Detention of the Dead

A group of oddball high school students find themselves trapped in detention with their classmates having turned into a horde of Zombies. This is not necessarily a good film, and it is not a surprise to me that the movie has generally low reviews on IMDb. A bit lower than I expected, but maybe it just has not hit the target audience yet. Although, there is a bit too much down time between the jokes to really keep the momentum going, and some of the events go past parody or homage to downright theft (the "Breakfast Club" ripoff where they each explain why they have detention in particular). This might fall under the category of guilty pleasures, though, for zombie and horror fans. There are countless references, and I am sure I did not catch them all: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead, Twilight and Rocky Horror Picture Show come to mind. There is an homage to Sam Raimi's directing style, the library is named after effects guru Tom Savini... and in one piece of dialogue, two characters mention all the ways that a zombie outbreak has begun in other films. This may not be a keeper, but it is definitely worth renting for those who like clever references to other horror flicks. (Or sometimes not so clever -- the Savini reference got a bit too much screen time to be subtle.)

Forced into detention together,a widely-varied group of students are forced to come face-to-face with their own insecurities in order to repel a zombie outbreak at the school. This turned out to be quite a fun and rousing mixture of horror and comedy that works surprisingly well considering the high risk of detrimental flaws here. The fact that the whole film rests on fulfilling clichés and then twisting them does tend to fall short at times, because it is doing nothing more than utilizing the same exact tropes and storied characters that have been a part of the genre for years now and then turns them into exactly what you would expect would happen because you have to invert the clichés, resulting in nothing new or groundbreaking despite acting like it is. The low-budget doesn't help matters much either with a rather pedestrian look overall to the zombies who look decent enough but never really pack that special push to really sell them, settling instead on colored contacts and swollen features to sell their zombified state, and that's not entirely convincing throughout. As well, the lower-budget-means are fully viewed on the swarming scenes, which lack the massive size of most normal zombie hordes as well as failing to really exploit the type of blood and gore that come to be expected in such a scenario despite several rather gruesome moments which signal the start of what it does right. The fact that the zombie outbreak is so early on in the film, barely ten minutes in when the first victim turns into the ravenous being, makes for a rather pleasing amount of action in this one with a rapid series of encounters that are fun, exciting and quite thrilling, working the best when utilizing the comedy in the intense situations. Being forced to sneak past a group of zombies gnawing on a corpse without suspicion and doing so successfully only to be rousing by the cheers and congratulations of the rest of the survivors, fending off zombies by hurling library books at them or continually bashing them over the head with baseball bats but always loosing their grip on the bat are just some of the wonderful comedic scenes throughout that are not only hysterically funny and logical in such a situation but do so to make the non-stop action all the more fun. Coupled with some of the great gore gags when they occur and a rousing amount of heart, it's a lot more fun than what it seems like. Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, * pictures and drug use.

This is what I like to call a "Fence Movie." If you love zombies and Tarantino-esque movie references, you'll like it. If you're not on the zombie side and you hate constant film references, this probably won't be your cup of tea. Detention of the Dead is nothing new; teens who don't have an emotional click with each other (the nerd, the goth, the drug dealer, the athletic, and the dutsy blonde cheerleader,) end up in detention with each other. But just before The Simple Minds kick in their musical cult classic theme, zombies take siege on the school, and they have to work together to get out the school alive. Again, nothing new. But I'm the kind of guy who respects a film when they give credit where credit is due, is that accomplished, yes. The characters are set up in the classic horror movie ways, they don't stand out. You have one or two who manage to make themselves dimensional, but that's it. Where the film succeeds is keeping your attention, but in that street magician way. While Tarantino is Houdini, Detention is the really sketchy looking one that keeps your attention on the hands, but if you look at it entirely, you see how it's done, and that's a big problem. Some of the references flow, while some just don't. But, I kept my eyes on what I liked, and it being a "Fence movie," you'll have to find your pros for yourself. I give it a 7.5 ticket stub out of 10

Having seen most every zombie flick there is - from great to good to downright painful to witness, this rates amongst the more pleasant ways to spend time with the undead and those attempting to remain amongst the living. Someone earlier wrote it is like "The Breakfast Club" meets zombie flick, and I cannot come up with a better analogy (partly because I have a raging tooth infection!) If you like zombies and comedy, you'll enjoy this flick. As for its budget, or lack of = didn't notice, didn't care - which makes it an even better film in m y big ol' book of "Seen It..."! Enjoy!!!!!

