ridiculous rating

Good concept, poorly executed.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

An eclectic group of high-school teens in detention—cheerleader Janet (Christa B. Allen) and her boyfriend Brad (Jayson Blair), geek Eddie (Jacob Zachar), pretty goth Willow (Alexa Nikolas), jock Jimmy (Max Adler), and stoner Ash (Justin Chon)—find themselves trapped in the school library after a zombie outbreak turns all of their classmates into ravenous gutmunchers.Detention of the Dead is harmless enough fun, but in a world where a new zombie film seems to claw its way to the surface on a daily basis, it simply doesn't do enough to distinguish itself from the competition. The characters are all stereotypes—although that's forgivable given that the film is clearly inspired in part by The Breakfast Club—but for Detention of the Dead to have been really successful, it would have needed far better gags, a few genuine scares, and much more creative zombie mayhem. I'd liked to have seen director Alex Craig Mann really go to town with the splatter, but then again, maybe the budget for such carnage just wasn't available.I rate Detention of the Dead a passable 5 out of 10, although I was tempted to deduct a point for the obvious in-jokes, most notably the characters named after classics of the genre, something that has been done to death in comedy horror films over the years (the library is named after make-up legend Tom Savini; Brad, Janet and Eddie are all characters from The Rocky Horror Picture Show; Willow is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Ash is, of course, from The Evil Dead; admittedly, I haven't the foggiest who Jimmy is named after).

A group of oddball high school students find themselves trapped in detention with their classmates having turned into a horde of Zombies.This is not necessarily a good film, and it is not a surprise to me that the movie has generally low reviews on IMDb. A bit lower than I expected, but maybe it just has not hit the target audience yet. Although, there is a bit too much down time between the jokes to really keep the momentum going, and some of the events go past parody or homage to downright theft (the "Breakfast Club" ripoff where they each explain why they have detention in particular).This might fall under the category of guilty pleasures, though, for zombie and horror fans. There are countless references, and I am sure I did not catch them all: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead, Twilight and Rocky Horror Picture Show come to mind. There is an homage to Sam Raimi's directing style, the library is named after effects guru Tom Savini... and in one piece of dialogue, two characters mention all the ways that a zombie outbreak has begun in other films.This may not be a keeper, but it is definitely worth renting for those who like clever references to other horror flicks. (Or sometimes not so clever -- the Savini reference got a bit too much screen time to be subtle.)

I was lucky enough to see "Detention of the Dead" at this year's FrightFest. Honestly, I went in not knowing what I should expect. I had only seen a couple teasers, and they really didn't do too much for me, so I didn't exactly have any expectations. It's such a simple basis that happens to be taken beyond that. A handful of kids are in detention...when a zombie outbreak hits. At first, I was thrown off by how cliché each character was. We have the nerd, the feisty goth, the stoner, the good looking jock bully, his meat-head friend, and of course the hot cheerleader. It's like they were all taken straight from "The Breakfast Club". Then it hit me...this is the joke! Just like those preps in "Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil". This feel and tone was supposed to be of the classic Hughs films...and it worked so perfectly! The gore scale on this flick is great. For a movie that I hear had a low budget, they sure made due. The zombies looked sweet and there are some great and gory moments. I feel like this flick is also a gift for us zombie fans. It is packed with homages and references that made me giddy. I heard a lot of complaints from people, at Glasgow, that it wasn't scary. Here's the thing...I don't think scares were their biggest priority. Is it filled with tons of amazing zombie gore? Hell yes! Awesome zombies? Yes. But I think this is more-so a...dare I say light hearted(?)...comedy...that happens to be centered in a zombie apocalypse. The cast was great. Jacob Zachar (Eddie) has yet again created a wonderfully likable nerd character. I found myself both feeling embarrassed for Eddie, at times, and rooting for him. Alexa Nikolas (Willow) was so likable as the feisty and intellectual goth chick. I kept thinking...I'd be sticking with her, in this situation! Justin Chon (Ash) was so completely ridiculous as the stupid stoner...but I loved every second of his screen time. Everyone was great. As funny and gore packed as this movie is, it actually has a lot of sweet moments, and in a zombie movie...it works! I cannot wait to own this film!

I took my brothers and saw this movie over the summer at a local film festival and LOVED it. I'm a big John Hughes fan and a huge indie enthusiast, so this flick was right up my alley. The story was great and totally relatable, much like the way many of Hughes' films were (and still are) to just about anyone who's ever had to deal with the awkward, where-do-i-fit-in-the-world, purgatory that is high school. The writer and director do a great job of taking on a lot of pretty touchy subjects and adding more than a few dashes of hilarity to them, whether through a character's self deprecation or the irony of an entire situation. And if you're a big zombie fiend like my brothers are you'll love it even more than I did. They've already told all of their friends, and I've told all of mine, and none of us can wait to see it again.