THE DEAD HATE THE LIVING!

A group of independent filmmakers is shooting a zombie movie in an abandoned hospital. They find a strange coffin, open it, and discover the body of a man inside. Next to it, they also find a video camera (showing the deceased being attacked by a zombie) and a strange medallion. Not intimidated at all, the director decides to use everything as set material for the film, but at the first take, the body comes to life along with a horde of fierce zombies. Written and directed by a fan of the genre, this movie is a blast for all enthusiasts: references to other films are numerous ("Fear in the City of the Living Dead," "The Beyond," "The Return of the Living Dead" and more), although it gets a bit tiring in the long run. On one machine, there's a sticker that says "Fulci Lives" that will make all fans of the late Roman director happy. Moreover, aspiring filmmakers cannot help but smile, given the continuous discussions about how to make a film ("You should have shot it on video" "Real directors shoot on film!") or the complaints about the meager budgets. As for the film itself, it is certainly not a blockbuster, and it shows: the technique on display is rather televisual; most of the time, the camera is fixed on a tripod, filming the actors from a single angle. The photography is minimal, while the special effects are rather simple, and although they try to disgust the viewer with guts and severed heads, they never succeed in provoking true disgust or applause for the little splatter shown: it's actually a bit annoying to see one of the protagonists launch himself against a horde (well, not really: there are only five) of zombies with a chainsaw and see no mutilation or blood splatter. Let's not even talk about the makeup, with due exceptions. The scarcity of the budget is also reflected in the visual effects: watching the scene where the zombies are set on fire, which is simply poor. The actors, to be honest, are not the best you can find out there, and some of them try to do something respectable despite their roles being rather stereotypical, like the crazy effects artist or the Rastafarian and stoner director of photography. The pace is certainly not the best, as it takes almost fifty minutes (out of eighty) of dragging before the story takes off, without this helping to better understand the characters. Despite everything, "The Dead Hate The Living" is a fun product, a sort of "Scream" with zombies but written and made with less wit and means. Only watch it if you are true horror addicts. One question: the cameraman is there (the lookalike of Bob Marley mentioned above), but where is the sound technician?