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The Undead Symphony

Arts & Culture Podcasts

An undead podcast discussing all things zombie. Movie reviews and TV shows, franchises and chats with fans and the ghouls and boils who bring us this much loved genre.

Location:

United States

Description:

An undead podcast discussing all things zombie. Movie reviews and TV shows, franchises and chats with fans and the ghouls and boils who bring us this much loved genre.

Language:

English


Episodes

Episode 130: Wither

3/26/2024
It is our 30th country from which we have enjoyed zombie, undead and infected entertainment. Aren't we an international bunch of luvvies? And isn't the genre global? I think so. How did this one appear? After back to back episodes of the floating turds of Amazon I needed something that I knew was good. No, not Dead and Breakfast. Michael still needs to see that one. And no not Route 666 with post Brat Pack stalwarts Lori Petty and Lou Diamond Philips. So, trusting in my overseas zombie entertainment, I looked for lists of the highest rated foreign language zombie movies. Surprise Surprise Train to Busan was at the top, but we had also seen Night Eats the World, #Alive and Juan of the Dead. The two I hadn't seen on the list were the South Korean The Wailing starring fireman dad from All of Us are Dead, and this, the 2012 Swedish Wither. Sure, it is cliched up the wazoo. But it is done very very well (hot 20 somethings, cabin in the woods, nerdy one, slutty one, handsome misogynist, cute couple, wizened old hunter, lack of cellphone coverage) enough to keep you smiling but throw in an unexpected final girl, well, final boy and some top notch violence and gore and you have a pretty decent movie in a genre saturated with copycats. I know the Sam Raimi purists will drone on about Evil Dead and I get that, the Romero cultists do the same. But I thought it was totally watchable so I will give it a solid 6/10 Check it out on Amazon for free.

Duration:00:32:05

Episode 129: Flight of the Living Dead and Quarantine 2: Terminal

3/24/2024
An aeronautical themed episode now as I try to recover from the Bottom of the Barrel and the Bottom of the Bottom of the Barrel on Amazon, as I watch two zombie movies with planes as the central location - Flight of the Living Dead (the name annoyed me): Outbreak on a Plane, and Quarantine 2: Terminal. In Flight of the Living Dead (the name annoyed me, like Ridge War Z did) we have a group of scientists including Pet Sematary's Dale Midkiff, bringing his infected wife on a Paris bound plane in a pressurised coffin, and guarded by horror stalwart Brian Thompson. Throw in Frank o'Connor and Erick Avari from The Mummy, Kristen Kerr, Richard Tyson and David Chisum and the zombies soon take over the plane, nesting in the cargo hold in this daytime TV feeling effort. 5/10 at best And even though I would rather watch the REC series, I followed it with the second American Quarantine movie, Quarantine 2: Terminal, starring Fear the Walking Dead's Mercedes Mason and Lost in Space's Ignacio Serricchio. As the first movie plays out on the TV news, a member of the doomsday cult takes infected lab rats on a plane and soon after a nip here and there, we have nasty infected zombies running about screaming until they lane and are quarantined in the baggage handling building at a small airport. I enjoyed it. I gave it 6.10, but that may be a little elevated because it followed 7 turd movies that made up the prior two episodes. I think I need to kill some time watching all four REC movies in order and both the Quarantine movies. Just not yet.

Duration:01:18:55

Episode 128: The Bottom of the Bottom of the Barrel

3/23/2024
Finishing off the second part of the shit feast on Amazon with The Bottom of the Bottom of the Barrel. Reel Zombies - a self-referential movie within a movie within a documentary will rarely work, and it definitely won’t work if everything you’ve produced is shit. At one point the producer is wiping blood off his windshield saying “my girlfriend is dead and now I’m wiping zombie blood off my windshield with her panties. Everyone is bad here.” 2.5/10 Cholo Zombies - a giant metaphor for immigration and inclusion that seems to get lost in a nonsensical story of Hispanic gang bangers and a demon box poured into a micro brewery 4/10 Attack of the Flatulating Dead - probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I could take a shit on a glass topped coffee table and film it from underneath and it would be better than this. 1/10 and finally COVID 21: Lethal Virus - a pointless shouty race over fast changing days and nights where an angry loner shouts his way through the woods with a squealing scientist. You can tell she is a scientist because she wears a bright white lab coat all the time. We have the most incompetent officer, who's every single decision costs the lives of his men and the scientists they are meant to protect. You can tell they are scientists because they wear bright white lab coats all the time. The adverts in the movie as it was Amazon were the highlights. 3.5/10 We watch them so you don't have to.

