FrightFest 2010 Review: The Dead
The Dead (2009)
Directed by: Jonathan & Howard J Ford
Starring: Rob Freeman, Prince David Oseia
Review by: Ben Bussey
Africa. The dead are rising from their graves with a hunger for the flesh of the living. As a village falls under an attack, a young boy manages to escape on a Jeep. Meanwhile, an American military plane tries and fails to get its passengers back home. Chance throws two survivors together: US Army engineer Lt. Brian Murphy (Freeman), and African Army Sgt. Daniel Dembele (Oseia), father of the boy who escaped. Knowing the odds of survival are better if they stick together, the two men set off for the distant military base where Dembele’s son has been taken. But it’s a long and treacherous journey, and the dead will outnumber them wherever they go.
Another world premiere at Frightfest, this is one we’ve been excited about at Brutal As Hell for some time now. Marc has enthused repeatedly about the evocative atmosphere of the trailers, the echoes of Lucio Fulci in its lo-fi production values, exotic locales, hazy heat, and of course the good old-fashioned blood-soaked crumbly-faced zombies marching at something under 0.5 miles per hour. With the Ford brothers declaring their adoration for the Fulci and Romero classics of old, describing their film as their attempt to make the zombie movie they’d always wanted to see, hopes have been high for a return to the vintage days of the walking dead, with a fresh and independent spirit. And I’m happy to report that The Dead does not disappoint. If you want old-school zombie action, you’ve got it. Not only that, you’ve also got a film that regards storytelling and character development as far more important than blood and guts, designed to provide an emotionally moving experience.
The Ford brothers seem to pride their film on the conditions under which it was made and the locations used. Shot in Burkina Faso, an African country which I must confess I had never heard of before, the locations are indeed quite breathtaking, and the simple camerawork captures it well. There is a palpable sense of isolation, ideal for conveying the sense that we are literally witnessing the end of the world as we know it, which is of course what all the great zombie movies are essentially about. Once you’ve been informed that the bulk of the zombies, villagers and gun-toting soldiers were played by real locals – and, as such, that the guns we see on screen are real (though not the zombies, alas) – it does lend proceedings a certain verisimiltude that the film would probably lack had it been put to film in some more familiar western location. With shuffling corpses being as common a sight in the background as the tall grass and the trees, the movie builds an atmosphere of ever-increasing dread rather than just presenting a barrage of cheap jump-scares. But gorehounds fear not, for The Dead isn’t all build-up and no pay-off; there are some supremely gruesome moments here, which only become more impressive learning how such practical SFX shots were rapidly crafted by filmmakers on the move.
Indeed, with this being a movie shot guerilla-style in an exotic, unfamiliar and dangerous land, and the story focussing on the relationship between two strangers travelling together, The Dead is to a large extent more reminiscent of Gareth Edwards’ Monsters (also screened at Frightfest 2010) than it is of any existing zombie film. And much like Monsters, this film lives or dies (no pun intended) on how compelling and convincing the central relationship is. Happily, Rob Freeman and Prince David Oseia give terrific performances. However, The Dead has been met with some criticism for using a white western lead actor in a film that is set in Africa and otherwise populated entirely by Africans. This is indeed a difficult question, which may cast a somewhat unsavoury shadow over proceedings. Being a film made by white British men and told from the point of view of a white American, it doesn’t take a huge leap to interpret The Dead as a western perspective on Africa as a backwards, savage land, diametrically opposed to the supposedly more cultured and civilised western society.
But before we start throwing around accusations of xenophobia, we should take into account how Africa and its people are actually presented in the film. Not only is Oseia’s Sgt. Dembele every bit as nuanced, compelling and sympathetic a character as Freeman’s Lt. Murphy, but so too are the numerous incidental characters they meet along the way. Yes, Murphy is a stranger in (to him, at least) a strange land, but never is there any suggestion that he considers himself better than the African people.
Perhaps the most compelling evidence against the presence of a racist subtext in The Dead is how astonishingly beautiful Africa is in the film. The Ford Brothers have stressed repeatedly how a large part of their desire to film in Burkina Faso was the remarkable scenery which has never been seen on film before. The camerawork and editing are for the most part steady, slow and calm, allowing the audience to fully appreciate the sights and sounds on display; this lends the film a semi-travelogue feel which, again, it very much has in common with Monsters.
Indeed, seeing this movie so soon after seeing Monsters it is very difficult not to note the parallels between the two, and all things considered I must concede that The Dead is overall the less powerful and less original of the two. But this is by no means a dismissal. The Ford brothers have made a film which will stand tall in the pantheon of zombie movies as something truly distinct, special and memorable; not only that, but it is a film whose appeal should easily stretch far beyond the core horror audience. A definite highlight of Frightfest 2010, The Dead is not to be missed.
View the trailer below, and make sure to check out our exclusive interview with writers/directors Howard and Jon Ford right here.
‘The Dead’ TRAILER from Bryce Holland on Vimeo
