Special Dead
Directed by Thomas Phillips and Sean Simmons


Special Dead is a welcome addition to the splatstick genre and a movie that makes laughing at the mentally retarded fun again. This is as humorous as they come for this genre and if you are easily offended this one may not be for you. But if you cut your teeth on films like Brain Dead and Evil Dead 2 this will be right up your alley. With enough blood splats and over the top violence to please even the most devout gorehound, the movie succeeds because the violence walks hand in hand with comedy. This isn't a film that take itself too seriously and because of that is really succeeds in making an impact.

The basic idea behind the story is zombies attacking Camp Special Dude, a camp for the mentally retarded. This allows the movie to have an outrageous variety of characters with a few main characters consisted both of counselors and people attended the camp. The acting is handled quite well and while you know that the actors aren't truly retarded they do a good job keeping it campy and silly. The zombies are fairly typical zombies although they don't move as slowly as classic zombies and seem to be almost impossible to kill. Zombies are hacked, shot, and maimed and they still get up and keep coming back for more. A few humorous moments consist of zombie being punched in the face repeatedly and with a massive blood spray for good measure. Sure it is a bit excessive but it certainly is fun.

There is no hiding the fact that this is indeed a low budget movie. The movie tends to be grainy and it is hard to see some of the gore due to the movie being a bit dark at times. For the most part though the movie does look good and is shot quite well with unique camera angles and a style that transcends the movies budget. There is no doubt in my mind that with a bit more money to play around with the directors could make a phenomenal looking movie as the chops are definitely there, no pun intended.

One of the most memorable aspects of the film is the performance of Andy Allen. With guitar in hand he throws hilarious songs out for the duration of the film, well at least up until he becomes a zombie when his musical skills deteriorate quickly. If the song he sings around the campfire doesn't have you in stitches you must not have a sense of humor as it is crude yet hilarious. It's one of those moments that let you know that the movie firmly has its tongue planted in its cheek. Sure the filmmakers took the film seriously, but overall it is just a fun movie.

If you got into this one expecting the squeaky clean zombie films that have become common these days you will be disappointed. This is a throwback to the times of The Video Dead and other low budget gems from the 80's that is soaked in blood and manages to overcome a micro budget and entertain immensely.

Official Special Dead Myspace Page