Duration:01:40:21

Episode 127: The Bottom of the Barrel

3/18/2024
We are scraping the bottom of the shit barrel this week with a two part crap feast of the lowest of the low, the dregs from Amazon, the what's left when you've watched the good movies, the cult movies, the recommended movies. It's not like they didn't have redeeming qualities too. Ridge War Z had the premise of an author documenting the experiences of 3 soldiers who survived the bloodiest battle of the zombie wars. The reality? 4 guys walk up a hill to a ridge in civvies as the monotone author poorly narrates, and 3 of those guys and 3 more in uniform walk slowly up the same hill before shooting off screen. Much like FEAR last time out we didn't get any zombies for over an hour, then it was 5 mins of frenzy, then it's over. 2/10 for Ridge War Z and I was going to plan to take a further point off them for stealing the name of a far far superior movie (World War Z). Eyes of the Dead was marketed as an immersive POV experience. It was, but again it was done really badly. The POV was not natural behaviour. Rather than looking around, you know, to see what's coming, the asshole through who's eyes we see the outbreak, spends his time looking at his hands, the floor, a radio, anything other than around. It annoyed me, as did their pathetic lack of action. The zombies are bursting in, one guy is holding the door, and POV asshole is just watching rather than helping. 5/10, could have been better. And finally Breakdown Lane, Kirby breaks down on a desert road. Her only communication is with the guy at the end of her breakdown company's lifeline. Clever, and it felt often like It Stains the Sands Red, but with cars. Very good. However, it was a Jekyll and Hyde piece where the tattoo parlour waiting room rock music starts and we get Max Max level assholes with guns, a weirdo with zombies as pets, and lots of other shit, as well as these constant comic book transitions that just looked bad. If they had persisted with the well acted, well filmed desert movie of Kirby and Max and the car it would have been solid, but all the rest, all that shit, brought it down to a 3.5/10

Duration:00:59:25

Episode 126: FEAR Forget Everything and Run

3/13/2024
"The Walking Dead Meets the Revenant." That is how they describe it. Lofty. Delusion of grandeur much? When a virus ravages a mountain community the survivors must flee from the monsters it created into the barren wilderness. Scavenging, freezing and dying one family will fight for their lives against marauders hellbent on revenge. A humanity clings to hope, their only chance for survival is forming an alliance with the monsters that came calling. Disclaimer - this doesn't sound like the movie, there is no alliance, and until 1 hour and 33 mins we had seen 1 zombie, and that was in the opening scene. It was snowy, it was well photographed, but it was bleak and the characters were either too inconsistent, being McGuyver one minute and the Marx Brothers the next, too much of the shouty kid. How have these people survived for so long in the apocalypse when they are so incompetent and noisy? It felt like a lost episode from season 2 of Black Summer, with the snow and the cinematography and the bleakness of it all. Ethan, the lead male, who also co-wrote and co-directed this is a more masculine version of Lance from Black Summer. Remember him? A fuckwit who somehow survived season 1 only to be bitten, turned and killed in the opening scenes. The villains (Desree and Lionel) are too villainous. The kid is too shouty. The flashbacks are unnecessary. But, all that said, it wasn't awful. I don't need to rewatch it and I wouldn't recommend it, so by default it is less than 5/10. So I will score it 4/10, almost the same as IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes and the Guardian, who described it as a scenic zombie adventure that lacks bite. How true.

Duration:00:46:30

Episode 125: Braindead aka Dead Alive

3/11/2024
In 1992 the movie genius that is Peter Jackson gave us this cult classic, Braindead, aka Dead Alive. Renamed in the US because of a Bill Pullman movie Brain Dead. It is messy, gory, fun, a classic tale of a Sumatran Rat Monkey (stop motion) infecting humans in 1950s Wellington, New Zealand, with its bite. If you like your blood in tidal waves, and your intestines with a mind of their own, if you don’t mind seeing zombie babies ripping their way out of a woman's head, or exploding pustules bursting and the rancid output being eating with custard then this is for you. With Simon Pegg listing this as one of his influences for Shaun of the Dead (you can see it with the tram scene with Lionel and the homeless guy and the pigeon and the bus in Shaun), it can be seen why this was one of the major players in the comedy zombie horror genre. Was it a game changer? I don't think so. But it's influence was huge, and can be seen in Zombieland, Bed and Breakfast, Shaun and many more. A solid 6.5/10 from me. If you haven't seen it, then you really have to.

