Dead and Deader (2006)

Film review #637

Director: Patrick Dinhut

SYNOPSIS: A special forces squad is sent to investigate the loss of communications with a medical outpost in Cambodia are all killed after they are attacked by zombies. Lieutenant Bobby Quinn is one of the soldiers, but wakes up on an autopsy table after his body was taken to a U.S. army base. Now possessing superhuman strength and presumably whatever infection created the zombies, Quinn must find the other bodies of the soldiers killed alongside him before they awaken and infect anyone else…

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Dead and Deader is a 2006 TV film. Bobby Quinn (Dean Cain) wakes up on an autopsy table, having been declared dead on arrival after a mission to a medical outpost in Cambodia killed him and his team when they were attacked by zombies. It turns out that Quinn has the same infection that the zombies have, and must eat red meat to avoid becoming one himself. Learning that the bodies of the rest of the squad have been shipped home, he must put a stop to them before they become zombies themselves and infect the population. Joined by the base chef and a local bartender, the film throws plot out the window, and just fills itself with explosions, cheap humour, and gore; lots and lots of gore. In fact, it is quite surprising just how much violence and blood there is in this made-for TV production. From Quinn cutting his arm open to release a live scorpion form it, to the dismemberment of zombies in every which way, it gets away with a lot of bloody violence. While this is probably the only thing the film has going for it thanks to a middling story and characters that are just cheap imitations of other more successful ones, the film is actually better than you might expect: it is at least creative with it’s gore, and it never gets hung up on boring details. I suppose this is important in made-for TV films so viewers don’t just swap channels. It knows it needs to hit certain low bars, and it does so without much fanfare. The fact that it does so keeps it from falling into being boring or too hokey.

Despite the potential for a mass zombie outbreak, the film is strung together with cartoony characters and typical one-liners that will have you groaning in begrudging acceptance that they have to be in there. There’s also quite a few references to other science-fiction franchises dotted about that are clearly for its audience, and the inclusion of Armin Shimmerman, who played Quark on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Dead and Deader never evolves beyond silly, gory fun, but on this point it seems to do surprisingly well, not falling into a rut at any point, and keeping itself entertaining and surprising with how far it’s willing to push the gore. The plot never evolves beyond pure stupidity, but it knows what it is, and I suppose can be excused. Not a good film, but watchable and reasonably entertaining.