Customer Reviews

Gangs of the Dead

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm a bit wary of reviews based on content and acting for a film like this. As an avid horror fan (zombie movies in particular), I generally know what to expect when going into a film like this. When I notice a zombie film I've never heard of before, I pretty much know what to expect: bad acting, poor production quality, sub par effects, etc. Now, this is a great rule of thumb if you're trying to steer clear of said downfalls.
For a horror fan such as myself, though, I can definitely enjoy the "camp-factor" of a low-budget horror film. I can laugh at the bad acting and poor effects, and cheer when the predictable events unfold, as if I'd seen the future.

The point I'm making here is that "Gangs of the Dead" is by NO MEANS a breakthrough film, but it's a lot of fun to watch and the production made great use of an obviously mediocre effects budget. The CGI is surprisingly decent (TV quality even), and they definitely made a smart move in saving a good chunk of the budget for the death effect on one of the main characters (not going to spoil it - it's definitely Fulci-esque). Noel G (aka Noel Gugliemi) was the best actor in the film for sure (perhaps it's because he's always the same guy). The rest of the cast was pretty laughable - especially the girl playing Latasha. Her whining and whimpering had me in stitches for the majority of the film.

In summation, I'd advise any fan of super campy horror to take a look at this movie. It's not the best, but it'll keep you laughing for a while.
Steer clear if you're looking for a Romero film.

Maybe I'm just a sucker for zombie films, but I really liked this one. No one will be recommending this for any major awards, but this is a horror film, and if you want "Oscar contender," before you can enjoy a horror movie, you're not really a horror fan. But, if you've gotten past the film's title and cover art to this babble, you may be able to enjoy this thing. Now, this isn't the best zombie film I've seen; in a way, it's just another low budget re-think on the "Night of the Living Dead." And, while the zombies seem under represented (as in NOTLD), the zombies aren't supposed to be the stars, they simply provide the cause for the living, in a confined space, under stress, to reveal who they really are. The character who really moves this story along is a very unlikable hard-as-they-come gangsta, who kills almost as many of the living as the zombies do. However, his actions may also be what keeps this movie from being completely predictable. And you also probably wont be able to guess who's gonna die early, who's gonna last awhile or who, if anyone will survive. And the end was true to form, and just right, for an inner-city horror movie.

Lets see... Where to begin? With the title this movie, it seemed a little suspect! Shockingly this was actually fairly descent. Its a low budget movie that did well with what they had. I'm rating this movie a 3 overall.

The Zombies: Your general run of the mill Romero zombies. A meteorite caused the outbreak when it collided with a flock of homeless(yes you heard me)... Rating of 3.

The S.F.X: There are two fantastic SFX scenes on two different deaths... I was amazed for the second. For suck a low budget movie this was pretty damn cool!!! Rating of 3.5.

The Story: Cops going for a drug bust, two rival gangs(stereotypical Latino and Black gangs) collied... Zombies then mess up the party etc... Rating of 2.5.

The Acting: For the most part the cast was fairly descent, another shocking developement. A few may have over did it... Rating of 3.

Nudity: None!!

The Verdict: This was a pretty good movie. Nowhere near a Romero classic, but I think it accomplished what it was going for. If you are Zombie fan and you can pick it up cheap, you won't be disappointed! Its not trying to be a comedy, it feels like a serious attempt to be real movie.

Well, its the best hip hop zombie movie out of the three I've seen. The other two are Dead Heist (probably one of the worst movies ever) and Zombiez. This movie is really entertaining I must say. A meteorite hits Los Angeles and turns a group of homeless people into zombies. The zombies start to infect other people they encounter and end up trapping a couple of dueling gangs in a warehouse. One gang has three black members and the other gang is a hispanic gang and its safe to say that neither one of these gangs like each other. While trapped in the warehouse the two rival gangs fight for control over the other while a couple of cops are trapped with them. Reggie Bannister from the Phantasm movies makes an appearance. This movie gets really good while the in-fighting continues and the zombies continue to spread their plague all around the area outside the warehouse. This movie seems to get a bad rap but I really had fun watching it. Someday I may even buy this gem. I recommend it to all zombie lovers for at least one watch.

Wow. An urban horror movie I enjoyed! Holy crap in a pita I think I almost had a heart attack there. I said "urban horror" and "enjoyed" in the same sentence...generally there's a "did not" in between those two but with this movie the "did not" can go on vacation. (Notice how I skillfully used a sentence dragging on about my use of common words and notice the skills I'm showing in getting you to read this explanation explaining it which pertains to nothing other than a waste of space and time. Congratulations. I've won.)

Anyways, the film started off in a very non-typical way, a comet crashes on top of a group of religious homeless nuts and soon turns their corpses into green slime spewing zombies. Two rival gangs are getting together in a nearby warehouse while the police observe as a deal between said gangs goes down. As things take a turn for the worst they get much worst when the zombie horde discovers the police squad waiting outside to arrest the gangs and starts munching down. Stirred up by all the commotion the gangs take a peak outside to find the police being torn to bits by the undead. A pair of officers barely makes it out by the skin on their teeth and rushes into the warehouse. The group soon realizes they must work together to survive as the living dead outside try to bash their way in. Can two rival gangs and a couple of police officers manage to not kill each other before the zombies do?

Well peeps, that's something you're going to have to find out for yourselves because I'm not going to give it away BUT there's plenty of guy munching and zombie carnage to please even the most distinguished zombie fan. There's even a nice scene involving someone's jaw and a horde of hungry zombies - you ever seen a human Pez dispenser? Now is your chance.

