Special Dead (2006) Reviews

• Thinking about picking up Special Dead? DO IT!

  GutterJim2007-10-28

  Special Dead takes place at Camp Special Dude, a ranch for the mentally handicapped. When a few new campers arrive at Special Dude, so do the undead! The campers and counselors have to fight to stop the outbreak and stay alive. As it says on Special Dead's IMDb plot summary: "It's a campy stampede of blood, boobs and gore as some "very special" people show that they can kick some serious undead ass." With that said let me get to reviewing this Zomedy! There is a really sharp picture during all of the daytime shots in the movie. Yet nights falls fairly early on in the film and most of the story takes place during the night. The picture is a bit grainy in the darker/night time scenes but that just helps to set a creepy atmosphere. After a second viewing of Special Dead at a friends house on a huge HDTV I can say that the quality of the picture really stands out. The make up effects for the gore and undead was pretty damn good, it's just gross enough for you to want to attack these zombies with a bar of soap and a hose. A few of the zombies reminded me of the look of Fulci's zombies in Zombi 2, Dirty and nasty looking! The gore mixed with the humor very well. One nasty scene has a camp member joking about how stupid zombies are because he got bit by one, he then shows off his arm with an open gash and bubbling green blood inside, AWESOME. Another gore filled scene had me wondering why has quick set glue poured into a zombie's mouth never been used in a living dead story before? It seems like a logical way to stop a zombie from being able to bite you. The sounds effects were spot on, A zombie gurgling with a mouth full of blood while it's face is getting smashed in, One of the counselors getting his face beaten against a tree while urinating, nasty flesh munching, and plenty of slashing, chain saws and loud gunfire all sounded awesome. The soundtrack was just alright. A few rap songs felt out of place but then again I'm not a huge fan of hip hop. All the other music styles worked great with what was going on during the film. The metal tracks really pick up the pace and give energy to the zombie ass kicking that going on. If there was a soundtrack available I'd would recommend picking it up for the Andy Allen songs, his character dies off kinda early in the story which is ashame since he's a great guitar player and has some really funny songs. All of the characters are unique and the acting felt genuine from everyone. The actors playing the "special" kids at camp Special Dude don't come off as wanting to make fun of the mentally disabled, their characters just have fun making fun of each other. Random comments and jokes from the "special" kids are hilarious! "Pancake sized nipples" came out of no where and had me rolling on the floor. Is it wrong to laugh at how a mentally challenged person might normally act? Everything in Special Dead was pretty faithful to zombie-lore except one scene where the leader, Mac, has the ability to stop the attack of a female zombie by simple giving her a kiss. That one threw me off a little but besides that I recommend this DVD to everyone that loves Shaun of the Dead, Fulci's Zombi 2, Dawn of the Dead, and The Ringer. Long live the Zomedy!

• SPECIAL...I don't think so

  Nightmare-Maker2008-08-01

  Myself and a couple of pals watched this last night (after my mate going on about this for a year or so), and I gotta tell ya this is shite. First off I read on IMDb this was FUNNY, GORY and WELL MADE..you've got to be joking!!! It had maybe two funny moments in it, gore...well there is blood and some intestines, but thats about it, acting is almost embarrassing, these people trying to act out retarded people...not one actor even comes across as retarded, just painfully bad acting. One line someone says "YOU EVER RODE A ZOMBIE HORSE", I'm thinking this could be quite cool, expecting it to happen...It doesn't! Obviously people out there DO actually like even love this film, but Im a massive horror fan...and this is complete poo. If you're expecting the next 'EVIL DEAD'. you are going to be sorely disappointed. I gave it 3/10, that is being generous...it gets 2 points just for the poster, that is good I'll give 'em that.

