The Dead (2010)

The Dead might not be the most impressive or original title in the world but against all the odds the film IS. 

After he crashed near the African coast Lt. Brian Murphy must fight for his life while he tries to get to safety. He is assisted by Daniel Dembele, a military man who is looking for his son. Together they fight a way through the living dead.

The viewer gets thrown in the heat of the battle immediately. The epidemic has already broken out and that does do the tempo of the film a lot of good. We follow Lt. Brian who's plane has crashed during , what was supposed to be, an escape from the zombie-infected Africa. He washes ashore and by himself, and later with the hulp of a local military man, he starts looking for help in sun baked Africa. From that moment on it's pure enjoyment watching this film. 

The zombie genre the last couple of years is really becoming popular again but after all those ''modern'' zombie films it's so nice to see a modern zombie film who tries the classic technique. Slow zombies, excellent camerawork, a lot of tension and an amazing atmosphere. This film is a Walhalla for classic zombie fans. 

While watching ''The Dead'' I felt like I was watching a 70's or 80's zombie flick, especially the Italian ones. The long, stretched out atmospheric camera shots with living corpses shuffling over dusty roads in the burning heat of the African sun. It reminded me of Fulci's classic ''Zombi 2''. As a matter of fact, The Dead IS Zombi 2 only in a modern, but at the same time very traditional, jacket. All praise for the ''Ford Brothers''. 

The zombies are shown very threatning and I can only cheer for that. Every director who manages to make slow zombies frightening has got great talent. And the Ford Brothers certainly do have talent. The gore is amazing as well. No ugly CGI, if CGI was used in the first place, but classic make-up effects which look like they have been made by some Italian special effects maestro in his prime days. This film certainly doesn't hold back on the blood and gore.

In about 30 years, like now, there will be gorehounds searching the internet looking for gory zombie classics, and where current gorehounds often end up with an Italian zombie film they will find their fair share in brilliant little films like this one.... Brilliant films like The Dead. The Dead is a modern classic that every dude who calls himself a fan of zombie films should watch.

And what did we learn from this film?....... That Africa is a great setting for a zombie film if you use the setting well... And that black zombies are way more frightening than white zombies.