This movie was really enjoyable. Not poorly acted, although some actors/actresses were better than others and some of the dialog was stale and flat but most zombie films have this flaw along with the lack of logic on the characters' part (that's in here too) but the film still manages to work. With some creative shots, nice gore effects, and some of the better low budget acting I've seen in a micro budget film - GANGS OF THE DEAD is a fun zombie romp. It chills. It thrills. Most importantly, plenty of the red stuff spills.

The one thing that would've solidified this into getting a 4 star review would have been more of the gore and less talking. There's a few points in the film where all the characters do is talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, by the time they're done talking you have no idea what they were talking about and just want to see someone get killed. Thankfully someone knew what they were doing because they either deliver on the kill part or shove more zombies in our face in their rotten glory. I also must point out these zombies look awesome. Full face appliances give them a nice rotten look and of course the few background zombies with minor gore and face paint are present but hell they're awesome too! For a film with such a low budget, it had a great EFX team. Now the CGI...well even though it's only used for things they needed it for - with the exception of head shots, squibs people; SQUIBS - that doesn't look so great. But it's a low budget zombie film, if you're expecting George Lucas' CGI effects - move on, this one's not for you and you're no longer fit for human interaction.

All in all, the film has it's flaws but it has it's high points. Just like any other zombie film out there. Give it a shot, what have you really got to loose? Aside from the money it will cost you to either rent or purchase it and the 88 minutes you'll be watching it but other than that - what? Like you have something better to watch. Go on, try it out.

really bad, if you was a gongstar, maybe you was like it other than that it's a C-Movie Type

"Gangs of the Dead." Just the name tells you, "Oh crap..." Granted, any zombie movie with the word "Dead" in it and isn't directed by George Romero is going to be a stinker, sort of like how any sci-fi movie with the word "Alien" in it and isn't directed by either Ridley Scott or James Cameron.

A meteorite lands in a city, killing some hobos and turning them into zombies. They then lurch their way into a nearby warehouse where black and hispanic gangs (of about three people each) are meeting with police waiting outside to bust the meeting. The gang members and surviving cops are trapped inside, trying to survive the undead mob outside.

This movie is aggravating, and for many of the same reasons the bigger budget movie "Hollow Man" was aggravating. Remember how in that movie characters had heat vision goggles but for some inexplicable reason never used them? People here seem to be hesitant to use weapons. When the zombies attack the police, for example, they only use batons, even when it's clear that they aren't working; only after most of the cops have been eaten do two take out guns and start using them. Later on some characters will rush into a horde of zombies and use a two-by-four, as if a piece of wood would be more efficient than a gun.

This combined with bad acting, a bad script, and some really bad choreography: in one scene a gun falls down with the barrel pointing up - it goes off, and shootings a hole...in...the...ground...?

Don't see this movie. Even if you like zombies, just do what people normally do and go down to your local cemetery with a copy of the Necronomicon and raise some dead yourself. Bring the whole family, or some friends.

Gangs of the Dead could have been a good movie given the prmise. The biggest problem I had watching this movie was with the heavy set guy with the wool cap. I guess he was supposed to be the BAD dude, the MEAN dude, the BOSS. Well, he was most of all the ANNOYING dude.

They didn't really need the zombies here. They had him. Sometimes these scripts can be written with a little bit too much 'over acting.'

I have to give the film makers credit with "Gangs of the Dead". Whatever the budget was for this flick, they used every penny of it in the production. The special effects were pretty decent for a low budget flick, the director did some interesting things with the lighting to add suspense during certain scenes, and the acting wasn't bad either. They even sprung for genre horror favorite Reggie Bannister to make a cameo.

On the down side, "Gangs of the Dead" is simply boring and a retread of multiple zombie flicks, only this time we get an urban setting. When a meteorite crashes into a group of bums it turns them into a ravenous pack of flesh eating zombies. In another part of the city, two rival gangs come to a run down warehouse in order to buy some weapons. The police are also on the scene in order to arrest the gangs and the arms dealer. Well before long the hungry zombies trap the gangs and some of the police officers in the warehouse, then it becomes a fight for survival.

While the film makers did several things right, they did so many other things wrong. First, there are no likable characters. Who are we supposed to root for here? The gangbangers? Both gangs are filled with unlikable characters, and at times you will actually root for the living dead to begin feasting on these dimwitted wanna-be tough guys. The police? While I did get a chuckle out of seeing the LAPD attacking zombies with their nightsticks (in similar fashion to what we've all witnessed on so many news broadcasts) the police here are amazingly stupid and again you actually hope the zombies will form a buffet line. There is also a cowardly, nerdy wealthy white-guy weather man thrown into the mix which you can't care about either.

Another problem I had with the film is that in the opening segments, when you first meet the "heros" of the film, they are cruising around town blasting some music...which is fine...except that any dialog uttered is buried under the music. They stop to pick up some girl...who is she? I don't know as the entire scene the is buried under the music. It's only quite a bit later in the film that we learn she is one of the gangbangers sisters.

So while the film is a bit ambitious for a low budget zombie flick, it just isn't very good.

Not your typical screaming teens in trouble film. Unpleasant at times, characters are anti-heros, but it's got a good feel and smoky "X-Files" lighting look to it. A LOT of cursing however, can't even count all the "f-bombs and mf's". SPOILER ALERT, I hate improbably happy endings and this does not have one. A good downer ending, as any good zombie flick should have.