One of my all time favorites.

Great Film overall

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

As I sat down to watch "Hardrock Zombies", I didn't know what to expect. By its title I was assuming it was a Troma production… and it's not, but it wouldn't be out of place either. Really I don't know what I just watched. Crazy, stupid. Indeed. Amusing at times, but boy what the hell was going on? This cruddy low-cost, shot-on-video production is one noisy, twisted ("You can watch, but don't touch.") and strange horror / comedy that throws caution to wind, as if it was made on the spot adding details as they went along. Everything is chucked in from rock music, T&A, a nutty backwoods family (consisting of a werewolf, midgets, and psychotic nymph), unwelcoming hillbillies, zombies, Nazis and Adolf Hitler(!). It's terrible, but it has that feeling like it was aiming for that. By the end of it, what it feels like is one very long, spontaneously tripped-out music video clip with wild camera-work. Break out the jamming (you know rock ballads) and the pointless posing --- with many disjointed images edited in (a lady dancing around), but don't forget the story involving an up and coming rock band stopping by in a backwoods town to play and staying at the home of the beautifully strange girl they picked up. So you might be asking how do zombies come to be, well wait around for the halfway mark. This when the zombies show up (it's not quite as random as many of the ideas popping up) and from then it gets even sillier ("ghouls don't like heads"). You don't know how, but it just does. The production has tacky make-up on show, wooden performances, is shoddily written and is completely direction-less with its meandering pace."Hardrock Zombies" is inane rubbish, which you might find yourself digging through.

You can guess it is not a movie to watch with high expectations, but there should be at least something for the actual fans of the genre i.e. extremely low budget zombie movies, rock'n'roll and the 80s as such. Sadly, there isn't. Technically speaking this production it is not even a movie, but a remade 20-minute piece and you can notice the desperation of the filmmakers trying to fill the other 78 minutes with anything at all, which included full songs played by the band on stage, totally random interludes and repeating the same video sequences. The unrelated scenes could disturb the plot and the logical course of events, if there were any, but in fact there wasn't much.This movie is quite different from other zombie movies, surely it is gory and tasteless at moments, but for the most part it is incredibly boring and the things which make no sense are not even that funny. It can be quite a disappointment for hard rock and heavy metal fans (who are most likely to pick this movie: come on, zombies, Hitler and rock'n'roll) because it doesn't really feature the 80s' music they would listen to. The tracks are not hard rock and not even rock'n'roll. I liked the love ballad "Cassie's Song" though. I think I'll even give the movie an extra star for that (the base rating was 2 for "bad, but I managed to watch it till the end").I find this movie a little too bad even for people specifically interested in bad movies. Unless things like Nazi zombie midgets really do it for you, then you totally should go for it.

Many aspects of this film might remind you of a Lloyd Kaufman Troma movie, only cheesier, and with a more disjointed plot (yes, both those points are possible). There will be no mistaking that this film comes from the 80s, with the poofy hair and glam rock. Hard Rock Zombies contains several montages, most of them embarrassing, and one of them confusing.There are certainly some unique scenes in this film that you're likely to have never seen before, however, part of the reason for that is how dumb and/or absurd they are. The plot is mostly nonsensical, and sometimes difficult to follow. That being said, the absolute silly nature of this film is what made it most enjoyable. This is the first movie I've seen with a Nazi zombie midget riding and biting a cow.Gorehounds: there is a pretty steady stream of violence throughout the film, some effects are better than others, but I would say they were pretty good for the very low budget they presumably had. While there aren't too many innovative acts of mayhem, there were a few things I hadn't seen before.Some might wonder about the nudity factor. There are really only two scenes, and they are very brief. They feature the same woman. You see her buttocks briefly in both shots, and breasts in both, from 5 miles away in the first scene, and very briefly close-up in the second (in the shower). It seems the actress may have been somewhat uneasy about baring her breasts. Watch as she stabs a man, while taking care to cover her breasts with her free arm! That said, she is well-endowed, and, well, a hot 80s blonde! This movie is worth checking out if you like absurd and cheesy comedy horror, and don't mind or enjoy sappy romance. You will learn about the evils of rock 'n roll, the means of resurrecting the dead (which the movie can't seem to decide on), and the true fate of Adolf Hitler.

Back in the 80's, when heavy metal music was king, movies containing ready-made music videos were a-dime-a-dozen. MTV was cool beyond all reason. And every exploitation film wanted to play to its base. Thus, the heavy metal horror film was born.In fact, it was( and still is) a whole sub-genre of horror films. The concept is simple. Combine the storyline of a horror film and a music video, making the group or the rock star himself, the heroes. Cast actual musicians( such as Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Gene Simmons, or the low budget version, Jon-Mikel Thor) or hire actors with some musical talent( ala The Monkees) to play the leads and you have the makings of a version of this type of film. In fact movies from "Night Train to Terror" to "Blood Dolls" fall into this category. Which brings us to this film."Hard Rock Zombies" is a true incarnation of the eighties. From the "KISS"-like hard rock band( they even wear their style of makeup when they turn into zombies) to the teased hair to the muppet character, this has all the earmarks of an independent 80's film shot directly for video. The fake gore, the gratuitous nudity, the inept acting, you get it all in here. The plot, such as it is, is about a heavy metal band who agree to do a regional concert in the hopes of landing a major record deal. On the way there, they pick up a beautiful hitch-hiker, who convinces them to stay at her family's mansion while preparing for the concert. Needless to say, the family is a group of oddballs whose actions eventually lead us to the title in question.There are no real surprises in this plot. Nor is the characterization that deep. But , there is a certain amount of imagination at play here. For a movie that looks like it was made for all of $1.35 you get Nazis, she-wolves, muppets( I'm sorry, I love muppets), cannibalism, legendary Hollywood stars, and, of course, Phil Fondacaro, in a very early role. Unfortunately what you also get is lousy music, horrendous acting( with the exception of Mr. Fondacaro who seems to be having a great time) and some very amateurish work from behind the camera.( The technical gaffes are numerous.)Still the movie has more than a few genuine laughs and the director shows some surprising comic timing. This movie, in fact, has more intentional laughs than some of the comedies I have seen recently.( Note that I said "some".) And for all of the jokes that fail( and some do embarrassingly ), the ones that do work, work very well. The scenes involving the legendary Hollywood performers, in particular, should get a few guffaws from those who look with fondness upon classic movie and music stars, and the culture of the 80's in general. Also, there are some great one-liners interspersed throughout the movie. And the film has fun with it's monsters(even thought the make-up fx are noticeably cheap) and muppets.So, all in all, this movie isn't too bad. Sure, the acting, music, and make-up fx are lousy. But, the gore fx are better than what you might expect. The film has a fairly good sense of humor. And there is some genuine fun to be had here. Fans of cult cinema, or cinema of the absurd, should enjoy this, to a degree. As for the rest, well, you know what you're getting into. And if you don't like it, speak to the muppet.