African zombie film may not bring much more new to the genre then it's setting but, it damn sure knows how to present the familiar trappings well. As a zombie plague ravages Africa, an American military man(Rob Freeman) and a local soldier searching for his son (Prince David Oseia) are thrown together as they both try to make it across zombie infested country to find a way back to their families. Dead may not be an original zombie film but, it knows how to deliver what we expect from one. Director/writers Howard J. Ford and Jonathan Ford know how to keep things moving and how to deliver scares and suspense without skimping on the blood and gore. The characters are likable and we care about their dangerous journey which adds strength to the story and thus the effectiveness of the horror and carnage. The beautifully filmed African landscape gives a heightened sense of desolation and hopelessness as the flesh eating dead seem to be everywhere our protagonists go, making us root for them even more as their situation seems to get more grim the further they go. As the character's hold on to their hope, so do we. The production value is good and the gore is top notch with no recognizable CGI in sight. A good old fashioned blood spattered zombie flick!
Review of The Dead
