It is not every day you get to see a film with the people who made it. I suggest everybody get to do this at least once in their lives, especially with something potentially fun, like an action film or a campy horror.
Decade of the Dead is both, as it turns out, and the people who made it were damn proud they made it. And they have good reason to be: it’s not easy to make a film. It is a very time/energy consuming process and requires many, many hands. Getting to see your labor or even yourself on a big screen is a worthwhile reward for the effort making a film takes. Go ahead and be proud.
Were they proud of a good film? Sadly, no. But it wasn’t terrible, which puts it above most horror.
So the rules of this particular undead film are as follows: zombies are rabid monsters; they move like normal humans. Zombies are relatively easy to immobilize, but very difficult to kill permanently. (That one “dude” is just a spine and half a skull and it’s still alive. How?!) When a zombie bites, there’s a 24-hour incubation period. Counter-measures are possible, but rare. The planet is, basically, 98% zombie.
OK, we up to speed?
Apparently, the Dead haven’t screwed up the natural beauty of Oahu, which is nice. Three survivors/mercenaries (Sean Patrick Thomas, Keili Lefkovitz, and Corsica Wilson) of the ten-year anniversary of Armageddon open the film by collecting a bounty for returning a kidnapped normie back to his tribe. Aside from pockets of humanity, the post-apocalypse is replete with “The Sworn,” a religious movement dedicated to power. If the film were cleaner, The Sworn might make a good metaphor for the current power surge of the Religious Right, but the film isn’t that well written.
Upon exchanging the prisoner for goods, one of our heroes learns that her sister still lives and was among this Hawaiian tribe of survivors only a month or so ago.
Is this a trap?
Well, gee, is it a movie? Of course it’s a trap. But maybe we can get some sisterly love in before the zombies rage.
The undead rages are few and far-between, btw. For a zombie film, the conflict ain’t about zombies; it is between the good guys and The Sworn. The Dead are generally an afterthought until the director wants to imitate something he saw in Fangoria.
The audience I was in hooted and hollered and loved it all. I was put off by the relative paucity of dead menace and the fact that no new ground was tread here. If you’ve seen three or four undead movies, you’ve seen all this film has to offer. This material is handled much better in films like Train to Busan and World War Z. Still, it was definitely a treat to see it with the people who made it. Everybody should get to do that at least once.
There once were three human survivors
Who avoided all zomibilized drivers
They lasted ten years
With fatality and tears
But Apocalyptically became mini MacGyvers
Not Rated [read: R], 84 Minutes
Director: Adam Deyoe, Fairai Branscombe Richmond
Writer: Adam Deyoe, Joshua Klausner, Loren Semmens
Genre: Dead in Paradise
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who made the film
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Tired viewers
