Zombie Cult Massacre Review By Cathal Bergin If a film could be summed up with one word, the word I'd choose for Zombie Cult Massacre is "extreme". Not that this is bad; the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was also an extreme film, delving into a base horror and sporting an extremely raucous soundtrack. The problem with Zombie is that it spends too long doing things which could be much better served by the short film format. You'd be forgiven for thinking that this is just another zombie-themed flick. You, like I, would be wrong. Writer/director Jeff Dunn seems to enlist the talents of all his college buddies to get Zombie underway. I'm only guessing that it is a student film (or at least, a story first conceived in college), but the Neo-realism and grainy quality of film footage, occasional sound failure and the age of the cast put the seed in my mind. You have zombies, some brilliant makeup, dodgy but acceptably cheesy, digital imagery (check out the flying devil as it blazes its way across the sky in hot pursuit of a zany angel), but most of all, you have blood, guts and screams powerful enough to evoke images of medieval torture chambers. Oh, hang on, you actually do have a torture chamber as well. Nothing along the lines of a lack of originality can be leveled at the people in, and responsible for, Zombie Cult Massacre. Unfortunately, the best opening in the film, as far as I am concerned, was not properly explored. I'm not going to explain why this is, but just sit back and accept it. The devil (a southern, whiskey guzzling, foul-mouthed demon if ever there was one and wonderfully hammed up by Steve Losey) makes a late appearance in the movie and tries to recruit one drugged-out zealot. The line went something like, "Why should I give you the job?" Had the filmmakers chased this strand up, I would have been very impressed indeed. What job? Why would the devil try to recruit people in his fight against the cult? The potential for a crazy human being employed by the dark prince himself is unlimited. The floodgates to a black humor the film never really tries for, would be kicked open! To begin with, we would have a heavily (and cheesily) made-up Devil, complete with bottle of whiskey, in a CGI hell. When I saw the film's conception of hell, I was taken aback at first because it looked nothing like the rest of the movie. In fact, it resembles something from the dark passages of Dungeon Master (for the Atari/Amiga buffs among us) or Quake for those who delight in PC or Mac games. You will probably find yourself watching the movie and trying to decide whether or not this lack of continuity is intentional or not. My viewing experience made me think it is the former, but I had my doubts from time to time. What exactly is the film about? Well, I decided to jump in at various intervals of the movie partly because it is such a collage, partly because its storyline is not overly original. The storyline is not where you should be looking for Zombie's interesting points. However, reviews traditionally provide a synopsis, so here we go! Basically, you have two concurrent storylines in this movie. In one, the one suggested by the cover of the video and the title, a horde of zombies populate a remote area of Kentucky. The film is not concerned with how they came to be zombified, nor does it care about a greater community: the camera only ever focuses on the zombies and the cult they are trying to kill off. In the other, you see the inner workings of the cult, a viewpoint which is used to expose the nature of cults, in particular the mindless attitude which prevails within them. Of the two storylines, the latter is the most interesting and certainly the most developed. After spending a while inside the cult's compound, the title Zombie Cult Massacre comes clearly into focus: the cult are the zombies... mindless drones under the sway of anyone fairly competent at public speaking and ready willing and able to live a 24 carat hedonistic lifestyle. Hilarity is intended throughout the movie, but it rarely makes good on its promise. The chief protagonist in the film is a parody on the life of David Koresh. A powerful figure, Jeffrey (played superbly by Bob Elkins) positively oozes corruption. His love life is assured, since the merest hint that he wants to anoint someone with his seed, is greeted with adoration from the cult's female community. Again, from the life of Koresh, husbands and wives are no longer allowed to share the marital bed. Jeffrey, on the other hand is living up the life of Hugh Heffner and Larry Flint in his pink, mock religious boudoir. One of the film's funniest moments comes when a husband and wife sneak off to make love. As they remember the way things used to be (wearing happy faces all the time), they become excited and the wife begins to pleasure the, by now ecstatic, husband. At a rather sensitive point, she gives up with the hopelessly inadequate, "I'm so sorry... I can't!" The camera then cuts to the peeved lover and his face says it all. This is the one of the times when the filmmakers get it bang on. Unfortunately, the film does not display this type of strength throughout its course. This is a pity, but there is more than enough in the movie to keep you watching. Don't get me wrong; the team behind Zombie is very talented and I certainly look forward to their next outing. It's just that I feel Zombie is more of a short story than a full movie. If you are a gore fanatic, then you will relish the Savini-inspired effects. In fact, if you don't like flesh ripping, bone snapping, river of blood type of horror, put this video back on the shelf and get something more to your liking. The cult compound is essentially Jeffrey's adult playground. With no one willing to offer dissent in any shape or form, Jeffrey continues to preach about a righteous god (gods, incidentally, are two a penny in Zombie) and the battle of Armageddon. This is the reason he has cooped up his followers in a fenced-in compound. Almost every cult member carries a gun and the enclosure itself is peppered with snipers (some more successful than others), watchtowers and trigger happy, gullible mad men and women. Jeffrey makes a big mistake when he casts Marvin (Michael Botouchis) into the needles of the cult's mad scientist. Marvin is not a cult member when we first see him, but following an undead entanglement, his "rescuers" (fully paid up gun toting cult drones) bring him to the compound. Well, if you thought Jeffrey was mad, wait until you see the post-metamorphosis Marvin. What he doesn't do is not worth doing. Suffice it to say, there is a major change in management at the compound. In league with a drug induced devil, his brain so fried that he liaises with the Dark Lord in a room reminiscent of Quake, is Marvin the guy to save his flock when a local biker gang decide it's a good day to kill "Jesus freaks"? Pop the cassette in your video and find out for yourself! All image copyrights are owned by Selous Productions.

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