Just perfect...

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

A vengeful voodoo priestess revives a hideous rotting zombie back from the dead so it can do her evil bidding. Sound good? Well, it just ain't. Boy, does this clunker strike out something stinky in every possible way: The flat (non)direction by Barry Mahon (who also wrote the excruciatingly talky and uneventful script), the sluggish pacing, the insipid acting from a lame no-name cast (only Monica Davis brings any true vigor to her role as the bitter and bitchy Monica), an alarming dearth of tension and spooky atmosphere, a minimal body count (only two folks get killed in this flick!), the meandering narrative, the static cinematography which makes numbing overuse of cruddy master shots, and the blah limply-staged conclusion all make this one a gruelingly tedious chore to endure. On the plus side, Darlene Myrick looks mighty sexy as ditsy exotic dancer Bella Bella, there's some flavorsome footage of the French Quarter in New Orleans, and the snazzy swinging jazz group The Joe Burton Trio make a neat appearance performing in a club. A real snorefest.

Since having read a few small bits about a Jazz band called the Joe Jones band over the last few months,I was surprised to find out that the group made an appearance in a horror film that I had recently picked up on an ultra low budget DVD.Which led to me deciding to take a look at this Horror Jam.The plot:After celebrating their wedding by partying in a jazz bar,a young couple head for their new home.On the way,they kindly pick up a hitch-hiking musician who they had watched performed earlier in the day.Arriving at the new house,everyone settles in for the night.Suddenly,as everyone is starting to go asleep the sound of Voodoo drums begins deep in the belly of the house.View on the film:Although the pictures on the cover originally caused me to suspect that the film would have a real mouldy look,writer/director Barry Mahon (whose life looks like something tailor made for a screenplay) instead gives the film a nice pastel look,which helps to make even the most boring moments in the film watchable.Whilst the cast do OK with Mahon's simple screenplay,the clear stars of the show have to be the three or four Jazz groups featured in the first half of the film,who each give terrific mini performances that help the first half of the film to really fly by.

So says the leading man and he should know! Then again he keeps saying similar statements throughout this film, even when voodoo evidence is staring him in the face. But he isn't the sharpest tool in the box, after marrying his lovely new bride, he brings her back to the family's ancestral home and what does he do on their honeymoon? Shows her around the old slaves quarters and the burial crypts...Romantic fool or what?This zombie film falls into the old style, where the creatures stumble around while following the will of another. Unlike the brain eating ones from 'Night of the living dead' film and onwards. At least this one here is natty dressed in a suit and bow-tie, always good to look your best when your long dead.Reading between the lines, it looks like the producers of this film must have got some financial backing from the New Orleans tourist board as the first half hour takes in the jazz clubs and exotic dance bars of the city. A very slight story here in itself, the new groom's cousin wants the family business for herself and enlists her dead brother through voodoo to get rid of him and his friends. Only one person is killed, the annoying exotic dancer they picked up on the way and due to her appalling acting, I wasn't that sad to see her go! After gatecrashing the voodoo ceremony and throwing the beaten drum out the window and giving his cousin a good slap, our hero saves the day. Sudden sunlight finally does for the zombie brother, seems a lack of drum beat and sunlight are things that finish off these creatures. Here's me thinking it was a good bullet in the old noggin.At least the short running time is one thing in this film's favour but very little else. Still, I can now add to my fellow reviewer here, that there are now three (count 'em) people who have seen this film.Or in the immortal words of New Orleans jazz club owner puts it before launching into a piano solo, "What's happening, dad?"Er...not a lot actually....

I now know of 2 people in the world who have seen this rare movie from Barry Mahon, myself and my girlfriend. A lost movie has been found. Now we just have to ask, was it worth it? Barry Mahon is best known for his "Adults Only" films from the early 1960's. Perhaps best remembered for THE BEAST THAT KILLED WOMEN, a story about a killer gorilla loose in a nudist colony (hey I just review 'em I don't write 'em!). You cannot take any of those so-called "nudie cuties" seriously because they never took themselves seriously; they were there to enjoy and that was that. THE DEAD ONE on the other hand is . . .dare I say it? . . .deadly serious. Set in the back country of Louisiana it involves a plantation run by a woman who fears losing control to her recently married cousin. To fight losing the business she has run single handed for many years she uses voodoo to bring her dead brother back to life to kill off her relatives. Makes sense to me. The zombie, who at times resembles Alice Cooper, is very effective. The plot is very well handled, the photography is competent and the acting is . . .well . . .okay in most cases. Barry could indeed handle a serious genre entry and it was nice to re-discover this film. Sam Sherman, head of Independent International has . . .er . . .dug up the film and released a beautiful print in widescreen and colour under the title BLOOD OF THE ZOMBIE. Oh yes, the low budget shows. The film is padded with scenes of 2 hot jazz bands (one of which plays a hot version of "When The Saints Go Marching In")and a stripper called Bella-Bella; and at times the dialogue is hilarious. One classic moment occurs when the husband and wife discover a victim of the rampaging zombie. The husband grimly says "She's dead." and the wife responds with "But can't we help her?" Is THE DEAD ONE or BLOOD OF THE ZOMBIE worth seeing? Yes! You just might find yourself having fun in spite of yourself.