The Dead Outside

Those with short attention spans and no appreciation for minimalism will balk at this film, which is probably why it has a laughable 4.3 rating (as of this review). However, as a huge fan of zombie films, I think this one is criminally underrated and for those with an appreciation for something more challenging, "The Dead Outside" delivers. The premise is dirt simple: Danielle, a man who recently lost his wife and child in this national zombie epidemic, finds an empty house on his travels. He stops in for a bit and is discovered by a teenage girl named April, who has survived their on her own for many years. The film mostly follows them in their time living together. It's a typical dynamic on paper, with Danielle being more humane and not wanting to kill the zombies, while April has no hesitation in killing them. While Danielle is fairly calm and collected, April is volatile and paranoid. Their dialogue and interaction are realistic and nuanced. Nothing feels cliché or forced here, and even the revelation of April's back story, which could've easily been over the top, is well done. The pacing is slow and methodical. Many smaller moments, such as Danielle taking a shower when the lights go out, or April chopping wood, adds to the feeling that we're watching life unfold rather than a traditional movie. It's helped by the camera work, almost always close in, adding to the intimacy and intensity. Combined with the beautiful but foggy and desolate setting, creates a gripping atmosphere. The film builds into one of the most intense climaxes in a zombie film since "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie", and when it was over, I wished that the film would go on longer. Not for any kind of loose ends left, but simply to see it continue. Highly recommended, especially if you're looking for something a bit different.

I went into this film knowing nothing about it but the description in Netflix. It starting out promising with an eerie, engaging introduction of the main characters and their situation. The mood was intense and the images surreal. However, at the 45 minute mark, I started to lose my patience as the plot stubbornly refused to progress. After an hour, finishing the film had become a gauntlet and done only out of spite. The ominous music cues kept promising something that was never delivered. The actors may have uttered some interesting lines but if they did I certainly couldn't understand them. I like a grim, bleak glimpse of the future as much as the next guy but the storytellers are still responsible for propelling the action forward whether it is physical or psychological. And one final note on the soundtrack: As noted elsewhere, the soundtrack drowned out the dialogue throughout much of the film. No matter how loud I put it, I couldn't make out the actors lines because the music was louder. Regardless of budget, that is inexcusable. Ultimately, a nice try that wore out its welcome half way through.

Reading some of these reviews it seems like some other reviewers just want to add big words to make themselves look like they're some kind of 'serious' movie know-it-all. Gimme a break! This film was made in 2 weeks on a £4,000 budget. Those 2 snippets of info should have been a bit of a hint at what kind of production this was gonna be. Yeah the story runs along the lines of 28 Days Later, so what? It's not as if 28 Days Later was the first film to use the virus/living dead scenario, and I doubt this will be the last. The story is a simple one. Virus on the loose, survivors hiding in an attempt to stay alive. If you're looking for a blood soaked zombie flick then pass on this and pick up Dawn Of The Dead. If you're looking for an indie flick that focuses more on the psychological horror of the survivor's situation then you'll enjoy this. OK it's not gonna win any Oscars, but hey, neither did The Shawshank Redemption!

I saw this titled in the movie store with a few festival nods printed on the front and thought it might be a good, indie, low-budget watch. How wrong I was. The writing/story, or lack there of, is drawn out, packed with dialogue that is there for the sake of having dialogue and allows for no surprises. This is fine because the repetitive score is, more often than not, drowning out the actors thick accents. We are supposed to invest ourselves in a meandering, rarely-active protagonist and a grumpy, tweaked out young lady who occasionally allows a small detail about her past to slip. Other than that, the story is told mostly through randomly placed flashbacks or when the characters directly explain their pasts to one another in one on one chats. The cinematography is clunky, jarring, and while the location is beautiful in a 'barren-farm-hills' sort of way, it becomes tiring, recycled and bleak. Any action sequences are too dark to see and the 'dead' are really just rambling, raving infected people who can't seem to climb fences, or pose any real threat at all. I tried to love this movie, then I tried even harder to like it, and as my last resort I attempted to see it as a minimalist film, but even that failed tremendously. The only aspect of this movie that I can give credit to is the overwhelmingly bleak and isolated tone it creates. But then again, that could have just been in my head as the credits rolled after what can only be described as a bad film. A bad movie is a bad movie and nothing about this flick escapes that label.

Scotland is full of angry people in poor health. No, not a quote from the Scottish tourist board website but the premise for this dreadful talky movie. Anyway, there's some kind of virus that's turned most people mental. You'll note straight away that there are no 'dead' as the title might suggest, certainly no traditional zombies. Instead you get shouting people who are nowhere near as entertaining and certainly never present a credible threat. So, no zombies in this one. There's no action either, but if you're a fan of wobbling camera angles and flashbacks you're going to get your moneys worth here. This really is a dull movie, nothing really happens for an hour and the finale isn't interesting either. If that wasn't enough the acting is generally poor and the bleak colourless scenery gets tiresome pretty quickly.

Written by Kris R. Bird and Kerry Anne Mullaney Directed by Kerry Anne Mullaney Featuring Sandra Louise Douglas, Alton Milne, Sharon Osdin 2009 – Scotland Its that story we've heard before – a virus runs rampant, affecting most of the population. It either turns you into a maniac or a living virus carrier. Either way you're doomed. Individuals who have escaped getting infected band together and try to survive while dealing with the breakdown of civilization, society, and their own relationships. The Dead Outside, feature debut of Kerry Anne Mullaney, is set in the bleak, desolate frigid rocky landscape of rural Scotland. As if living in a hellhole like Scotland wasn't enough, survivors Daniel and April must also contend with weird wandering lunatics who have had their brains turned into mush by the infection. The infected are unpredictable, violent, and angry... Daniel runs out of gas on a lonely road in farm-happy countryside in the aftermath of the horrific epidemic that has made crazy folk of everyone. Unhappily, he goes on foot to the nearest farm house, where he meets April – a scared, angry young woman who isn't afraid of using her shotgun on anyone who tries to jump the barb-wire protection she's erected on top of the stone wall surrounding the farm. She's all alone, and even once she sees that Daniel is one of the uninfected, she's reluctant to let him inside the confines of her enclosure. But she does. Eking an existence from chicken eggs, chopped firewood, and digging futility at the muddy Scotland horse-manure ground that passes as soil, Daniel and April spend frenetic days not really getting to know each other better, but without any other options. Unfortunately the actors themselves suffer from what I call 'watching my sister act syndrome' where I'm very aware that they are putting on a performance. That said, other people don't suffer from it when watching my sister and it may be the Scottish accent that I notice more (I'm Scottish). Avoid this at all costs