Search - Zombies Anonymous on DVD

Lory R. (melikedvd) from RICHMOND, CA
Reviewed on 11/17/2020...

It's too bad that reviewer who only watched the first half hour didn't give this one a little more time to get going. It starts out looking like it might be another amateur weekend production but actually develops into a truly original take on zombie films. Yes, it's an extremely gory zombie movie but it's also a strong statement about prejudice and spousal abuse. Most of the actors were better then you usually find in a no budget production of this type. The language at times is very crude and might offend some viewers but it also rings true to the characters involved.

If extreme gore or foul language offends you, stay away. If not and you're looking for a truly original take on films about the living dead, give it a chance. It does get better after that first half hour.

0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Michael G. (mgmirkin) from PORTLAND, OR
Reviewed on 6/26/2010...

Well, that was a wasted half hour of my life I'll never get back...

Low-budget nonsense that replaces plot, scares, dialogue and character development with profuse profanity. One of the worse zombie movies ever. In case anyone was hoping this was a zombie comedy, it fails on that front too. Social commentary? Hardly.

I ended up turning off this nonsense after the first half hour. I'd already been disappointed by American Zombie and didn't feel like wasting to full running time of nearly 2 hours.

Barely worth the money I paid for it. If you want a good zombie movie, go watch Shaun of the Dead or Fido, Undead or Alive, or Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, the remake of Dawn of the Dead, Undead, Mortuary, Resident Evil, Planet Terror, Zombieland. Anything but this...

Can't say you weren't warned!

3 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

A review from Zombiefans!

Zombob | U.S.A. | 09/07/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Mortally challenged..."



Interesting...





1) ACTING: The acting here is very well done. Aside from the actors portraying The Commandant and Solstice, everyone was excellent. The two mentioned really made it difficult for me to stay in the scene, as they really caught my focus of attention when onscreen. I don't know if they needed more rehearsals or what, but the last thing a director wants is something that distracts the viewer.



2) PRODUCTION: Again, a job well done. I had no lighting or continuity issues, and the only real sound issue was that the occasional background music was overpowering and louder than the actors. Everything is kept very tight. The blood and gore was plentiful and well handled. The character development is nicely done. The "big finale," to me, was kind of a let down, as I thought it didn't really fit into the tone of the movie.



3) ZOMBIES: Here is the big difference. The zombies in this movie are the risen dead, but continue to go on about their daily lives. Whatever caused then to die, (murder, illness, etc.) they then have a "re-birth." But only the recent dead return. Those already dead and buried stay that way. Reminiscent of the movie 'Fido,' but with the zombies having complete control of their mental capacities.



4) THE CAUSE: Unknown.



5) NUDITY: None.





FINAL: Overall, I found this to be a very interesting, thought provoking movie. Sadly, it deals with a serious subject that we are all too familiar with; our own intolerance of others. Whether it be gender, race, sexual preference, or now, undead, this movie's message hits the nail right on the head. I think Romero would be proud of this "message movie."





RATING: 4 out of 5"

Unique perspective that works well

S. Banzhaf | Iowa, USA | 06/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"See Charleen's review below for the gory details. I'll simply add that I was also very pleased with the film. The lead zombie/actress did a very good job of invoking sympathy for her situation and those of her fellow undead as they try to re-integrate themselves into society and make a "living". Her acting was just flat -out very, very good and brought a great deal of credibility to the whole story. *caution-plot spoiler* I in particular, liked her final solution to her KKK wannabe ex-boyfriend. The actor played him so well, you wanna stand up and do a full cheer with pom-poms when he gets.......well, what YOU wanted to do to him from the start (LOL). Overall, well worth buying versus renting and will be a film you'll pull out and watch again and again."

Brains, send more brains!

Karen Shaub | the inner reaches of the outer limits | 02/23/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Like the terrific Canadian zombie film FIDO, Marc Fratto's film ZOMBIES ANONYMOUS tries to offer us a refreshing new twist on the tired old zombie story. In Fratto's world the zombies are only the recently dead, they possess all their mental faculties although both their minds and bodies do deteriorate with time, and most importantly they are NOT flesh eating monsters intent on gobbling your grey matter. All these poor souls want is to continue "living their lives" as they had been before they had been so rudely interrupted by undeath; go to work, pay the mortgage, walk the dog, etc. Society however, has major problems accepting them. Most folks just pretend not to see tham at all, while others engage in more overt acts of discrimination such as firing them from their jobs simply because they are "mortally challenged", and still others react as do ZA's chief antagonists by forming hate groups resembling the KKK and the American Nazi Party. As you can see ZA is VERY similar to FIDO in the respect that both deal with the concept of zombies representing a lower caste of humanity that was used as slave labor and/or forbidden entry vis a vis a huge fence in the case of FIDO and in the case of ZOMBIES ANONYMOUS we've got young punks banding together under the leadership of woman known as The Commandant for the sole purpose of making the undead a little less "un".



Sounds like a great premise doesn't it? Well, it is. And the fact that it was supposed to be a black comedy made it all the more enticing to me, but the sad truth is that these film makers simply bit off more than they could chew, pun intended. Not only do they take on the issue of racial and/or ethnic prejudice they also tackle domestice violence in one of the stongest opening scenes I've ever seen in a zombie flick (especially one that promised it was going to be a comedy), a scene that is echoed in the finale. Normally I'd say Bravo, nice take on a difficult subject! But now we have two major story lines going, prejudice AND domestic violence and its going to take one heck of a film maker to pull all this off. Especially since Fratto decides to link the domestic violence to an thread of female impowerment.(Trust me, here its a bit odd) Three out four of the most important characters in the film are women; there's our protagonist Angela (Gina Ramsden) who is murdered by her rat of a husband Josh (Joshua Nelson) in that first scene I mentioned, then there's the evil Commandant Christa McNamee who's one nasty piece of work, and of course the big zombie leader known as Mother Solstice, plus this other zombie chick who's hanging with Josh for some reason we're not privy to. I hate to criticize a film maker for attempting too much but that's exactly what happened here. They started with a comedy that really isn't very funny, added several messages, and for good measure they tacked on an orgy of zombie mayhem with everyone trying to kill everyone else. There were a lot of ideas for some great flix in this movie, but sadly there were just too many ideas for one movie.

"