Main cast: Scott Peat (Elvis), Marissa Merrill (Tweeter), James C Burns (Kurt Conrad), and Corsica Wilson (Rachel Conrad)
Director: Adam Deyoe
Dead Season is obviously a low budget flick judging from what I see on screen. The story isn’t too original – a guy named Elvis and a woman named Tweeter, along with a kid, decide to flee their zombie-infested town for an island that is said to be free from “walkers”. Well, that’s not true, but there are a bunch of people led by the military-type fellow Kurt Conrad to take them in.
These people run a tight ship, patrolling the grounds and scavenging for resources, and Elvis, a paramedic, fits right in as there are always injured people to tend to. Tweeter bonds with Kurt’s daughter Rachel. Unfortunately, there are some unpleasant secrets kept by these people as well, as every zombie movie needs to become an obvious allegory of the darker side of human nature or something like that.
The good thing about this movie is that, for a low budget flick, the acting is actually – unexpectedly – competent. Scott Peat makes a decent lead and I like that this movie allows a leading male character to look… well, like a normal guy instead of some bronzed action hero. Marissa Merrill plays a female character that looks tough but in reality another mostly fanservice character and damsel in distress, but she makes the best of her role to the point that Tweeter is actually a memorable character in her own right.
The script, unfortunately, is definitely on the low budget side. It tries to be a Lord of the Flies with zombies thing, but the whole story is marred by uninspired clichéd moments, predictable twists, and illogical moments. Okay, Kurt’s secret is pretty nifty, but the movie fails to capitalize on that, instead devolving into another standard dumb horror movie denouement complete with zombies that inexplicably enough manage to sneak up on our heroes despite being mostly slow and loud.
Dead Season isn’t the worst low-budget zombie flick I’ve the misfortune to watch, but it’s far from being good as well. It’s somewhat in the middle of the road – I can take it or leave it, either way I’m not going to remember much of it a few days from now.
