Eaters: Rise of the Dead

Starring: Germano Tarricone, Guglielmo Favilla, Elisa Ferreti

Synopsis:

The world - devastated by a Great Epidemic - is governed by hordes of living dead. Three men - Igor and Alen, two hunters of dead and a scientist, Gyno - try to give an answer to what has happened to the human race. Alen and Igor leave for two days of hunting to find new "guinea-pigs" for Gyno and meet variedcharacters along the way: a crazy painter, neo-Nazis and a mysterious girl, daughter of the feared Plague-Spreader; the supposed craftsman of the epidemic...

Review:

This film looked promising from the trailer and associated stills. The title suggested a return to the Italian grindhouse fun of Fulci’s Zombie Flesheaters, as it was titled in the UK. I was looking forward to some full on zombie vs survivors action. I was disappointed in the result. It’s not that Eaters is a bad movie but it’s not the genre picture that I was expecting. The promise of the movie gave way to irritating characters, odd dialogue; with humour that didn’t translate well or just wasn’t funny. There’s too much talking in the movie and not enough action. Had the scriptwriters been up to even a tenth of the standard of Aaron Sorkin then it might have had a chance but the characters are far too “quirky” (I’m being charitable with that description) and the performances grate, at times. I wonder how much of this is Italian humour not translating well.

Eaters is not a write-off, it just doesn’t appeal to me. There have been far too many low budget movies using the premise of an apocalyptic plague wiping out the majority of mankind and leaving the survivors to battle dead or sick human beings. Eaters makes the mistake of seemingly promising “hordes” of the living dead and only producing a handful onscreen, for starters. There is a sense of the atmosphere of the original 1985 Romero movie, Day of the Dead, but only enough to depress the viewer that it isn’t that movie. There are certainly similar themes; scientists vs servicemen, obtaining zombie specimens for a Frankenstein-like professor type. The make-up effects, on the whole, aren’t bad. There’s only really one effect that looked very silly; that of target practice at a skeleton with an odd looking rotten face. It reminded me of the cheesier effects in The Dead Next Door. It’s clear that some effort has been made.

There are some interesting ideas in the plot, too, which causes frustration at the mad performances even more. Nothing of any real substance is very well developed though: Themes of religious fervour creating the plague from the outset, for example. A great idea but not expanded upon. There are similar themes in Stake Land (soon to be reviewed) and they’re done so much better. The budgetary constraints would have had nothing to do with it.

Another thing that frustrates is that the filmmakers are pretty good with a camera. The shots and perspectives are generally very good. Attention to detail such as ambient light works well. The feel of the apocalyptic environment works up until the point that we see the main characters drive along a road that is clearly in use from the depth of field used. This breaks the fourth wall and reminds us we’re watching a nil budget movie, which spoils a decent set up.

Music, for the soundtrack, comes from the collaboration between Justin Bennett (Skinny Puppy, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult) and Stefano Rosello (Bahntier). It fits the tone of the movie and is far more interesting than the Zimmer clones still doing the rounds in Hollywood.

It wouldn’t be a low budget zombie movie review of mine without a whinge about the marketing. Eaters, as it was originally called, has been given the additional titling of “Rise of the Dead”. Guess what? The dead rose a long time ago, in the story. Also, the cover art suggests that there will be a stand off between a horde of zombies and some soldiers. We also get the almost obligatory helicopter gunships. Do the artists actually watch these movies? I guess not.

Summary

The story behind the movie is that the Directors sent out many emails and letters out to people in the business and Uwe Boll was the only person courteous enough to reply. In doing so he produced and helped the Directors realise their vision. I could be spiteful and say that the reason for this is that the movie isn’t very good, but that would be unhelpful. I think it’s more to do with the erratic nature of the movie and the fact that the zombie genre is too popular for young filmmakers just starting out. This could cause a sense of apathy from anyone that was approached to help resource a movie called Eaters . It’s nothing we haven’t seen before and done so much better.

As for potential viewers of this movie; I’m betting that it will get an audience; a number of zombie fan boys will find something to chew on. I found the meat on the bone was a little too lean for my tastes. However, Luca Boni and Marco Ristori could be names to look out for in the future, for their skill with the camera alone.

4 out of 10 (Wayfarer)

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