Duration:00:36:55

Episode 124: Doghouse

3/8/2024
It was blasted for being misogynistic, basic, unoriginal, stealing from Shaun of the Dead, and a poor competitor when compared to Lesbian Vampire Killers (seriously? with James fucking Corden), but some class this the 2009 Doghouse Danny Dyer, Noel Clarke, Stephen Graham and Lee Ingleby as a guilty pleasure and one of their go to horror comedies. Is it original? No. Is it misogynistic? Absolutely. Is it entertaining? It is. And it is a 6/10 for us. When we get to the country, we are gonna piss up all the trees to mark our territory, then we are gonna find a pub and get so drunk we can't remember how to speak, and we'll communicate in grunts like neanderthals, before passing out in the woods!

Duration:00:49:48

Episode 123: Book of Zombie

3/4/2024
I don't know where to start. Small mercies? The movie isn't long. Conceptually? It is a funny premise. The Church of Scientology are trying to remove all other religions by creating tailored viruses that turn the believers into unkillable zombies. Their weakness? The things they weren't allowed to do in life due to their faith? That whole Mormons not swearing, no caffeine or alcohol thing. The execute? Piss poor. It sits uneasily between Pro-Wrestlers v Zombies (2.5/10) and Johnny Z (3/10) for us. Michael wanted to give it 2.51/10 but I overruled that as it would ruin my uniform scoring spreadsheet. It is worse than Ibiza Undead, but better than Pro-Wrestlers v Zombie. And I make it sound much better than it was. Watch it at your peril. The opening credits are arguably some of the worst I have ever seen. And it scored a more than generous 3/10 from us

Duration:01:04:56

Episode 122: Daybreak Episodes 6 to 10

2/26/2024
The second half of the cancelled Netflix Ferris Beuller meets TWD The World Beyond, a young adult post apocalyptic zombie show that is as much Lord of the Flies as it is Dawn of the Dead. Actually scratch all that, it nothing like any of those. It can't compare. It has none of the depth. But what it does have is witty banter, great characters, and fun. It isn't 28 Days Later as Mickey Dolan says in his input. It isn't but it is still good. The real tragedy is that the ghoulies, the adults, are turning into something nasty. Broderick's Principal Burr and Miss Crumble both are turning into something. But it not explored, and barely hinted at. In this, the second 5 episodes of the show, we had filler for a good couple of episodes that we didn't need. We had a terrible show within a show Miss Crumble psychotic break that meant everyone was in a sitcom directed by Angelica. We had a whole episode dedicated to Josh trying to have sex with and eventually dumping Sam. And we learn he is a petty and awful ill-educated individual. We had flashbacks, dream sequences, dead parents, and cannibalism. There was a lot to dislike in the second half of the show. Less Anglica being awful, fewer one liners, more filler and more Josh being just Josh and just boring. I was angry by it being cut from the schedule when I first watched it, as I wanted a second season, like I did Cowboy BeBop and Dirk Gently, but during the last third of this watch I was kinda glad it was binned. It ended with more of a whimper than a bang, despite the nuclear bomb they set off. 6/10 for all the right reasons. WITH NEW ADDED INPUT FROM GOLF TEAM GARY PLAYED BY THE WONDERFUL MICKEY DOLAN

Duration:00:41:48

Episode 121: Daybreak Episodes 1 to 5

2/25/2024
Navigating a post-apocalyptic world full of zombies and "Mad Max"-style gangs, a teenage outcast searches for his lost love orrrrr Living his best life in post-apocalyptic LA, a slacker strives to find the girl of his dreams while outwitting mindless ghouls and cliquish gangs. Set in a post-apocalyptic Glendale where a biochemical attack has turned all adults in blood thirty ghoulies and left the kids alone slacker and Canadian Ferris clone Josh Wheeler lives his best life, running into an assortment of characters including pacifist street samurai Wesley and genius with questionable morals Angelica, and all the while trying to find his long lost love Sam Dean. Parts 1-5 in which, well, we discover the kids are in gangs, the cheerleaders in one, the jocks led by Turbo, a Mad Max-esque gang complete with spiked shoulder pads and vehicles, farmers, mathletes, the fashionista. And Josh, Angelica and Wes have to forge alliances as they take over the Mall and battle the evil child eater Baron Triumph. Starring Colin Ford, Matthew Broderick, and Alyvia Ayn Lind, and our beloved Chester Rushing, this teen/high school/young comic book based show was cruelly killed by some ass clown at Netflix before it could reach it's potential. Shame on you. 6/10 WITH WONDERFUL INSIGHTS FROM THE SUPERB AS EVER CHESTER RUSHING AKA TERRY OF THE GOLF TEAM

