Zombie Transfusion AKA Automaton Transfusion (2006)
Studio: Momentum Pictures
DVD Release Date: October 12, 2009
Directed by: Steven C Miller
Starring: Garret Jones, Juliet Reeves, William Howard Bowman, Rowan Bousaid
Reviewed by: Ben Bussey

It’s an ordinary day in an ordinary high school in an ordinary All-American town; bitches bitch, jocks give shit, outsiders stay outside it all. It’s all so mundane and commonplace that no-one even bats an eyelid when one of their classmates bites a teacher in a rabid fit. But when Chris (Jones) heads out with his buddies (Bowman & Bousaid) to catch a band playing at a bar in town, leaving his cheerleader girlfriend Jackie (Reeves) to go to a house party with her clique, the signs soon become hard to ignore: empty roads at rush hour, silence on the radio, and oh yeah, rampaging hordes of people gone insane with ravenous bloodlust. In the face of almost certain annihilation, the only thing more important to Chris than his own survival is to find Jackie.

Not exactly a groundbreaking premise, I know. And yet on a number of levels I find myself mystified by Zombie Transfusion (to use the somewhat less ostentatious title being used on the UK edition if not elsewhere). It’s immediately apparent that this is another ultra-low budget home made horror movie the likes of which I have frankly seen all too much of lately, and as such I was somewhat taken aback to see such a film in the hands of Momentum Pictures, a thoroughly respectable indie movie distributor. Even so, while on face value there may be little difference between Zombie Transfusion and any number of other no-budget horror flicks, this one stands apart inasmuch as it never stops thinking big. Steven C Miller may be a newbie with an empty wallet, but on this evidence he’s got drive and ambition aplenty.

Main evidence of this ambition: unlike innumerable other cheapo zombie films, this one doesn’t rely on talk alone to let us know the scale of the apocalypse. Miller hasn’t just got a few of his buddies to dress up as zombies, he’s got what looks to be literally HUNDREDS of the motherfuckers in more than a few scenes, filling out streets and parking lots, and the bulk of the living dead extras look like they really know what they’re doing. That’s quite some feat for so small scale a production as this. Next key ambition indicator: the tone. A few misjudged teen clichés and weak one-liners aside (i.e when Bowman picks up a chainsaw and mumbles ‘Ash would be proud’), the script and the cast play things totally straight. There’s an emphasis on emotional content that we very rarely see in movies like this, and while not all of them quite pull it off the central cast deserve credit for their efforts to realistically convey the panic and despair that would inevitably arise in such a situation.

Having said all this, however, these are really only impressive attributes given that this is clearly a DIY affair. Ultimately, there’s no escaping how amateur a production this is, and no amount of ambition or noble intent on the part of the cast or the writer/director can save the movie from that. If there’s one thing I’ve come to have very little tolerance for watching indie movies, it’s bad DV. I’m no technician, but the video used here is clearly recording at something less than 24 frames per second. That kind of choppy photography might work in short bursts, hence it’s had such widespread use in action sequences since Saving Private Ryan, but it doesn’t work for a full length movie, quickly becoming literally tiresome to watch. On top of which, make-up FX are always going to be key to the credibility of zombie movies, particularly one that strives for naturalism, and here – despite a few very well done moments such as a displaced jaw and a face-full of chainsaw – the gore is somewhat hit and miss. Then, of course, there’s the fact that we have seen this exact same end-of-the-world, walking-dead song and dance routine many, many, times before.

Still, you certainly can’t accuse Steven C Miller of not trying. As if his debut wasn’t already brash and ballsy enough, he has the stones to give it a most deliberately unresolved ending, declaring this part one of a trilogy. Many will undoubtedly be annoyed by this bravado; as for me, all I have to say is for God’s sake get a better camera, and then by all means bring it on. While this first effort doesn’t quite make the grade, with a bit more resources and a bit more imagination Miller just might have what it takes to really get the job done next time around.

Brutal As Hell Rating: 2.5 out of 5