Zombie Movie Review: The Dead Next Door

(Also posted at http://www.revenantmagazine.com/ )

Vector image for zombie movie The Dead Next Door

I have been trying to watch this film for several months but have only managed to make it 5 minutes into it each time I try.  It is the film that always seems to get put on when we get home from a Saturday night out at about 3am and consequently everyone falls asleep just as it starts.  However this time I decided to watch it at a more sensible hour so that I could finish the whole thing this time.

Starting a movie with a bunch of Zombies trying to rent Dawn Of The Dead in a video store is slightly concerning, giving the impression that this would stray too far into the parody domain that so many more recent films have fallen and of which I am not a huge fan.  Thankfully this turns out to be one of the better self deprecating films in the zombie canon.  Sure, there are characters called Raimi, Carpenter, Savini and even Romero present, but this never gets in the way of the story and it is quite possible to sit back and enjoy the movie without feeling you’re part of a fanboy project (even though it quite clearly is).

What probably sets it apart from other fanboy films is the ridiculous gore effects, which is presumably where the whole budget went (lord knows it wasn’t spent on the acting!).  Many tongues are ripped out, zombies are decapitated, bodies are run over. In a highlight, a zombie head chews off a dudes fingers and we see the severed digits reappear from the bodiless zombies neck while he munches.  And not forgetting the death of the good doctor, who suffers twisted off legs, torn out stomach, a ripped off face AND even gets his hat stolen!

OK, there is a plot going on in amongst all this gore.  A Zombie loving cult are storing the living dead in their church basement and the Zombie Squad accidentally stumbles upon this group,  tries to deal with the situation and to try to find a cure.  Sadly this involves killing off far more of the humans than Zombies, but oh well, at least they tried.

It is certainly an outstandingly gory film, and I definitely enjoyed it on this front. However once all the Zombie Squad reached the cult church about an hour into the film the plot seemed to vanish and all that was left was to count up which human got killed next for whatever reason, which kind of spoilt all the big build-up.  Still, it was well made, had quality effects and some laughable dialogue and a more professional looking SOV zombie film I’ve yet to see.  As far as fanboy films go this is easily one of the best.

Gore Score B+
Norks Score D
Originality Score D
Overall Score B