Duration:00:45:07

Episode 120: As We Know It

2/25/2024
From Wikipedia "Set in Los Angeles in the late 1990s, struggling writer James Bishop grapples with the emotional shrapnel of a recent breakup with his longtime girlfriend, Emily. As James holds up in his Hollywood Hills home with writer's block, his eccentric best friend Bruce shows up with bad news. The city has plunged into chaos by an unusual and hilarious zombie outbreak, courtesy of tainted soy milk. With the streets of Los Angeles swarming with the undead, James, Bruce, and Emily come together to barricade themselves in the house while reconciling their personal struggles. And occasionally, letting in the only food delivery service still operating, Abracadabra." We loved this 2023 random find. The movie had zero promotion in the UK and that is criminal. I feel it would do really well on Netflix as a one off, like that Jamie Foxx vampire thing. It is crisply filmed, well written, superbly acted and criminally overlooked. Starring Mike Castle and Oliver Cooper, this rom zom com should really be a rom com with zoms, as the zombies are there, but it is the caustic romantic comedy you follow as Castle's James tries to get over a break up, and his friend Oliver comes to look after him as the apocalypse unfolds. Hardcore zombie fans will poo poo it, and TBH they are a missing out as the banter and the movie nods would win them over. Rom Com fans will be deterred by the zombie elements, but they are really soft peddled. In short both Michael and I recommend this movie. It is on Amazon in the UK. And definitely worth a watch. 6/10

Duration:01:31:21

Episode 119: Viral

2/17/2024
"Viral," a 2016 sci-fi thriller directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, follows the story of two sisters navigating a world consumed by a mysterious outbreak. The film delves into the complexities of sisterhood against the backdrop of a viral epidemic that transforms humans into aggressive creatures. As the infection spreads, the sisters, played by Sofia Black-D'Elia, who is married to Joost, and Lio Tipton, struggle to survive and protect their bond. Despite a lot of bad reviews I think the movie skillfully blends elements of horror, drama, and suspense, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats. With its tense atmosphere and compelling character dynamics, "Viral" explores the human condition under extreme circumstances, making it an intriguing subject for a podcast discussion on themes of survival, family, and the unpredictable nature of infectious threats." A lot of people slagged it off, but I felt once it had switched from being a high school outbreak drama to a survival horror movie it picked up, with half a dozen jump scares. Was good seeing Dawn 2004's Michael Kelly and Sofia Black-D'Elia's Emma and Evan were great as the teen leads (despite being in their mid 20s). Parasites are probably my least favourite cause of zombification after voodoo, but I needed to give this a go. Compared to most of the shit we see this was well acted, well filmed, well written, had some jump scares too. People moaned it was PG-13 but outside of more graphic gore I don't think you lost anything. For me the 2016 Viral is a 6/10, a little above the IMDB of 5.5 and Rotten Tomatoes 53% but worth an easy watch.

Duration:00:39:21

Episode 118: I am a Hero

2/6/2024
In this episode we are joined by Hannah from over at Hordes of Horror for a fun Japanese live action adaptation of the Kengo Hanazawa manga I am a Hero starring Yo Oizumi as Hideo Suzuki or Hero. The put-upon, down-on-his-luck manga associate producer has a shotgun license, and a girl friend who has had enough of his day dreaming. But when the ZQN virus decimates his city, turning people into zombies our hero needs to buck up his idea, and take that shotgun and license on the road with Hiromi. With the checklist of zombie tropes ticked this movie is a well produced adaptation with a killer ending, piles of bodies and The High Jumper, probably one of my favourite new zombie villains. My usual preamble has all the watch along spoilers, commentary and minimal swearing and then Michael and I chat with Hannah about all things zeke. A very strong 6.5/10 You can find Hannah and her work on Instagram as HordesOfHorror but more importantly on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@HordesOfHorror where her recaps and reviews are a thing of beauty. We cannot wait to catch up with her again on something obscure and Japanese.

