Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Alien Dead

     Even though I knew this movie was gonna be crap, the title was very catchy since I love both alien and zombie movies, and I decided that it was definitely worth a try. I was wrong.

     The story begins with an alligator poacher whose wife is killed by what he claims to be "monsters" in the swamp. While on a late-night walk, the mangled corpse of the wife is found by the sheriff. Even after this gruesome find, the sheriff still doesn't buy this story about monsters in the swamp. So the next day, the sheriff and a reporter scout the swamps and encounter strange human-like creatures that eat human flesh and somehow survive under the water. In total denial, they're convinced it's some kind of rabid alligator responsible for this murderous mayhem. A bounty is put on the alligator and tons of people trying to make a quick buck by catching a murderous gator, end up facing their own massacre by the "swamp zombies". 

      Soon a story emerges about a "falling star" that landed in the swamps. Another story emerges with a more detailed account... apparently, the "falling star" is not a spaceship as one might assume from the title, but rather a meteorite that crashed into a houseboat full of people. The effects of the meteor revive the mutilated bodies that it just crashed into, turning them into blood-thirsty zombies. The zombies also have that cliche aspect about them that if a zombie bites you, you become a zombie yourself, which George Romero originally conceived in Night of the Living Dead and has been ripped off ever since. Therefore, before long (or at least an hour into the film), there's an army of zombies and about three survivors. The remaining survivors hole up in a cabin, again much like Night of the Living Dead. Are there gonna be any survivors? It's always mandatory that there be at least one. 

      Nice concept, very misleading title, but just too damn talky, with not nearly enough blood splatter.  Even the poster for the movie itself is a ripoff.  The woman's face on the cover is from a completely different horror movie that's been tinted purple and placed in front of a swamp.  Not really worth it, but the cover art, ripoff that it is, still managed to suck me in.

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