Better Off Undead

I first became acquainted with the work of John Pata when I reviewed his amazing (and amazingly different than this) DEAD WEIGHT (review here), one of my favorite films of last year. In doing an interview with Pata and DW co-director Adam Bartlett (here), Pata told me that DW wasn’t his first zombie movie. His first zombie flick was this one, BETTER OFF UNDEAD. So I decided for Halloween Horror 2013 that I would feature Pata’s earlier film.

So just to set the bar early: BOU is a very, very low-budget film. This is a “let’s make a movie with our friends” sort of film, but it embraces that aesthetic quite well, and if as a viewer you don’t mind the more-heart-than-cash sort of films, this shouldn’t be a problem. If you’re expecting DAWN OF THE DEAD remake quality production, you can probably just turn around right now and be on your way.

BOU starts off with a nice selection of wide walking shots that works as a good intro, leading up to the introduction of the zombies. You think you’ve got the main character, and then he’s zombie food, so there goes that. The zombie makeup is nothing to write home about, actually it’s pretty poor: white face and black eyes. The gore the comes out of the attacks has more time and effort behind it, and for those who are enamored with the red stuff the gore effects in BOU are quite decent. Especially noteworthy, is the Romero-like “ripped in half” effect that comes much later, which was done with particular aplomb. This initial opening and attack is followed by a very simple, yet very effective, opening credit sequence set to some original punk rock for the film.

Thanks Romero for this zombie trope! Thanks Romero for this zombie trope!

The acting in BOU is very decidedly of the “your friends and neighbors” level, which does detract a little bit as the dialogue is actually really witty and well written. There is a very Kevin Smith slant to the dialogue, and I could see Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, and Jason Mewes easily s...