8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Oh the humanity!, October 7, 2004
This review is from: Shatter Dead (DVD)
Yippy! A new zombie film! I'm always up for another terror filled two hours of flesh ripping, blood soaked mayhem and madness. Isn't everyone? Well, you won't be after watching "Shatter Dead." I think I've made the following point several times before, but I'm going to repeat it again for those unfortunate souls unaware of how important it is. "Shatter Dead" carries the dreaded Sub Rosa imprint, and if you don't know what that means you could be in a heap of trouble. Sub Rosa only distributes the absolute worst films on DVD; atrocious, lower than low budget shot on video dreck that barely classifies as film. With the exception of one or two DVDs, everything I have had the misfortune to watch from Sub Rosa reeks in the worst way possible. And one of the worst is Scooter McCrae's "Shatter Dead." Actually, I should have known before renting this one that I was in for a disaster. One of my college professors, a self-admitted horror aficionado, declared this movie one of the worst he's ever seen. Since this scholar is one of the smarter professors I encountered during my school career, I knew he wasn't exaggerating. Nonetheless, as a lover of bad movies I plunged ahead anyway. I've no one to blame but myself. Don't make the same mistake.
"Shatter Dead" tries to come up with a new, winning formula for the crowded zombie genre by introducing us to a world where a plague's ravages lead to a most unusual event. Anyone who dies doesn't die, but ends up wondering around the blasted streets of a decaying world just like the living do. In fact, it's hard to tell who is dead and who isn't unless they the deceased have visible marks on their bodies. Enter into this horrific world Susan (Stark Raven), a woman who prefers to stay alive. She spends most of her time ambling around city streets or driving through the countryside in an effort to get back to her boyfriend. Along the way she encounters a lot of annoying dead people who want money from her. Since she possesses firearms, she ends up shooting a lot of these "zombies" even though doing so won't have long lasting consequences. Susan ends up in some halfway house where she meets a living dead girl (Sorry, Jean Rollin) who takes a shine to her. That's before a group of zany nuts, one of whom looks like Howard Stern in tights, launches a home invasion and blows away a bunch of people. But hey! Before all that happened Susan took a shower with this zombie! Sounds great, doesn't it? That's because you haven't seen Stark Raven.
Anyway, the movie also introduces us to some weird guy known as the Preacher Man (Robert Wells), a bloke that essentially stumbles around spouting a bunch of apocalyptic mumbo jumbo in a stilted, staccato style that will numb your brain if you listen to it for more than a minute. I'm still mystified as to what his role meant in the larger context of the film. Was he on the zombies' side? I think so, but I refuse to mull over his importance any longer since it's an exercise in futility anyway. Eventually, after much gnashing of teeth and beating of chest on my part, Susan finds her boyfriend. Then she discovers that the yutz killed himself and is now one of the living dead. What follows confuses the viewer even more: endless rounds of inane chatter between the boyfriend and Susan, a nasty scene involving a handgun (yuck), and a completely banal ending that left me insensate on my couch for hours afterwards. "Shatter Dead" does succeed in one important way: doctors discovered that this movie induces a deep, and often irreversible coma, in anyone unfortunate enough to watch it. The Environmental Protection Agency is considering a law labeling McCrae's film a public health hazard equivalent to eating lead tainted paint chips.
Oh, where to start with the travesty that is "Shatter Dead"! Arguably the biggest problem is Stark Raven in the lead role of Susan. I hate to denigrate her looks, but the woman left me feeling cold and disconnected. She's unpleasant looking in the extreme, hardly the sort of lead a filmmaker would willingly choose to serve as the centerpiece of his production. Her acting skills, if I dare put those two words together, leave a lot to be desired. A bag of hammers can express themselves better than this woman does. Of course, the dull script doesn't help her out much. Nor do the special effects, which are on par with what you might see in a kindergarten after school production. I think it's safe to say that we all expect a gory experience when we watch a zombie film, even when the production suffers under budgetary restraints. Brian Clement's "Meat Market," another Sub Rosa pick of the week, succeeded in working up some effective gore. Why "Shatter Dead" failed to do so is a question for the ages, and I for one am trying to quit asking because I don't want to think about this atrocity any longer.
The DVD comes packed with extras and a really annoying thing I've rarely seen on other discs. Every time you skate around the menu screens, a lengthy bit of the film runs before letting you access the features. This little trick soon becomes massively annoying as you can't skip through it and thus must wait for the clip to run to its end before moving ahead. I ended up just skipping the extras and watching the film. Frankly, I could care less about the extras after watching this sludge. Don't pay a whit of attention to anyone who hypes this movie; I can direct you to dozens of other zombie films far better than this one.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Fear the Hype - Avoid this movie, April 15, 2003
This review is from: Shatter Dead (DVD)
I wish I could recommend this film. I honestly like low budget wacky films but SHATTER DEAD is simply uninspired and hugely unlikeable. I thought I was going to get a "Jess Franco Lite" film from the description on the sleeve. Hoo-boy, was I wrong!
From the looks of things, this would appear to be one of those films that the cast had a great time making. Unfortunately, none of that fun translates to the audience through the actual movie. The script is so heavily pun riddled that the director must have considered himself to be an evil genius - it's just that remarkably pretentious. And nobody likes a pretentious horror/schlock film.
You have a plot (the dead won't die) that isn't very new or inspired and it never really develops into anything beyond stating the this is the plot.
Nothing interesting ever happens. It starts. It goes on. It ends. Unfortunately...not soon enough.
It's not even a worthwhile time-waster. Go watch some real Jess Franco films instead and at least grovel in your guilty pleasures and enjoy yourself.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It took me 8 years to like it., January 30, 2004
This review is from: Shatter Dead (DVD)
I originally got the VHS version of this after reading about this movie in Fangoria almost ten years ago. I was interested in filmmaking and horror so I checked it out. The video look was very hard to digest and to be honest I couldnt get past it enough to even see what the director/writer Scooter McCrae was trying to say. My filmmaking aspirations died shortly after due to economics and emotional immaturity.
Years later my interest was rekindled due to a number of factors(digital technology, mundanity of the working world) and I revisited the movie. I finally got what Scooter was trying to get at and what went into the production.
This movie is intelligent and extremely nihilistic. The heroine is attractive and has these expressive eyes that convey the anger, weariness, and hope she has to return to her boyfriend. The carnage is almost cartoon like and hopeless. No one will ever die again no matter how mangled they are. Truly hell on earth!! Shatter Dead is not an escapist or popcorn flick, its also not pretentious or artsy. Its a satisfying experience that is almost an anti-movie. Its understandable that few would enjoy this but those few exist and should get this.
Oh yeah and for all those who say "I coulda shot a better movie than this with a camcorder and my friends" why not try? Youll see the planning, equipment, and execution of shooting rather difficult and challenging. Ive seen too many good SOV flicks to rip on someones format choice. Also recommend: At Dawn They Sleep and Meat Market.
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