Duration:01:53:36

Episode 117: The Children

2/4/2024
The Children (also known as The Children of Ravensback) is a 1980 American horror film, directed by Max Kalmanowicz, and starring Martin Shakar from Saturday night fever, and the chuck Norris action movie, like he does anything else, Invasion USA, leave it to beaver’s Gil Rogers, and the multitalented grammy award winning singer songwriter and author, Gale Garnett. It follows a group of five children in a small New England town when they are transformed into zombies who, after being exposed to waste from a nuclear plant, microwave any living thing they touch. The film received generally negative reviews from critics. Upon its theatrical release in 1980 The Children received generally negative reviews. The Los Angeles Times called it a "despicable movie" that "reeks of a nasty, ill-defined dislike of humankind."[4] The Orlando Sentinel deemed the actors "the ugliest bunch of folks we've seen assembled on any screen at any one time."[5] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette criticized the writing, directing, acting and special effects; the latter slammed for burned bodies looking "exactly like a leftover pepperoni pizza, complete with black olives and anchovies.” Jesus what would they think Passion of the Christ or Terrifier 2? Personally this lands slap bang in the middle of a batch of movies from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Not as good as Dawn 78, or Nightmare City, or Dead and Buried, better than Creeping Flesh, Flesh Eaters and Zombie Lake and probably on par with Shock Waves. A definitely 5/10 for me.

Duration:00:30:52

Episode 116: Live Survival

2/1/2024
Hot on the heels of Live Escape is Live Survival that takes place literally after the first movie with all the same elements - cops, head/vest cams, not using weapons, contradiction, slow pace stilted dialog. There are issues with this one. The story does not progress. The slow moving around a maze like location continues. We gain a total douche canoe in Miguel and a constant screamer nothing burger in Kelly. It should have built on the first one but it was far worse and the ending just annoyed me. Don't people lock car doors? It was a swear rant this one (double figure F bombds). Watch the first one for the concept alone, avoid this. This is poor. It is our lowest scoring movie along with Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies and Another World. 2.5/10 and they should be thankful for that.

Duration:00:41:36

Episode 115: Live Escape

2/1/2024
A new theme on the found footage horror genre, this is supposedly, but clearly not as we get time updates, a real-time footage horror movie. Written by, directed by and starring Joe Lujan as Pete, with Bryant Smith as his partner Jensen, two cops (bad boys bad boys whatcha gonna do?) are called to a homeless shelter after the discovery of a body. IMDB gave it 2.9 and I can see why, as an average of people who loved it or hated it. I can see what Lujan was trying to do. It was the same idea as those cop reality shows with car, hood, dash, vest and head cams recording the day of a number of law enforcement officials. Here they have headcams as they go into the shelter to discover that it is a maze of pitch black rooms they need to illuminate with their torches. It is claustrophobic, it is quite a good idea, it is just executed poorly. The homeless shelter looks more like a storeroom for theatre sets. The homeless don't look homeless, they look like regular people. The screamers were good, the eaters, but the cops didn't do what cops would do. They had no non-lethal weapons - taser, pepper spray, night stick, and instead spend all their time walking slowly from dark room to dark room before being discovered and having to run. There a lot of inconsistencies in the characters, their actions and their logic. I mean, if you have assessed the zombies hunt by sound, why not be quiet? Why shout? Anyway, I watched the sequel before I recorded this, and would have scored it less based on the two movies as a pair. For this on it's own I will score it 4.5/10. I think it was an ok watch. A nice idea, poorly executed. If they had been more like cops with their weapons and tactics, and the location had been better, say an old motel, and it has been less repetitive, it would have scored 5.

