from JoeHorror.com
Last Rites of the Dead
(Insanie-O-Rama Prod. / R1 NTSC DVD)
Review by Jude Felton
I remember way back when I was a wee lad, coming home from school one day to find out my Dad had recorded a movie off the TV. That wasn’t such a strange thing I will admit, but the movie in question this time was none other than Night of the Living Dead.
For some reason the picture quality wasn’t that good, maybe there was a storm the night before, but the effect the movie had on me still remains with me today. It hooked me onto zombie movies, the next one I saw was Dawn of the Dead, and to tell the truth it has been downhill ever since. Could those two movies ever be topped? Many have tried and all in my opinion (and that’s what counts here) have failed.
Sure, there have been some cracking zombie flicks released from all over the world, but none have ever filled my with the same feelings of joy and revulsion. In all honesty I doubt any zombie movie ever will.
And before you all start shouting at your screen telling me I’m talking bollocks, I ask you this question. Hand on heart tell me which movies are better? Day of the Dead? Awesome movie, but no. Return of the Living Dead? Again, a wonderful movie but not quite there. Shaun of the Dead? Great, but wouldn’t have been made had it not been for Night or Dawn. I could go on, but I won’t.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the sun shines out of Romero’s ass as many do. He’s a competent director that just so happened to make two (possibly three) outstanding zombie movies. There are certainly far better directors, past and present.
Anyway I digress. On to matters at hand, Zombie movies still appear to be as popular as ever, especially in the world of low budget movie making, and are quite often a mixed bunch. They range from very good right down to why the fuck did they bother? I won’t name movies but I have reviewed a few in the past, so have a look for yourselves.
When a new zombie flick gets made I always find myself hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Quite often the hype is just that, hype. All talk and no end product. So when I sat down to watch Last Rites of the Dead I will admit to not having set my hopes too high.
Well I’ve rattled on for far too long already. Was Last Rites any good and what the fuck is it about?
I’ll tell you what it’s about first shall I? Marvelous, off we go then.
The movie starts with a young couple having a bit of a domestic. Well, it’s a little more than that, the girl, whose name is Angela, has locked herself in the bathroom to try and get away from her boyfriend, Josh. He is royally pissed about something, and after much shouting and kicking in of bathroom doors he shoots the hapless Angela at point blank range.
She didn’t last long then did she? Not so quick my friend, this is a zombie movie after all, so yes she does come back, so to speak. You see the zombies in this movie aren’t what you might expect, no in actual fact the only difference between zombies and humans in Last Rites is that the zombie’s flesh rots, they can’t be killed (again) unless you destroy the brain, and I mean destroy it, and they have a taste for human flesh.
They don’t moan and groan and wander around aimlessly until a nice fresh human comes along. No, they actually operate as members of modern society, the lower end of society, but they still interact as any human would, to a point. Think of them as the new minority facing prejudice at almost every turn.
The newly zombiefied Angela ends up seeking solace at a zombie self help group, where she tries to come to terms with what has happened to her. Josh on the other hand, drives around with his buddies beating five bells of shit out of any zombies they find.
This isn’t enough for Josh and his friends though, and soon they meet up with the mysterious Commandant, an almost legendary underground figure that has an army assembled to declare war on the undead.
You can probably see where this is going already, and you are probably right, however, the journey to that destination is quite an incredible one. I have to admit I haven’t seen a zombie movie quite like this one. At times it comes across as a heavy social commentary on society, the next thing you know it is a comedy, cut all that in with some bone shuddering violence, a shitload of blood and guts and some truly surreal characters. That’s not the half of it though, there is so much going on in this movie, too much to put in this review. Throw it all in the blender and what do you get? No, you don’t get a mess you cheeky fucker’s, you actually get a remarkably good movie.
The movie onscreen defies the fact that this is a low budget movie; it all looks very impressive, from the special effects through the soundtrack and even down to the acting. There’s the odd dodgy performance as you might expect, but overall the cast were pretty much spot on. Oh and Gina Ramsden, who plays Angela, is rather easy on the eye, which is always a bonus. Besides that though she does give an excellent performance in the lead role.
There are some wonderfully humorous moments that add a little balance to some of the movie’s more disturbing scenes, of which there are plenty. I don’t want to spoil it for you though by revealing any particular scenes, you’ll just have to watch it to find out.
On the downside, and there’s always a downside, I did think the movie ran just a little bit too long. At almost two hours it could have maybe done with shaving off about fifteen minutes or so, just to help the pacing towards the end.
My other negative was a fight scene towards the end, which seemed a little too staged for my liking. Put it this way a zombie with Nunchuks? Ok, so maybe I spoiled that scene, but it was one that I could have done without.
Going back to my earlier question, yes it was good, very good. Last Rites of the Dead is probably the best zombie movie I have seen since Zombie Honeymoon, and is far better than many that have come before that. If more undead flicks were made with the ambition and originality of this one I’d be a happy man.
Recommended to fans of Zombie Honeymoon & Undead.
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