• An instant cult classic

  djolley872008-06-16

  I've been dying to see this movie since I first heard of it late last year. Sure, we could talk all day about just how "wrong" this movie is, but why not sit back, toss those bunched-up PC panties aside for a freaking hour and a half, and enjoy the heck out of this hilarious zombie movie already enjoying a cult following. And for what it's worth, name me one other movie that transforms the mentally challenged into heroes. That's what I thought. Anyway, Special Dead is just hilarious, not only milking numerous stereotypes for all they're worth, but kicking them once they're proverbially down. The zombies are just downright disgusting, their grey skin peeling off in bunches, their mouths filled with meat, blood, dirt, and heaven knows what else, and their blood just waiting to shoot out in mini-geysers as soon as they're attacked. I don't know what the chicken-eating zombie was actually eating, but it looked even nastier than the real thing. Low-budget horror filmmakers could learn a lot from watching this movie. Even the soundtrack, featuring the likes of Dark Reign and Eating Alice, is pretty kicking - although nothing tops Andy Allen's unique campfire song (there's even a sing-along version before the ending credits). As the tagline says, "Sometimes heroes ride the short bus," and in this case they ride it to Camp Special Dude owned and operated by Cameron "Snuff" Stone (Larrs Jackson, who was just hilarious, especially on the topic of zombie horses), who bought the camp years ago for a song - because, we soon learn, it was infested with zombies. Snuff's second in command is his son Machiavelli "Mack" Stone (Jason Brubaker). Mack only seems to care about making time with female counselors Cassie (Amy Wade) and Harley (Haneka Haynes), but he turns out to have real skills when it comes to dispatching zombies. The "special" kids include Snuff's wheelchair-bound daughter Dale (Gia Franzia); Todd (Anthony Rutowicz), whose loud talking, hideous toboggan, and talent for making all kinds of things out of popsicle sticks do little to help him convince Dale to be his girlfriend; an uncommunicative mountain of flesh who could well be descended from Tor Johnson (David Reynolds); a shy "helmet head" (April Wade); and several others of less importance to the story. Adding greatly to the fun is Eriq (Jah Shams), a young gangster bound for boot camp who was accidentally placed on the wrong bus. All of the actors were darn near brilliant, if you ask me (especially Franzia and Rutowicz). Don't write any of these characters off too soon, not even the most challenged among them. While guys like Mack rely mostly on obvious weapons such as shotguns, sickles, numchuks - yes, numchuks - and good, old-fashioned bare fists, the campers tend to adopt more unconventional fighting methods. Of course, not everyone can survive, so you get the additional treat of watching special campers taking on their now-zombified peers. You may want to turn your head at one point, though, as Mack demonstrates a most disgusting, non-lethal zombie-controlling method. Now, maybe you're thinking you won't see any sex or nudity in a film like this - well, think again. You, along with some of the voyeuristic campers, will definitely see "boobies" at Camp Special Dude. You'll also hear plenty of foul language (of course, if I were fighting for my life against zombies, I would be cursing up a blue streak, too). For the most part, though, this is a genuinely original and creative film (a real rarity in the American-made horror genre). Just remember that everything you see here is all in the name of gory fun. Where else are you going to see a zombie with Tourette Syndrome? Needless to say, some people will feel deeply offended and outraged by this film (and most of them will undoubtedly condemn it without ever seeing so much as a trailer), but Special Dead wears such sobriquets as "the most offensive zombie movie ever made" with pride. I'll be enjoying this movie numerous times in the coming years.

• Don't bother seeing this movie.

  rbrar2006-10-21

  I saw this movie at the Hollywood Film Festival. In my opinion (and the opinion of my zombie-loving friends), there are only two things that this movie has going for it: the poster and the premise. The fact of the matter is the movie itself isn't funny and isn't scary. On top of that, it's SO damn dark that you can't tell what's happening for most of the movie. Maybe it's gory. I don't know. I couldn't tell in that sea of black. Don't bother seeing it. Public service announcement: the other review of this film on IMDb was submitted by one of the lead actresses... so take it with a giant grain of salt. No... best to ignore it altogether. It just isn't true.

• What a letdown

  happykook2008-05-22

  Being a huge Zombie fan, when i heard about this movie, i was excited. In this day and age it is so hard to come across an original idea when it pertains to the zombie genre, and this one definitely had an original idea. I have to say that i was sadly let down. I wish i could get back the hour and a half of my life i wasted watching this sad excuse for a zombie movie... Now i understand that Indy films usually don't have the flair or expensive effects, but what they usually have it actors making the best of what they have, this was not one of those cases. The character's were tragically cliché' to the point of being an embarrassment. I honestly wonder if the writer simply wrote this movie to perpetuate his idea of what he thinks is "cool". I could not tell if the characters were so horrible because the writing was so terrible, or because the actors were terrible, but after awhile i came to the conclusion that it is both... Even the sex scene (which is usually the staple in indy movies that draws people to watch) left me wanting to switch the channel to public access telethons. I've seen much better acting in porn movies. it seemed at times as if the cast had been held at gunpoint and forced to read their lines... The endless dragging on of nunchuk swinging, head bashing, and pummeling lended to the fact that this zombie movie could not even stay on track with any zombie traditions... A zombie is simply not going to sit on your lap and gently punch your chest for 10 minutes, without trying to bite you, nor would someone with a zombie sitting on their laps just sit there not defending themselves and just call for help. I could continue to elaborate on the many flaws both in the script, actors, and acting, but much like this movie, it would simply be a waste of your time... I hope that another Indy group takes a stab at this idea and shows this cast/crew how a good zombie movie can be made. P.S. and seriously you guys are charging $20 plus $8 shipping for this crap???