Undead (Madman Ent) (2003) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Horror |
Audio Commentary-Crew: Peter & Michael Spierig, Andrew Strahorn, Steven Boyle Audio Commentary-Cast: Mungo McKay, Dirk Hunter, Emma Randall Featurette-Making Of Featurette-Toronto International Film Festival Screening Featurette-The Zombies - Internet Features Featurette-Camera and Make-up Tests Script To Screen Comparison-Animatic to Film Comparison Deleted Scenes Trailer-Internet Trailer Teaser Trailer Theatrical Trailer Production Notes Gallery-Photo Notes-Artwork and Design Sketches Biographies-Cast & Crew Trailer-Madman Trailers |
|
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2003 | ||
Running Time | 99:54 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (12:37) | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By |
Michael Spierig Peter Spierig |
Studio
Distributor |
Spierig Film Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Felicity Mason Mungo McKay Rob Jenkins Lisa Cunningham Dirk Hunter Emma Randall Steve Grieg Noel Sheridan Gaynor Wensley |
Case | Alpha-Transparent | ||
RPI | $19.95 | Music | Cliff Bradley |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
|
||
Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | None | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Berkeley is the sort of sleepy coastal village where kids fish off the pier and cows walk down the main street. When the family farm of Rene (Felicity Mason) is foreclosed by the friendly local building and loan society she is on her way out of town when a meteor shower strikes the village . . . turning the people into blood thirsty zombies! A disparate group of villagers, including Rene, local police Sergeant Harrison (Dirk Hunter) and Constable Molly Ford (Emma Randall) plus pilot Wayne (Rob Jenkins) and his very, very pregnant wife Sallyanna (Lisa Cunningham) take refuge from the zombies roaming outside in a bomb shelter constructed by Marion (Mungo McKay). Marion is a former gun shop owner who a few months previously had claimed he had been abducted by aliens. This created not a little derision in Berkeley and he was regarded by the villagers as a total nut case. But now Marion may well be the only person around who does indeed know what is going on, and why.
The plot of Undead, an Australian film from 2003, is pretty incomprehensible. It blends an alien invasion of earth with zombies, adds acid rain, buckets of blood and gore, gunplay, suspense, a few shocks and a truckload of deadpan humour and comes up with a hugely entertaining film. Undead is a miniscule budget, independent film that was obviously a labour of love from the Spierig Brothers, Michael and Peter, who jointly wrote, produced, directed, edited, designed the sound and created the visual effects on a laptop computer. And probably made the tea as well. The acting is a mixed bag, mostly not particularly convincing although Mungo McKay as the dead pan Marion is good. The computer visual effects are indifferent, especially the plane sequence, but the zombie make-up is great and the practical blood and gore effects excessive, and well done. The dialogue is also sometimes delicious: “when I was young we respected our elders, we didn’t f****ng eat them! yells Harrison out the window to the encircling zombies.
The film is replete with action and black humour moments and moves along at such a cracking pace that the plot really doesn’t matter; with little back story, in the first 5 minutes Undead launches into the first meteor strikes and the first zombie attacks. From there it races on for another 90 odd minutes, seldom letting up as the human survivors try to avoid the living dead, get past a huge towering black alien built wall and make their escape by truck or airplane. Some will make it, some will not of course. Does the fate of humankind really rest on such a fragile thread?
Undead is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and is 16x9 enhanced. The original theatrical ratio was 1.85:1.
This is a soft print. Clarity and shadow detail were acceptable for a low budget film, and many scenes in dark places were difficult to see although blacks were fine. Colours were dull, and were either/both shot through yellow or blue filters or altered in post-production which adds to the lack of shadow detail and the flat looking colours. The dark print showed evidence of edge enhancement and frequent grain although dirt marks and other artefacts were absent.
While not a great print, it is probably the result of the source material, not the DVD authoring.
There are no subtitles.