Duration:00:41:04

Episode 114: Return of the Living Dead 2 and 3

1/28/2024
In this episode I watch Return of the Living Dead 2 and 3 for the first time. In, ROTLD2, the comedic horror sequel to the 1985 cult classic starring one of my first crushes Linnea Quigley, we follow Jesse, a headstrong little spitfuck of a kid, bullied by Billy and Johnny, and his sister Lucy, but somehow focused on saving the town with the Cable Guy from the hoard of Trioxin zombies. It somehow maintains the irreverent tone of its predecessor but it's a campy blend of humor amidst zombie chaos is a distraction, as is Brenda's screaming, and Ed and Joey, who are basically Frank and Freddy from the first movie running through the same screaming rigor mortis schtick as before. While lacking the freshness of the original, it compensates with slapstick humor and inventive zombie encounters, not least the awful pet store scene and a mass electrocution. I did not find it an enjoyable, or groundbreaking, experience and think 4.5/10 is generous. Moving on to "Return of the Living Dead 3," released in 1993, this installment takes a darker turn. It explores themes of love and transformation as a teenage romance unfolds amidst the zombie apocalypse that was actually caused by the teens in the first place. Romero, Romero, where for art thou, Romero? Would a zombie by any other name smell as foul? While departing from the series' comedic roots, "Return of the Living Dead 3" distinguishes itself with a unique blend of gross body horror and romance. It was better than the part 2, but it lacked the very key ingredient of Allan Trautman as Tarman growling "Brains" for me. And I do not do unnecessary body mutilation so it is 5/10 for me. Together, they form what ChatpGPT describes as "a fascinating evolution within the "Return of the Living Dead" series" whilst I think of it as a downward spiral, or death spiral. And there were two more movies!

Duration:01:03:52

Episode 113: Junk

1/22/2024
Welcome to this episode of the Undead Symphony in which we unravel cinematic gems . In the 113th episode, Michael and I dissect the 2000 Japanese zombie flick, "Junk." And it's name is very apt. Whilst it was suggested that we immerse ourselves in a thrilling blend of horror and action as we explore the film's unique take on the undead genre, Michael and I were more disappointed than anything. Join us as we delve into the less than captivating narrative, ignore any cultural nuances and pick on the cinematic techniques that the director blatantly stole from Alien, Aliens, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Zombi 2, Renaimator, and Return of the Living Dead. We have watched a lot of movies recently and Japan is hit and miss. Wild Zero we liked, One Cut of the Dead too, Zom100 was not good and this was probably the worst of the lot. If it was a salad, created by the writer/director of the classic Ringu, it would have lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pencil shavings, cat food, furniture polish and Skittles. It tried to be one thing but failed by adding a lot of extra shit that wasn't needed. In the end I wanted to be generous but Michael convinced me that 3.5/10 was a lot more realistic than the IMDB score suggested. This had none of the cult classic feel of Wild Zero, none of the cleverness of One Cut of the Dead, had none of the likeable characters of I am a Hero, but it did have someone annoyingly shouting all the time like Zom100: Bucketlist of the dead.

Duration:01:10:15

Episode 112: Anna and the Apocalypse with Steph Grant from Listeners of the Dead

1/17/2024
Join us in this thrilling podcast journey into the world of 'Anna and the Apocalypse.' This unique film seamlessly blends genres, offering a perfect mix of musical, comedy, and zombie apocalypse chaos all set at Christmas and in their final year of school. Anna, a high school student, navigates the challenges of teenage life with humor and resilience, but when a zombie outbreak hits her small town during Christmas, she faces an unexpected battle for survival. As the undead hordes rise, Anna and her friends belt out catchy tunes while fighting for their lives. We delve into the film's infectious energy, its heartwarming moments, and the creative fusion that makes 'Anna and the Apocalypse' a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience. Steph from Listeners of the Dead joins Michael and me to love on a movie that didn't get any of the credit or attention it deserved. We loved it, will you? 7/10

Duration:01:06:08

Episode 111: Zeta - When the Dead Awaken

1/17/2024
Indonesia 2019 (our 30th country covered) - high schooler Deon (Jeff Smith) lives with his mother, who suffers from early onset Alzheimer's. His estranged father is a scientist working for the government. A waterborne parasite starts turning people into zombies or Zetas, with two variants and we see Deon head home from school and attempt to survive the zombie outbreak with a mother who wanders off, does not understand what is going on, and causes them both to be in danger. In a race against time his father and the military have to work out what is going on, and to find a solution. At the same time Deon and his mother fall foul of Reza and his criminal brother Rayham (the humans are always worse than the infected), who forces Deon's mother to retrieve armaments for him, as it turns out, much like WWZ that the infected will not attack a potential host if they are unwell. In Zeta - When the Dead Awaken as the parasite takes over the brain of the infected, anyone with a brain injury or degenerative brain disorder like Alzheimer syndrome are left alone, it is a shiel, an invisibility cloak to a degree. It will all come to an emotional end. There were a few things that annoyed me, but not massively, namely the makeup FX and music, but the rest of the movie was pretty solid and Jeff Smith carried it well on his young shoulders. 6/10

Duration:00:37:40