weapons and cars and zombies. It's pretty interesting the first few times it's done but this director does like to go overboard with his ideas. Much like the news cast they keep cutting back to. It's a nice idea at first but they overdo it. They overuse all of their tricks in their bag.

This takes plot elements from pretty every other zombie film made. It has bits of Dawn of the Dead in it and it has some Resident Evil in there as well. Well it is an amalgamation of a wide variety of stories all rolled into one. It works though. It doesn't delve too deep into characters and some of the acting is sub par but it works as an entertaining zombie movie.

It moves quickly and when it wasn't cutting back to the news show, it worked well. It was a pretty good formula flick. The weapon construction which is a hoot in the game also works wonders in the movie. It's pretty sweet, very entertaining. There is a scene when they exit out of the pawn shop and it has this one shot that is pretty wicked.

This was a somewhat long but very entertaining zombie flick. It has a great gore scene with the zombie clown. It felt like a boss battle from a game and it translates beautifully into the movie as well. I would recommend this movie to zombie fans especially. I give it a B.

If you take it for what it is you won't be disappointed. It's a mid- budget B-movie that' has a lot of gore a lot of action and a few laughs. The first half of the movie is a little slow and predictable but the second half makes up for it. It won't win any awards but it's an entertaining movie for a weekend afternoon.