Saturday, July 14, 2012

Grave Mistake (2008)

When evil stepfather Karl disposes of barrels of chemical waste in a cemetery, zombies start invading a small town in the middle of nowhere.  Karl's step son Alex is at the local garage with mechanic Mike and a few others, including Karl, who decide to try to get to the local Armory.

When Alex's friend turns into a zombie in the car, Mike shots him in the head causing his mother to freak out.  But a few minutes later, she's telling Mike she knew he had to do it.  Shortly after that when they look for weapons in a hardware store, she's joking around with young Alex.

This is seriously a bad movie.  I appreciate that they were able to get it done, as I know the effort it takes to actually pull this off.  But holy moly, the script, acting, and cinematography are not good.

There are CGI kills and blood.  The make up is sketchy as some zombies seem to have black grease paint covering their faces, while others seem nicely done.  Maybe there were several make up artists of varying skill on the film and some got the crap make up artist?

Our hero Mike, who I think they said is a former Navy Seal, is afraid of abusive stepfather Karl.  Monica sees her sons head blown off and minutes later is laughing and play fencing with Alex.  And oddest of all, stepfather Karl, who is physically abusing his son, seems to be tasked with the comic relief as he mugs his way through the film like he's in a Three Stooges short.
The comic stylings of the abusive stepdad
Also if you're trying to convey that zombies have taken over the town by showing a kid walking down the empty street at dusk, make sure your close ups don't contain the tail lights of cars driving by in the background.
Stopping on a deserted highway during a zombie outbreak is the
perfect place to get engaged. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
Mike, the hero... such as it is
Cars driving by the zombie mob outside the garage




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