Deadheads DVD Review

I admit, I love watching zombie movies. And there are a lot of them about. Unfortunately, most of them are pretty bad. But every once in a while someone will have an original take on the zombie genre, and it comes as a wonderful surprise. The makers of Deadheads definitely have a fresh angle.

A voice over at the beginning alerts us that this is going to be, at least in part, a love story. "True love never dies," we are told. And then Mike (Michael McKiddy) wakes up during what appears to be a zombie outbreak. He's unsure of where he is, and is clearly not doing well. He seeks help, first from the wandering zombies who pass him, and then at a cabin, where someone shoots at him. He quickly retreats and warns the other zombies (though still not realizing they're zombies), "They're shooting at us - everybody run." And that is the first big laugh of the film.

For yes, this film is told from the perspective of two zombies (Mike and Brent) who wish not to eat the brains of their human brethren, but to have a beer and figure out what's happened to them. Mike quickly meets Brent (Ross Kidder), the only other zombie capable of speech, and the two team up on a quest after Mike discovers the engagement ring in his pocket and his memory starts to return. A newspaper lets him know his location and the year, and he realizes he's been dead for three years. It is Brent who convinces him that they should go to Michigan and find Ellie, Mike's girlfriend, so that he can propose to her. When Mike protests, "I'm dead," Brent answers, "I call that character. You've got something dark and mysterious about you."

Before they can leave the bar to begin their quest, a group of people running from zombies enters and begins boarding up the place. In a nice twist on Night Of The Living Dead and many other zombie films, our heroes are caught on the wrong side by being on the (briefly) safe side with the uninfected people. So their goal isn't to keep the zombies out, but to get out themselves before the others realize that they are zombies.

Well, the survivor of that zombie attack is soon hired by the mysterious agency that is likely responsible for the zombie outbreak. His task is to track down the missing zombies - Mike and Brent.

Mike and Brent are joined on their quest by a less-than-vocal pet zombie they call Cheese. And that character definitely provides some of the bigger laughs of the film (like when Mike wakes to find Cheese at the wheel of the truck they're using, and when Brent tries teaching him the "Thriller" dance).

And as Mike's memory becomes clearer, we do begin to get glimpses of how he died. And there is an explanation as to how Mike and Brent are able to talk while the others aren't.

Deadheads is certainly not a perfect movie. It does have some problems. For example, no one from Mike's life seems to be aware of his death. After all, it's been three years. Wouldn't word have gotten round that he was at least missing? Also, Mike's arm comes off several times, and he's able to just push it back into place, which is rather stupid. The biggest problem is the end, which is a bit of a let-down. There are also a few weak performances. But the leads are good, and their relationship is done well. And there are plenty of laughs.

This film is full of references to other movies, including Star Wars, Back To The Future, The Goonies, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and (most importantly) Evil Dead. In the DVD commentary, we learn that the directors' father, Bart Pierce, was the effects artist on Evil Dead. He also has a cameo in Deadheads.

In the DVD's "making of" feature we learn that the ashes used in a scene of the film are actually those of the filmmakers' grandmother. That's wonderfully insane. But apparently she was a movie fan. So there you go. No wonder the actor is so careful when spreading the ashes (in the "making of," it's noted they didn't want to end up with a Big Lebowski moment).

Deadheads was written and directed by The Pierce Brothers (Brett and Drew). This is their first film.

It stars Michael McKiddy, Ross Kidder, Markus Taylor, Thomas Galasso, Natalie Victoria, Harry Burkey and Eden Malyn.