Warning! **SPOILER ALERT!**
I knew that Dead Flesh was going to be my kind of film when, early in the picture, the school bully/football jock appeared in his letter jacket, with an image of Vincent Price on the front! It was not hard to figure out from there that the characters in the film attended Vincent Price High School. A nice insider joke to get things started.
Dead Flesh was done by the students of the art department at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, TX. This calls to mind two earlier, similar films: 1957's Teenagers Battle The Thing and 1968's Monsters Crash The Pajama Party. These are available on video for B-film junkies such as myself.
Judged within context of who made this film and the budget constraints, Dead Flesh is a solid contribution to the B-horror film genre. A big reason for this is the presence of the main players, SFA students Tommy Merrill and Lorrie Hamm. Merrill, in particular, has a screen presence and we may soon see him again on the big screen. Lorrie Hamm, an attractive young woman who checked her ego at the door and appeared throughout the film in a dreadful wig and make-up, was a delight in her role as the zombie.
Ben (Tommy Merrill) is a student at Vincent Price High School and does not quite fit in, getting punched out early by the aforementioned bully. Receiving punishment for fighting, he meets Maggie in detention. Maggie looks suspiciously like a zombie version of Ally Sheedy in 1984's The Breakfast Club. One thing leads to another and soon Ben and Maggie are an item. Only thing is, Maggie is a zombie and needs "dead flesh" to survive. Ben, the outcast, agrees to select Maggie's choice of victims to serve as zombie meals. Throughout the film, Ben and Maggie fight over victims, zombie hunters, (Andy Cope, as "Zombie Hunter Dave," in a suit that resembles one worn by Robin the Boy Wonder, plays his role very over the top and, were he on camera more, would have stolen the film from Merrill and Hamm), and Ben's apparent waning interest until, at film's end, Maggie zombie-fies him and they move to Zombie Island in South America, to live in eternal zombie bliss.
I liked what I saw. The cartoon graphics at the beginning were first rate and the Ed Wood style moralizing, ("killing the wicked for the evil in their hearts") by Ben in the middle of the film was a nice touch. I was amused by the zombie graveyard scene, as I thought I saw a couple of them stifling laughter. Newscaster "Valerie Soapdish" was a hoot also. But, I was particularly impressed by Ben's mention of 1952's Republic serial, Zombies of The Stratosphere. The folks at SFA know their cinema history!
Taylor Lynbery did fine work on special effects. The scissors implanted in the forehead of Ben's best friend Chris was outstanding. The location selections around Nacogdoches and nearby Lufkin, Texas, showed impressive creativity.
Rated against "Hollywood" B-films, done by more experienced actors and crew with bigger budgets, I would give Dead Flesh 2 1/2 stars of a possible four. That's holding your own with the bigger fish pretty well. By SFA art department standards, this film is excellent and I give it 3 1/2 stars, which says that I hold this film in high esteem, and I've seen comparable student films of previous generations. Only 1959's Teenagers From Outer Space surpasses Dead Flesh and only because it is obvious that the producers had a higher operating budget.
A couple of things kept me from giving it a four rating. Tommy Merrill was miscast as the high school loner/loser. Merrill just does not reflect that persona. Also, there are times which the story seems to be heading in an interesting direction, then doesn't. Ben's missing mother would have been a great lead into seeing her as a zombie mom, and we never got a sense that Ben was directing Maggie's actions after we were told that Ben would help select victims. Maggie seemed to possess very much her own mind and have firm ideas as to who would be her next meal.
But -- this a fine effort by the folks at SFA. I enjoyed Dead Flesh very much and that is what films such as these are all about. Tommy, Lorri, and all of you, good job and -- what's next?
I knew that Dead Flesh was going to be my kind of film when, early in the picture, the school bully/football jock appeared in his letter jacket, with an image of Vincent Price on the front! It was not hard to figure out from there that the characters in the film attended Vincent Price High School. A nice insider joke to get things started.
Dead Flesh was done by the students of the art department at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, TX. This calls to mind two earlier, similar films: 1957's Teenagers Battle The Thing and 1968's Monsters Crash The Pajama Party. These are available on video for B-film junkies such as myself.
Judged within context of who made this film and the budget constraints, Dead Flesh is a solid contribution to the B-horror film genre. A big reason for this is the presence of the main players, SFA students Tommy Merrill and Lorrie Hamm. Merrill, in particular, has a screen presence and we may soon see him again on the big screen. Lorrie Hamm, an attractive young woman who checked her ego at the door and appeared throughout the film in a dreadful wig and make-up, was a delight in her role as the zombie.
Ben (Tommy Merrill) is a student at Vincent Price High School and does not quite fit in, getting punched out early by the aforementioned bully. Receiving punishment for fighting, he meets Maggie in detention. Maggie looks suspiciously like a zombie version of Ally Sheedy in 1984's The Breakfast Club. One thing leads to another and soon Ben and Maggie are an item. Only thing is, Maggie is a zombie and needs "dead flesh" to survive. Ben, the outcast, agrees to select Maggie's choice of victims to serve as zombie meals. Throughout the film, Ben and Maggie fight over victims, zombie hunters, (Andy Cope, as "Zombie Hunter Dave," in a suit that resembles one worn by Robin the Boy Wonder, plays his role very over the top and, were he on camera more, would have stolen the film from Merrill and Hamm), and Ben's apparent waning interest until, at film's end, Maggie zombie-fies him and they move to Zombie Island in South America, to live in eternal zombie bliss.
I liked what I saw. The cartoon graphics at the beginning were first rate and the Ed Wood style moralizing, ("killing the wicked for the evil in their hearts") by Ben in the middle of the film was a nice touch. I was amused by the zombie graveyard scene, as I thought I saw a couple of them stifling laughter. Newscaster "Valerie Soapdish" was a hoot also. But, I was particularly impressed by Ben's mention of 1952's Republic serial, Zombies of The Stratosphere. The folks at SFA know their cinema history!
Taylor Lynbery did fine work on special effects. The scissors implanted in the forehead of Ben's best friend Chris was outstanding. The location selections around Nacogdoches and nearby Lufkin, Texas, showed impressive creativity.
Rated against "Hollywood" B-films, done by more experienced actors and crew with bigger budgets, I would give Dead Flesh 2 1/2 stars of a possible four. That's holding your own with the bigger fish pretty well. By SFA art department standards, this film is excellent and I give it 3 1/2 stars, which says that I hold this film in high esteem, and I've seen comparable student films of previous generations. Only 1959's Teenagers From Outer Space surpasses Dead Flesh and only because it is obvious that the producers had a higher operating budget.
A couple of things kept me from giving it a four rating. Tommy Merrill was miscast as the high school loner/loser. Merrill just does not reflect that persona. Also, there are times which the story seems to be heading in an interesting direction, then doesn't. Ben's missing mother would have been a great lead into seeing her as a zombie mom, and we never got a sense that Ben was directing Maggie's actions after we were told that Ben would help select victims. Maggie seemed to possess very much her own mind and have firm ideas as to who would be her next meal.
But -- this a fine effort by the folks at SFA. I enjoyed Dead Flesh very much and that is what films such as these are all about. Tommy, Lorri, and all of you, good job and -- what's next?