Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

A Major Disappointment

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Dead Air - yet another zombie film. And this one doesn't even have the budget of the Resident Evil films, so that doesn't really bode well.It's about a zombie outbreak (or rather 'infected' as the 'zombies' resemble the 'infected' people from 28 Days Later rather than George Romero's slow-moving 'shufflers') in Los Angeles which starts off near a late-night radio station. The staff there have no idea what's happening and do their best to cover the sensational news story as best they can.It's mainly set inside the towerblock/radio studios which masks the lack of budget as best it can. However, the film's biggest problem is another ('zombie') movie made the year before called Pontypool. It too does exactly the same thing, i.e. a low budget zombie movie set in a late night radio station where a smart-alec 'shock-jock' covers the outbreak.I quite enjoyed Dear Air. The characters were pretty believable and the plot slightly different as to the zombies' origins, but, all the way through it, I just couldn't get Pontypool out of my head.If you haven't seen Pontypool and like zombie movies, I would definitely recommend Dead Air. However, if you have seen Pontypool, there's not an awful lot new here and it might come across as retreading old ground.

A rare treat for horror fans, a chance to see Bill Moseley in a straight role portraying a normal, rational thinking human being who isn't hostile or incredibly inhospitable to innocent people. He stars as a radio personality whose station is located in the center of a city whose citizens have become infected by a bio-weapon released by Muslim terrorists who stole the toxic substance supposedly from Quantico Bay, Virginia. Worried for his wife and child as the outbreak produces insanity, ongoing explosions of violence, and flesh eating, Moseley(..as Logan)remains at his station, communicating what he can to the outside world that may be unaffected by what has transpired. Soon, however, his own crew become infected as the outbreak finds it's way into his building, and Logan(..along with his producer Lucy, portrayed by Patricia Tallman, of Night of the Living Dead fame)must also fend off a Muslim terrorist responsible for spreading the virus(..and who also has an anti-serum for which he keeps to himself, despite having another Muslim comrade in need of it)who has them held at gunpoint, wanting his own message spread across the airwaves. An interesting variation on George Romero's "The Crazies", is confined mostly to the radio station, but occasionally ventures outside where we can see how the infected operate. More or less a zombie film with a message against mankind's continual progression towards destroying itself, whether by chemical or other means. The virus, like a zombie plague, is breathed from the air, taking a slow hold over the human body, eventually turning those infected into raving, bloodthirsty maniacs who attack anyone that is in their trajectory. With David Moscow as Logan's radio partner, Gil(..who courageously braves the outside to ride his motorcycle to Logan's house to see if his family is safe)and Dan Lauria as the man who operates the controls, Fred. Navid Negahban is Abir, the Muslim terrorist who besieges Logan and Lucy, the expository figure who explains to us what the weapon is harming everyone and who was behind it to begin with. Outbursts of violence do occur in the movie, but "Dead Air" isn't as potent or shocking as other zombie flicks of it's ilk. "Dead Air", still, will be of interest to those horror fans who wonder what it would be like to see Moseley as an ordinary man, whose voice is of importance as it relates the horrors occurring on the streets, feeding information to his audience(..and depending on live witness reports from listeners/callers who are experiencing first-hand what is taking place)as he gets it.

Directed and produced by Corbin Bernsen, 'Dead Air' stars genre favourite Bill Moseley as Logan Burnhardt, a Los Angeles-based shock jock working the night shift. One night, a group of terrorists releases a gaseous chemical into the ventilation system of a crowded basketball game. This chemical infects the crowd, turning them into murderous psychopaths. When a series of calls comes in to report the attacks to Burnhardt, they (of course) don't believe it. But, when the infection comes to their little studio, they learn the truth and must fight for survival.The first thing most will notice is how vacant this plot seems to be of originality. Basically the story is British horror '28 Days Later...' mixed with Canadian horror 'Pontypool.' And, yes, that's really all the film seems to be. 'Dead Air' could have done well with a bit of a change here and there to separate it from all the other similar films. However, the fact that it mainly took place inside a radio station ('Pontypool') while infected people with bleeding eyes and infectious scratches were running around the city ('28 Days Later...') really proved they weren't trying too hard to be very original. Another issue with the writing was some of the characters' dialogue, especially Gil's (David Moscow, who played the young version of Tom Hanks's character in 'Big'). Whether it was his dialogue or just not a good time for Moscow, his performance was sorely lacking. A positive in the acting category, however, was the always dependable Bill Moseley who played his Howard Stern-like role very well. He was harsh and honest and constantly entertaining. . . kinda like the movie itself.On the other technical aspects, Corbin Bernsen's direction was adequate, though it felt a bit too "TV movie" (which he's more than used to). A bit more experimentation with the direction and cinematography really could've jazzed the film up a bit especially because those are two elements that really set a film like '28 Days Later...' apart from its competitors. The gore effects and makeup for the infected were pretty unimpressive : the blood looked fake and there really wasn't enough gore to satisfy that sector of the horror fanbase.Overall, 'Dead Air' is an entertaining romp with some solid aspects. It's very entertaining with its solid pace, but it does lose some value with its obvious theft from other horror movies. Fans of Bill Moseley will definitely want to check it out, and if you enjoyed superior films like 'Pontypool,' '28 Days Later...,' and 'The Signal,' you might also want to just give it a look if you're bored.Final Verdict: 6/10.-AP3-

OK, first off this is not a zombie movie. This is an 'infected' movie. Infected people act crazy and kill people....and infect people spreading infection. People say 28 Days Later is a zombie film - it's not. It's an infected film, just like this. For a zombie film see any of the dead series (inc the fine Zack Snyder remake).With that out of the way, I heard about this film a couple of months ago and it sounded interesting. Just finished watching it and it's not too bad.Brief summary - Terrorist attack takes place in America and a toxin is released which turns people crazy who then kill and infect others. We've seen it done before. The key to this type of film to make it entertaining is to concentrate more on the characters and the situation rather than go for all out gore fest. This film does that well as we see the whole situation unfold through a radio host and his team who are on the air at night doing their show. There's a good sense of confusion as everyone tries to get to grips with what's happening and the characters play out how, if this was real, people might act.It's not without it's flaws though. The acting for the most part is good - this film does not have a high budget - especially the actor who plays the main radio host, he was excellent. There are some shoddy acting moments which can be forgiven but slightly drag you back into the reality that you're watching a film. Production is 'ok', there are some issues with lighting and sometimes the soundtrack drowns out the actors if they are speaking. Overall though, given budget, I thought everyone did well and made an entertaining enough film.The thing that kept my rating at mediocre level is that after a strong start to the first half - excellent premise for the film, good intro of characters and the situation, nice dialogue - it seems that the script (or maybe the choice was by the director) loses it's strength and runs out of ideas, deciding to fill the second half of the film with infected people, cliché scenarios/outcomes and.....a social message on America and terrorism. Given the type of film it was, I didn't need commentary.If you're a fan of this type of film or a zombie fan (but they aren't zombies!) then give it a try. Better than some efforts that have come out recently.