Post by slayrrr666 on Oct 29, 2010 10:27:34 GMT -5
"Undead or Alive" is a really enjoyable and entertaining zombie-comedy.
**SPOILERS**
Arriving in town, Elmer, (James Denton) immediately gets into trouble with Luke, (Chris Kattan) which gets them into trouble with Sheriff Claypool, (Matt Besser) who locks them in jail. Breaking out, they form an unlikely alliance together and ride off, away from town. Getting word that they're being followed, they run into Indian Sue, (Navi Rawat) who has the same goal as they do and form another reluctant alliance. As they get closer and closer to their query, they realize that the posse following them are zombies infected with a virus passed down from the Indian generations before them as a final curse for revenge after stealing their land, and when it dawns on them that the creatures have taken over the town-members, they try to get away from the creatures before becoming harmed as well.
The Good News: This was a pretty enjoyable and entertaining zombie film. One of the best is the film's unrepentant comedy, which is much more than expected and actually gets pretty hilarious at times. This one tends to run the gamut from physical sight gags to one-liners to situational moments and much, much more, and just about all of what's intended to be funny comes off as funny. There's a few that fall flat or only manage to get a chuckle, but that's to be expected and there's a huge amount that actually land so it scores on that count. Even aside from the great zombie humor, the fact that this one keeps so many relatively great gags, from the absent-minded horses to the Native American constantly showing them up with everything she does and much, much more, this one gets a lot of great comedy that will appeal to some out there. There's also a lot of good stuff when it comes to action in here, as there's a couple of big zombie attacks that manage to score nicely due to the extra excitement. There's a nice brawl in a saloon that occurs early in the film, a pretty fun shootout in a valley that includes a lot of great moments and a rather great conclusion that has big parts on what's to come, giving it special significance. The big action scene at the end, where the zombies attack a fort where they're held up inside in a major sequence. First is the big scene where they arrive during the zombie massacre that turns the others there into zombies, followed by the lengthy removal scene that gets them out and finally the massive onslaught, and it's best scene, where they break in and attack them, forcing them into several different tactics for defense. They're all fun, enjoyable and lead to a lot of rather great gore moments, which is another plus. This one has a lot more gore than what would be expected, including several who are pulled to pieces and devoured, limbs are ripped off, heads bitten into and brain-matter devoured, a rash of gunshots and bites across anything and everything, a wicked decapitation with a shovel and much, much more, leaving this one as a nice, healthy gore-fest. The last plus is the way it treats the zombie plague.
The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot really wrong with this one. The main factor to this one is the fact that there's some tweaking done to the zombies. The fact that they manage to talk is one of the biggest issues, and does manage to be one of the most recognizable changes regarding the zombies. This, though, isn't that bad and can be easily ignored with a couple of other behavioral issues. One of the bigger problems with them, though, regards the fact that the zombies can't be killed with a bullet to the head . Despite one of the movie's funniest scenes occurring because of the change, this is something that not all zombie fans will take kindly too. It's quite hard to be able to do that in here because of the drastic change, and it really doesn't offer up much about why the change, only that there's one. The only other part that seems to be a potential flaw is during the middle segment, where it's not all that exciting. It relies more on the comedy and jokes, but it falls a little flat when it comes to action and it's negligible anyway. Anyway, there's not a whole lot wrong with it.
The Final Verdict: One of the more enjoyable entries in the zombie-comedy sub-genre, though there's a few flaws, but not enough to really hurt it. Highly recommended to zombie fans, those who enjoy these types of entries or fans of the cast members, while those who don't are advised to seek caution.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity