The movie reviewed here is definitely NOT for children, and probably not for most other people either. Please see my previous post on why zombie films are reviewed on a Christian website like K_Line Christian Online.
- GENRE: Zombie Horror
- ACTORS: Jaime Winstone, Andy Nyman, Riz Ahmed, Warren Brown, Liz May Brice
- RATING: UK rating: 18. In the US, it would probably be NR (not rated); or “R” or higher.
- PARENTAL NOTE: Strong caution: This movie contains almost non-stop cursing in most of the dialogue. Most of the worst curse words used in the US are featured, together with additional curse words that are peculiar to the UK. The zombie violence is extreme and include graphic killings, biting and disembowelments. Not intended for children. Strong sexual content, although the nudity is brief. Bad language and questionable situations, to say the least. Extreme zombie violence.
- INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and may not be appreciated by others. As indicated above, the content which obviously disqualifies this series for children will disqualify it for viewing by many adults.
- GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) Actually, this review is for a short, five part TV miniseries from the UK, not a movie. However, the full story was intended to be told within this format. For reasons obvious after you’ve seen the full series, the story has a definite beginning and end. The story itself involves the set of the UK version of the TV series, “Big Brother.” As with all movies (TV series) in the genre, zombies get loose, and mayhem ensues. These zombies are of the extremely fast moving variety, but most rules of the genre apply. For example, the only way to kill these zombies is to shoot or stab them in the brain. One interesting limitation of the zombies in “Dead Set,” is that they seem to function at a fairly high level–but they inexplicably cannot manipulate doorknobs.
- REVIEW: I debated taxing this series one star, based on the rating criteria of “Subtract STARS for extreme overall INCREDIBLE trashiness” (i.e. constant cursing). But actually, the better solution is to just not watch the series if you don’t like to hear cursing–and I do mean a LOT of cursing. Other than that, the acting is good, the characters are interesting (though profane), and the zombies are realistic. There are a lot of graphic zombie kills and killing by zombies. Even the plot is plausible and somewhat interesting. In short, there is a lot to like, for fans of the genre. One side note is that this TV series is not widely available. However, as of February 2013, registered users of YouTube can watch it for free.
- RECOMMENDATION:1 This is a zombie horror movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the graphic violence, gore, language and other questionable elements. If you are a devoted fan of this genre–I highly recommend this short TV series.
- RATING (out of 5 stars):
MOVIE RATING SYSTEM:
Start with zero (0) out of five (5) possible STARS
- Add one STAR if it looks like the movie was made by professional film makers–not 4 or 5 guys with a camcorder.
- Add one STAR if the film has a story, theme or plot (optional for horror and/or zombie movies); or if the movie makes any sense.
- Add additional STARS for special effects, acting, good moral message(s), realistic zombies, scariness,
interesting theme or plot and the like. - Subtract STARS for extreme bad acting, COMPLETELY awful themes/messages, overall INCREDIBLE trashiness, graphic and persistent lewdness, and the like.