Movie Review: Detention of the Dead Dan Koelsch, June 25, 2013 With The Walking Dead off the air until October, are you looking for a zombie fix that doesn’t include Brad Pitt? Then you might be interested in Detention of the Dead which opens in limited theaters this Friday and is available on VOD now. Read my brief review after the break. As you might have guessed from the title, this zombie comedy takes place in a high school. In fact, it’s meant to be sort of cross between The Breakfast Club and Shaun of the Dead. Written and directed by Alex Craig Mann, based on a play by Rob Rinow, the low budget indie film has only a few recognizable actors in Max Adler (Glee) and Justin Chon (Twilight, 21 & Over). Jacob Zachar plays the main protagonist Eddie, a nerd who has a crush on the hottest girl in school, Janet (Christa B. Allen). His goth friend Willow (Alexa Nikolas) and Janet’s hunky boyfriend Brad (Jayson Blair) round out the gang of kids who are in the detention from Hell.The concept behind the movie intrigued me, since there are so many zombie movies now that it can be hard to find a unique way to approach the genre. One of the more interesting elements of The Walking Dead and other slow burning entries is the character development. Having people, especially with different personalities, stuck together can create some great drama, or even comedy. Unfortunately, all we get with Detention of the Dead is cheesy comedy and a predictable plot. Instead of just paying homage, it blatantly rips off chunks of The Breakfast Club.The film offers a thin social commentary about high school students already being zombies, which also isn’t very original. Fortunately, the film’s likable actors and interesting if underdeveloped concept save this from being totally unwatchable.Rating: 2/5 Reviews Detention of the DeadMovie Review
Reviews Review: “The Hangover 3” Is A Sobering And Less Raucous End To The Franchise May 24, 2013May 24, 2013This third and final entry in the Hangover franchise tries to veer outside of the familiar formula set forth by the first and second films, but in doing so, it deviates from the raucous nature that made the earlier efforts so appealing. Check out our full review after the break. Read More
Movie Review: 9 September 9, 2009Shane Acker’s new film, 9, produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, is finally out in theaters today. 9 tells the story of 9 little ‘puppets’ that a scientist has created in hopes that they can help defeat the turned-evil machines that said scientist earlier created (he was originally developing… Read More
Blu-Ray Review: Ted December 11, 2012December 10, 2012This Summer, Universal’s raunchy comedy Ted surprised everyone by becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film of 2012 and the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy ever (per Box Office Mojo). Today, you can bring the talking teddy bear home on Blu-ray and DVD. Read my full review after the break. Read More