As any semi-regular reader knows, I’m a sucker for zombie
movies. Whether it’s the quick-moving
cannibals of Zach Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead
remake or the shambling ghouls of Papa Bear’s …of the Dead series, there’s something about reanimated corpses with
the single-minded purpose of feeding that gets me right in the reptile
brain. I only state that as preamble to
explain why I was watching the film Dead
Season in the first place. By all
accounts, this should be little more than a Romero-inspired trek through the
zompocalypse with a plucky band of heroes fighting with one another while
fending of the hordes of the undead.
Fortunately, Dead Season has a
bit more up its sleeve than that.
Unfortunately, it’s not wholly successful in the execution.
Tweeter is given another task – help Conrad’s daughter,
Rachel (Corsica Wilson), find a little sunshine in Armageddon after being
cooped up in the same room for the better part of a year. Eventually, Rachel reveals a greater plan –
to escape the island by way of the Conrad family boat. Elvis, too, has some issues to sort through
when Conrad the Elder comes knocking following the latest water-borne
arrivals. It seems that the new folk don’t
have as much to offer as do Tweeter and Elvis, so they are quarantined and kept
isolated. Conrad leads Elvis to their
makeshift prison where he learns the dark secret of Conrad’s survival. Those who are not of use to the group get
gutted, fileted and jerky-ed, and it’s time for Elvis to pony up and kick in.
So, what is it about the movie that’s worth a look? Not much, if you’re not a zombie nut to begin
with. If you enjoy those daydreams of
the world turned mad and the dead walking, and spend far too much time playing
out the survival scenarios, this may be worth a look. The notion of what people will do to survive,
and the toll on their humanity as these decisions weigh upon them, is fine, but
the film’s ambition exceeded its grasp more often than not. It’s head and rotting shoulders better than
most of the cookie-cutter zombie fare out there, but it fails to stand on its
own as a solid horror film.

