Brain Dead (2007) review (not Dead Alive)

A crashing meteor starts a zombie holocaust in this horror-comedy from Kevin Tenney (Night of the Demons and Witchboard)

After a meteor hits the Earth, and literally someone's head, an alien-zombie hybrid fallout begins via amoeba infection. Sounds like a tired "alien invasion" or "zombie holocaust" recipe, but surprisingly enough, it's not. The setting is in a fishing lodge, and what is more original than combining alien invasions with some bass landing?

The story is actually told in a flashback by survivor Clarence (Joshua Benton) during a documentary recording session from prison, where he has been incarcerated due to being tagged as a mass murderer due to the events of the film. He breaks down how all of the events transpired, thankfully without the assistance of a voiceover so you feel that you are watching the events in "real time". There is a good balance between horror and comedy, as Brain Dead follows the usual survival horror formula, even though we realize Clarence is a survivor from the very beginning.   

A majority of the film is spent with our six main characters holding up at the lodge and fending off the advances of the infected as to not be the next ones who join their alien ranks. We get some funny conversation between our cast, whose personalities all completely clash, as well some really great old school and impressive SFX. This aspect really takes you back to traditional 80's monster horror films before CGI became commonplace. The infected are extremely demonic-looking aliens that resemble director Kevin Tenney's fiends from his 1987 cult classic Night of the Demons and the sluggish amoeba are an ode to Night of the Creeps. And for even more praise about the effects, who cannot resist watching a shotgun blast exploding someone's head without cutting away?  

Kevin Tenney returns to form in Brain Dead, now available through Breaking Glass Productions.

RATING:

3 out of 5 Angry Kevin Nashes

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VITAL LINKAGE:

Brain Dead Facebook Page

Breaking Glass Pictures