In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

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

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Working at a nearby facility, a group of scientists studying a recently reactivated volcano find themselves trapped behind with a family displaced during the process by a horde of zombies unleashed by the eruption and must rely on a heroic ranger to stop the creatures and get them out alive.This here was quite the decent zombie effort. One of the nicer features here is the rather strong and somewhat impressive storyline where it manages a lot to like with how to mix together the different elements. Bringing in the Native American folklore angle about the respect for nature and how that allowed the volcano to swallow up the original zombies to bring them back as cannibalistic creatures manages to provide an intriguing manner of conception about the zombies. That also figures into the rather fun if slightly underwhelming manner of finally defeating the creatures since that allows for a great subversion of expectations regarding gunshots to the head while letting the final method remain somewhat connected to the main storyline. Still, the most fun here is the enjoyable amount of action present, from the opening in the original western setting, the first encounters with the creatures out in the woods which are assumed to be merely lost hikers to the great scenes of the swarm appearing at the cabin which has some decent scenes with the zombies breaking the barricade or the battle to get to the transportation which provides this one with some nice action. The nice action confrontations up in the water tower has this one feature a fun finale to end this on a high note, and along with the decent gore and zombie make-up give this one enough to hold it up over the few minor flaws here. The biggest problem with the film is the fact that the story, for all the clever and unique ideas it has regarding the zombies, makes no sense at all and leaves out several glaring questions to be answered. There's nothing given here about how the lava preserves the bodies instead of destroying them or how they're transported inside the volcano to be able to be recalled later which leaves this with some big questions to answer. Likewise, the need for including such a weak finale as it does here is somewhat questionable as there's a real lack of any impactful action to be taken from what happens here as this leaves the whole film as somewhat unnecessary based on how they finally resolve matters here which is completely disappointing. The last big problem here is the rather low-budget nature of what's going on which really becomes distracting with the atrocious CGI used for the volcano's eruption, the gore from the creatures or the actual visual enhancements which manage to look so obvious that it's distracting. Otherwise, this one was just decent enough.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity.

Creatively fresh and brilliantly original, this film has a heroic sheriff attempting against all odds to save a family from an erupting volcano and the cursed zombies that are set free by the event. These are not the clichéd undead populating every zombie film cranked out. Incredibly well done special effects and CGI work show lava filled creatures unlike anything ever seen before and they are stunning. Brought to life by a curse, their barbarity is breathtaking and there are breathtaking sequences of volcanic explosiveness of true realism. The imagery created by director Rene Perez and the performances he coaxes from his actors are both haunting in their intensity. Danny Trejo is particularly superb in what must be ranked as one of his finest performances. The thrills and momentum of the film never diminish and as a cinema horror adventure, it is both a tremendous experience and deeply satisfying.

"The Burning Dead" (also known as "Volcano Zombies") is an extremely low budget film. And, the title pretty much says it all. So, I knew going into this film that I wouldn't be seeing Masterpiece Theatre or Jane Austin!! Yup...it has what you'd expect--a lot of cheesy special effects and makeup and some occasionally broad acting. And, it's clearly for folks who like horror and don't mind it of the bargain basement variety! Now I am not saying the film is 100% bad....just mostly bad.When the film begins, an American-Indian played by the ubiquitous Danny Trejo is telling some kids a story--and then the actual plot to this film begins. I say 'ubiquitous' because Trejo was in 17 different productions last year and is slated, so far, to be in 21. In fact, while this tough-looking guy didn't begin acting until he was almost 40, he so far has nearly 300 credits!! So did it surprise me that this Mexican-American actor was playing a Cherokee? Nah...I think he'd appear in the lead of Cinderella if they offered it to him! He hammed it up a bit during his small portion in the film, though I always enjoy seeing him...even in schlocky films like this one. To paraphrase Liberace--you might laugh...but Trejo is probably laughing himself all the way to the bank!Trejo's story is about zombies who are vaporized during the 1840s. And, oddly, when the same volcano becomes active again today, these zombies are reconstituted by the evil volcano spirits and they set about doing what zombies do best--slowly chasing after folks who seem to inexplicably fall down and get devoured. None of this is especially inspired--especially in light of the hundred bazillion zombie TV shows and movies over the last decade. Here is the real problem though--it was bad but not bad or cheesy enough to be a film for a bad film junkie who wants to laugh at the film. Additionally, had the film not taken itself so seriously and been more like some of Sam Raimi's or George Romero's zombie films, it might have worked. As it is, there just isn't enough to recommend it.Despite all my reservations about the film, however, I am giving it a special award for 'The Most Ludicrous Nude Scene of the Past Decade'. As the volcano is belching smoke and getting ready to blow, an insane but very shapely lady appears near the crater with her camera and starts to take some candid topless photos of herself with the volcano as a backdrop!! Rarely have I ever seen a more contrived and asinine way to insert a bit of nudity into a movie!

Rene Perez's zombie/sci-fi flick "The Burning Dead" puts some heat into the zombie lore by mixing supernatural with the classic disaster flick. The story is a standard disaster, impending doom scenario that has become the norm for such channels as Syfy. And for all tense and purposes, "The Burning Dead" seems specially produced for the channel that has brought cheap, CGI entertainment to American audiences. The same dramatic stakes arise in the story as a family reconnects in order to see that all survive the coming disaster. The twist here is the added supernatural element in the form of a curse which has lava fueled zombies raining down on the cast and picturesque landscape. As ridiculous and beyond sci-fi as the story premise sounds, the concept translates into a entertaining, all be it cheesy spectacle. The acting is pretty much what you would expect from a flick like this, sometimes contrived, often over-the-top scenes of melodrama mixed with screams and amusing dialog delivery. If you have enjoyed or delighted in any of the "made for Syfy" flicks similar to this film then "The Burning Dead" will give equal bemusement. It is pretty much a cookie cutter assortment of CGI induced disaster action sequences and practical make-up effects zombies. A lot of the situations and dialog does seem far too familiar as with most of these stories, but like junk food, it is all about the melodrama and cheap theatrics. Overall, "The Burning Dead" will not pull in any new fans to this CGI infused genre, but it holds its own against anything Syfy or the "straight-to-video" market puts up next to it. Trejo fans may be slightly disappointed considering the limited part he has in the film, but the scenes that his character is in are some of the more grounded ones. I felt he was under utilized , but that is just my thoughts. For what "The Burning Dead" is, the film has some amusing, and entertaining moments. The zombies, when not drowned in CGI emptiness, fall more toward the "Zombi" style than the "Night Of The Living Dead" creatures.