ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction (2009) Reviews

• More entertaining than I thought,

  victima_necessarius2010-03-23

  I must be honest first off, I love horror movies and since it is cheap to make them and usually profitable - especially with small budgets - there has always been a huge influx of direct to video horror movies, with varying results. I am familiar with "B" and "D" horror films and this movie isn't that bad. Its not amazing, in some places the production is very weak. But the dialogue is witty and sometimes just south of brilliant. In the zombie genre which is completely flooded with all kinds of trash this is the kind of movie for people who like zombie movies. What particularly stands out about this film is its tongue and cheek sense of humour, and commentary on small town prejudice in the new millennium. Its not gut busting, laugh out loud funny, but I did get a few chuckles. Its not at all frightening and anyone familiar with low budget zombie movies will not see anything new in terms of effects shots and gore. But there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes. There are a few alternatives to familiar clichés and that originality is why I enjoyed this film.

• Don't let this zombie movie pass you by!

  paul_haakonsen2010-03-15

  I think with a title like this "Zombies of Mass Destruction" many people are going to pass on this movie, which would be a bad thing to do. I was doubtful about the movie, just because of the name, but I decided to watch it anyway. Alright, well this is a marvelous zombie movie, it has everything you need in a zombie movie. Lots of zombies (usually with adequate make-up, wardrobe and effects), blood and gore (though the blood in this movie was very strangely red) and of course a story that will sink its teeth in you - no pun intended. Right from the very beginning I had a feel that this movie was going to be interesting, despite it not being a multi-million dollar Hollywood production. And right I was, oh yes! The story is very good and have a good, constant flow to it. So you are never left with a boring and dull taste in your mouth. Sure there are some points where you wonder about stuff, like how come suddenly there were so many infected people on the island. But that doesn't really bring the movie to a halt. You look past it, because the movie is that interesting. The characters in the movie were well portrayed and likable. Some more than others, of course. I found the dialogue to be good enough. And also, I thought most of the characters in the movie were good for the story and added flavor and color to the story. The cast was, for most of the roles, very nicely cast. The effects of the movie weren't too shabby either. Of course, they were not on Romero's level, but still they were very nice to look at and seemed real enough most of the time. And also, if you are the type that approach movies analytically, then this movie does have some interesting things that it deals with, such as terrorism, homosexuality, religion, racism, to name some. And these elements work well in the movie. Of course, if you just watch a movie for entertainment, these still add depth to the entire movie. Overall, I think this is one of the better "low budget" zombie movies I have seen in awhile. It would be a shame to let this one pass you by if you are a gore hound or zombie fan. Don't let the title fool you, as it almost did me. This movie definitely gets two thumbs up - if a zombie hadn't bitten off my left thumb. This is most definitely good entertainment.

• People are seriously comparing this to Shaun of the dead ?

  olivierlarouche72010-03-16

  I have a hard time understanding how people can see this movie as anything more than mildly entertaining. I decided to watch it with high hopes as I am a big fan of the zombie genre and some reviewers compared it to Shaun of the dead and Zombieland. In my opinion however, there is no comparison, even when taking into consideration the far lower production costs of ZMD. There is no depth to any of the characters and I don't see how the acting can be viewed as anything more than up to par. The humour and satirical elements consist of easy one-liners which failed to even make me grin. I mean, come on : "Don't shoot, I'm gay". Is that even a joke ? If I was to compare this movie to anything I've seen, I might consider Zombie strippers. However, Zombie strippers, at the very least, added a new original take to the genre and there was some much appreciated subtlety to the humour in the script. Furthermore, I've seen Zombie strippers twice whereas I would never consider sitting through ZMD a second time. In all honesty, I feel generous in rating this movie with a 3/10.

• A good non-Hollywood zombie comedy

  Sabalon2010-03-24

  I didn't know what to expect going into this other than Zombies. I was really surprised. A lot of people have compared it to Shaun of the Dead, and there is some definite homage there. No offense to the actors in this, but they just aren't Simon Pegg. There are really no scares that I remember, but the effects themselves are not that bad (remember - non Hollywood!) I really laughed a lot at this flick. Some of it was at corniness, some was some good humor. At one point I did think that this would be a good candidate for an (over the top) Americanized version of Shaun of the Dead. It really picks on so many aspects of culture. The lead actress really did a good job, as did the two playing Lance and Tom. I think "Lance" gets some of the best lines and has some good comedic timing. As long as you don't mind a little poking fun at yourself and are not looking for the next over-the-top, over-polished Hollywood turd, this is a very enjoyable movie.

• A potentially great old school zombie movie with a clever twist that is squandered by shoddy production values.

  juiceman107122010-04-04

  A potentially great old school zombie movie with a clever twist that is squandered by shoddy production values. I saw the trailer for this film and I was absolutely stoked. An old-school Romero-esquire zombie movie blended with comedy and satire sounded like a sure thing. With the success of other zomedies like Shaun of the Dead, Dead and Breakfast and ZOmbieland, there's no reason why this should have failed, but sadly it does... to some degree at least. It's got it a decent amount of laughs and gore scenes. It's post-911 terrorism paranoia twist works excellently and is so refreshing for a genre that is getting stale. The film just isn't any good on a technical standpoint. The editing is really bizarre and during some of the intense scenes, everything looks warped and choppy. Poor editing aside, the worst thing is the horrendously bad sound design. Everything sounds awful. Everything. When anybody raise there voices, the levels peak and the quality is distorted. this combined with the poor editing makes any sort of action scene almost unbearable to watch. A really good idea and a good attempt but next time, more talent and experience might produce a better movie.