The layer change at 12:37 was noticeable.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
Audio is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps. This is a nice enveloping audio track. Dialogue was a mixed bag. Some of the lines were delivered so fast it was difficult to hear and the absence of subtitles didn’t help. Other times it was a deliberate choice to have 3 or 4 characters yelling all at once so again some of the dialogue was lost. Otherwise it was fine. The surrounds were frequently used for music, ambience and panning effects, such as knocking from off camera; the sub woofer supported music and some effects.
The original score by Cliff Bradley was an esoteric mix including everything from spaghetti western riffs, Hammer Horror motifs, to orchestral cues reminiscent of North By Northwest. It works nicely and supports the film well.
Lip synchronisation was fine.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
There are a massive range of extras telling you probably more about the film’s production than you need to know. While there is some filler, many are genuinely interesting and informative.
A very chatty commentary, lots of laughs and speaking over and across each other. There are some interesting details about casting and scripting, and they point out mistakes and errors, but not a lot about production details. However, these details were provided fairly extensively in the featurettes so are not so necessary in the commentary.
Three of the cast members sit together and are obviously having a wonderful time together; pity we don’t really share it. There are silences, then bursts of inane chatter about not much in particular and laughter. They tend to concentrate on what is happening and don’t give much information about the film or on set anecdotes.
This is no fluff press kit but a terrific combination of behind the scenes footage, video diary and interviews covering pre-production, shooting and post-production. It is an informative, entertaining and honest look at independent filmmaking, warts and all. Just about everyone involved gets a say including cast Felicity Mason, Mungo McKay, Rob Jenkins, Emma Randall, Dirk Hunter, Lisa Cunningham and Steve Grieg, as well as Michael & Peter Spierig, Steven Boyle (Special Effects Make-up), Matthew Putland (Production Designer), Andrew Strahorn (Director of Photography), Chintamani Aked (Costume Design), Rob Doran (1st Assistant Director), Grant Marshall (Sound), Bevan Lynch (Creature FX Animator), Cliff Bradley (Composer), plus Bob Parsons (Armourer) and Gulliver Page (Stunt Double). Wonderfully entertaining.
The film screened at the Toronto International Film Festival 4-13 September 2003. At the screening directors Michael & Peter Spierig took to the stage and answered questions from the audience. Very dark video and patchy sound.
Sketches, models, cast training to move like zombies and make-up tests.
Pretty much as it says: light tests, colour grading tests and camera speed tests – with music.
Design drawings, construction and testing (including accidents and redesign) of the special dolly used in the film.
Again – just as it says. Animatics of the climactic sequence of the film play with the completed film inserted in the bottom right of the screen. With completed film sound.
8 extended and deleted scenes, including and alternative title sequence.
Included is the Internet Teaser Trailer (0:23), Teaser Trailer (1:34) and the Theatrical Trailer (2:31).
4 pages of text.
28 behind the scenes pictures.
14 sketches.
Text screens for cast Felicity Mason, Mungo McKay, Rob Jenkins, Lisa Cunningham, Dirk Hunter, Emma Randall and crew Peter & Michael Spierig.
Trailers for other Madman releases: Diary of the Dead (1:52) and REC (1:48).
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Other releases in Region 1 USA and Region 2 UK, France have basically the same extra features, although trailers differ. However the Region 1 US version has been cut and runs 97:33 minutes. It is reported that some bloodless scenes were trimmed for “pacing” but I cannot find any details. The Region 2 UK includes a dts 5.1 audio, so may be just in front. However, given the good quality of the audio in Region 4, maybe a draw.
Undead blends an alien invasion of earth with zombies, adds acid rain, buckets of blood and gore, gunplay, suspense, a few shocks and a truckload of deadpan humour and comes up with a hugely entertaining film that deserves to be seen.
The video is acceptable for a low budget, independent film, the audio is good. The extras are extensive and most are interesting and informative. Recommended.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Sony BDP-S350, using HDMI output |
Display | LG 42inch Hi-Def LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
Amplification | NAD T737 |
Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |