Silent Night, Zombie Night (2009)
Directed By: Sean Cain (Naked Beneath the Water)
The Prologue
Director, Sean Cain, who has a role in the film Someone's Knocking at the Door, give us a bit of a new twist on the zombie lore with his film, Silent Night, Zombie Night. A cool film from Velvet Hammer Films that has been able to catch the eye of many here in the online horror community. Now of course it being a zombie film I just had to see it, I mean with a site name like "Zombies DON'T Run" it's kind of expected from me right? Well this film does have zombies running..and some that aren't. See there? I told you it had a bit of a new twist to it.
The Movie
Twas the week before Christmas and all through California the undead have ran wild over the place for no apparent reason. Think of the Rodney King stuff just up it by 10 and add in dead people, you'll get the idea. Policemen Frank, who is a lovable asshole and proud of it, is trapped in with his wife that he's having problems with, and his best friend/partner who just so happens to also be in love with his wife. You better believe the tradition continues in zombie films as the people seem to be more of a danger to themselves as the zombies are. But this one does things a little bit different, and as a result it's not half as predictable.
So we have some new takes on things that I think work really well. We have zombies who both run and just kinda hobble. Which is kinda cool actually, we get some reasons as to why it's like that..kinda..I think in these situation it's best to just do what is more or less done and leave it up in the air. Also we find out that you can spray yourself down with the stuff you pray yourself down with while deer hunting resulting in the zombies being unable to smell you, thus not want to eat you. So there's some creativity in this movie, I think it shows pretty well.
I also, being the big QT mark that I am, enjoyed what appears to be some references to the classic, Reservoir Dogs. One being pretty clear to anyone who sees it and some more in there as well I think. I either was looking too much into or they were just little "wink wink" ones. Also, for all you fans of gore, this movie has that to! So there were parts were I felt I was in some sorta horror movie based zombie heaven, but then I saw CGI gun shots and I kinda fell back down to earth a bit. But it is 2010 (and soon to be 2011) so we gotta deal with that. It still just kinda comes as a bummer when you see it after everything else going so well.
The character of Frank is another highlight to this film. As I said before, he's an asshole and he's proud of it. I think he's hands down the best character in this whole movie, which is probably what they were going for. Everyone is a little too "meh" for my taste or slightly annoying due to the fact they are moving in on Frank's woman! And while Frank is an ass, we still like him damn it! Oh and as an added bonus we actually have Felissa Rose, of Sleep Away Camp fame, showing up in this, and no, she doesn't have a penis this time. I just wish we had seen more of her in the film.
Seeing as how I'm from Tennessee, I've never had a Christmas in California. So to me it just didn't really feel like a real Christmas, but that could just be me. I was expecting a little more of a Christmas feel to go along with the blood and guts but outside a few presents, songs, and a few lights it just doesn't seem that much like Christmas time to me...But that may just be me like I said, or maybe I just really like snow? I think this film starts off really fun, kinda slacks off a bit during the middle but none the less holds you in as it goes to the finish. A finish I assume is how it is in order to perhaps one day give us a sequel? If not, I'll have to admit, it didn't do much more me. But I think the movie is very watchable.
The Conclusion
Well it's something different when it comes to zombies, that's what we need now days more than anything. With the zombie popularity on the rise and probably about ready to overtake those annoying vampires, I could see a large line of undead films in the making. It may be easy for this indie one to get lost in the fold, but you shouldn't let that happen. I'd say go over to Velvet Hammer Films or the actual site for the movie and give this one a chance.
The Rating (6.5/10)
this is relevant to my interests
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