I caught an early screening of Detention of the Dead a few months ago in LA. This is a very funny and engaging take on the zombie-comedy genre by director Alex Craig Mann. I enjoyed the performances, mainly Jacob Zachar's as the nerdy guy fighting the zombie apocalypse and still finding time to win over the popular cheerleader's heart. Alexa Nicholas and Justin Chon also stand out among the cast members. The movie does not take itself too seriously but it's a great popcorn flick. This is the kind of movie that provides entertainment by following a simple but effective storyline (Breakfast Club meets Dawn of the Dead)and some memorable scenes. It only gets a 9 because I'd love to see more of that rat.

just in case. SPOILER. This movie has NO originality. if anybody seen "Shawn of the Dead" then this movie is a very poor attempt to copy it. when I say copy I mean from the title down to the last detail on how it ends. everything in the middle is just a bunch of filler. one scene after another with nothing but talking that has no relevance to what is going on in the movie. The zombies acted better than the people who are alive but seriously how hard could acting like a zombie be, I do it everyday when I come in to work. I did try to look for something that is remotely interesting about this movie but I just came up with nothing, maybe just maybe the cheer leader outfit was the best part of this movie. please stop making movies like this.

I was lucky enough to see "Detention of the Dead" at this year's FrightFest. Honestly, I went in not knowing what I should expect. I had only seen a couple teasers, and they really didn't do too much for me, so I didn't exactly have any expectations. It's such a simple basis that happens to be taken beyond that. A handful of kids are in detention...when a zombie outbreak hits. At first, I was thrown off by how cliché each character was. We have the nerd, the feisty goth, the stoner, the good looking jock bully, his meat-head friend, and of course the hot cheerleader. It's like they were all taken straight from "The Breakfast Club". Then it hit me...this is the joke! Just like those preps in "Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil". This feel and tone was supposed to be of the classic Hughs films...and it worked so perfectly! The gore scale on this flick is great. For a movie that I hear had a low budget, they sure made due. The zombies looked sweet and there are some great and gory moments. I feel like this flick is also a gift for us zombie fans. It is packed with homages and references that made me giddy. I heard a lot of complaints from people, at Glasgow, that it wasn't scary. Here's the thing...I don't think scares were their biggest priority. Is it filled with tons of amazing zombie gore? Hell yes! Awesome zombies? Yes. But I think this is more-so a...dare I say light hearted(?)...comedy...that happens to be centered in a zombie apocalypse. The cast was great. Jacob Zachar (Eddie) has yet again created a wonderfully likable nerd character. I found myself both feeling embarrassed for Eddie, at times, and rooting for him. Alexa Nikolas (Willow) was so likable as the feisty and intellectual goth chick. I kept thinking...I'd be sticking with her, in this situation! Justin Chon (Ash) was so completely ridiculous as the stupid stoner...but I loved every second of his screen time. Everyone was great. As funny and gore packed as this movie is, it actually has a lot of sweet moments, and in a zombie movie...it works! I cannot wait to own this film!

source: Detention of the Dead

Dont waste your time watching this.... Worse than amateur videos. Poor extras, who do bad acting of zombies. Such movie makers should be tied up and made to watch their own movies as punishment.

Forced into detention together,a widely-varied group of students are forced to come face-to-face with their own insecurities in order to repel a zombie outbreak at the school. This turned out to be quite a fun and rousing mixture of horror and comedy that works surprisingly well considering the high risk of detrimental flaws here. The fact that the whole film rests on fulfilling clichés and then twisting them does tend to fall short at times, because it is doing nothing more than utilizing the same exact tropes and storied characters that have been a part of the genre for years now and then turns them into exactly what you would expect would happen because you have to invert the clichés, resulting in nothing new or groundbreaking despite acting like it is. The low-budget doesn't help matters much either with a rather pedestrian look overall to the zombies who look decent enough but never really pack that special push to really sell them, settling instead on colored contacts and swollen features to sell their zombified state, and that's not entirely convincing throughout. As well, the lower-budget-means are fully viewed on the swarming scenes, which lack the massive size of most normal zombie hordes as well as failing to really exploit the type of blood and gore that come to be expected in such a scenario despite several rather gruesome moments which signal the start of what it does right. The fact that the zombie outbreak is so early on in the film, barely ten minutes in when the first victim turns into the ravenous being, makes for a rather pleasing amount of action in this one with a rapid series of encounters that are fun, exciting and quite thrilling, working the best when utilizing the comedy in the intense situations. Being forced to sneak past a group of zombies gnawing on a corpse without suspicion and doing so successfully only to be rousing by the cheers and congratulations of the rest of the survivors, fending off zombies by hurling library books at them or continually bashing them over the head with baseball bats but always loosing their grip on the bat are just some of the wonderful comedic scenes throughout that are not only hysterically funny and logical in such a situation but do so to make the non-stop action all the more fun. Coupled with some of the great gore gags when they occur and a rousing amount of heart, it's a lot more fun than what it seems like. Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, * pictures and drug use.