Sadly Over-hyped

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie is perfect for it's genre. It's a fantastic zombie movie. I highly commend the producers and directors for attempting such a project. It isn't easy to make a film, and this one has suspense, thrills and interesting ideas. It's a great take on the Zombie movie. There are three things you need in a zombie film: blood, gore, and zombies. (And combining all three is the triumvirate of accomplishments.) This film, as far as I'm concerned, wins. I look at some of the reviews for it like Movie Man Kev and I think he is just on IMDb so he can pretend he is smart by attacking films he couldn't make. Don't listen to the other reviewers. If you're a zombie fan, then this is worth a watch.

"Zombie Town" is an incredibly enjoyable low-budget zombie romp.**SPOILERS**Trying to keep their garage open, brothers Jake, (Adam Hose) and Denton, (Phil Burke) take any odd job to make extra money, and eventually run into old friend Alex, (Brynn Lukas) along the way. When they come across a series of dead bodies, no one else in town believes them until a massive accident blocks them in town, which infuriates Sheriff Brubaker, (Steve Nasuta) due to how it will affect the town. Realizing the deaths are caused by a ravenous parasite that turns it's hosts into flesh-eating zombies that in turn allow the parasites to fester within before eventually erupting out, and with the whole town completely overrun by the creatures, the few who aren't turned are forced to fight off the creatures before they're all turned into zombies.The Good News: This one had a lot of great moments that make it really enjoyable. One of the best features here is that the film has just a ton of outstanding action scenes that are all really enjoyable, ranging from the suspenseful to the action-based and even into the funny, all of which fit nicely into the themes present without feeling as though they're out-of-place and make the film fun. The opening camping journey, where the infected victim breaks into a camping lodge and attacks a group of hunters within is really good, mixing in a suspenseful premise with a good helping of gore in a great location for a fantastic kick-off, and the eventual rediscovery later on provides more action due to a protracted zombie battle that is really fun. Later on, when the invasion has begun and the zombies are out-and-about-town, this one really kicks into a good gear and provides a ton of big action scenes. The bingo hall encounter is hilarious, due to the nature of the attackers and the quips provided, and the action that comes into play is quite good. The street scenes are also as good, since the zombies are running wild attacking everything in sight and they're escape makes for some good stuff along the way where they shoot their way through or just run them over, and that's always a lot of fun. That it ends with the fantastic brawl amongst the auto-repair shop amidst a party of locals that have the zombies crash first before they come to the rescue is the best part, flowing nicely both in terms of story-advancement and the on-screen action itself, giving off even more bloodshed in a film packed with it up until then. The film's finale is just as good, leading up to it with the film's high-water-mark suspense scene in an ice-cream truck chase leading to the spot that is just oodles of fun, creepy and simply original all the way through, before getting to a huge action scene at the end with a massive swarming scene, a great brawl thrown in and a spectacular effects-based finish that is really good, if slightly-blown by the budget. These last two parts comprise the majority of the second half of the film, and these are what keep the film moving along at a fantastic pace so that this one never once bogs down into dreariness or boredom, which is always a plus in these films. This one also manages to have a superb suspense scene here with the police-station scene, where a huge swarm of parasites erupt from the body in a graphic, detailed scene and crawl around the entire station unseen until too late, forcing those that come into check it out into a fun little game of dodge leading up to the escape that is pretty creepy in execution. The zombies here are pretty good-looking, avoiding many clichéd traps and coming off as really serviceable if nowhere near the best of the genre. The last plus here is the films gore, which is quite plentiful. From exploding heads, body disintegrations, a whole host of flesh-ripping and some bites, this one manages to contain enough to satisfy gore-hounds quite nicely. These here are the film's good points.The Bad News: This one had a few problems with it that really hurt it. Perhaps the biggest is the fact that there's no explanation at all for the outbreak epidemic. It's simply told that the parasites are the cause since they are seen coming from the bodies of the recently deceased that have been turned into zombies and a scene at a chemical lab tells us that the virus is spread through them, but not how they do it. This manages to make the creatures a complete mystery as to their origins or an official reasoning as to why they're here, which is somewhat of a disappointment and makes them a little more confusing. Also problematic with this piece is that there's nothing told about what makes the parasites so instrumental in the turning into zombies, so this is another problem here. The last problem here is the low-budget, which manages to make some of the best features a little harder to swallow for some because of their obvious fakery. From the gore to the zombie make-up and even the action scenes from time-to-time, this one has a lot of scenes that are quite obvious as to their nature, and make for some problems for some.The Final Verdict: This one was actually a lot of fun, not really having a lot of problems and instead being quite entertaining and enjoyable instead. While those that are somewhat turned off by the low-budget entries out there won't be into this, just about all zombie-movie fans will find something to like here.Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language

Brothers Denton (the sensible one) and Jake (the unfocused one who will find a larger purpose in life as the story progresses) run a gas station/repair shop in a picturesque little town in Vermont. Jake has absolutely no mechanical ability or interest in doing that job, so business isn't good.They get a call to check out a pickup truck abandoned on a rural road. Walking up to a cabin they find blood all over the place and Denton is seriously injured when a zombie attacks them.Jake goes back to town and finds former girlfriend Alex, who's graduated from college and come back to town to do scientific research. They alert the sheriff.A huge wreck has blocked the only road in or out of town. They find Denton. who's a raving lunatic. Denton is locked in a jail cell (goodness knows how they got him there- his being transported happens offscreen).Denton dies unnoticed by anyone and slug-like creatures come out of his body- two exit through the space where his left eye used to be- and the invasion by these strange creatures begins in earnest.The people aren't zombies in the classic sense, but you don't know what else to call them. One nice little old lady was bitten by her dog and she suddenly turns homicidal at a bingo session, biting the arm of her friend who just called bingo.Soon there are zombie teenagers, at least one zombie dog, and zombie grannies running the streets.It's up to Jake and Alex and a small band of survivors to save the day before the monsters overrun their town. Along the way Jake will rediscover his feelings for Alex and, almost miraculously, finally understand how to work on the engine of a commercial Chevy van.Credit writer/director Damon Lemay with not taking this too seriously. He has a limited budget, most of which goes for some really nasty special effects makeup. The story borrows from many sources, from EAST OF EDEN to NIGHT OF THE CREEPS. LeMay dares to have fun with the material, and he has some surprisingly good performers to do his bidding.The character called Randy could have been a one-dimensional macho killing machine who comes in handy in a bad situation. A manic young actor named Dennis Lemoine takes the part and runs with it. He plays the character as having incredibly bad hair (as do most of the male characters) and has a field day kicking zombie butt from one end of town to the other.Once people have been taken over by the parasites there's no coming back for them, so he cheerfully dispatches people he's known all his life- including his Aunt Ruth and his third grade teacher- making wisecracks all the while.The monsters are finally defeated by a plot device borrowed from THE DEAD PIT that wipes out the vast majority of the monsters. As Jake and Alex- the lone survivors- walk into the sunset there's some ambiguous movement in the foreground that sets us up for Zombie Town 2.I'll be looking forward to it.Parents' note: This richly deserves the R rating. Graphic and gross violence, profanity, and a rather surprising nude scene.

I just rented this the other day on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. Plotwise it's pretty standard issue. Small, isolated town. Small group of survivors. Zombie hordes eating them one by one. You know how it goes. What separates this from some of the other zombie movies I've seen, however, is that the filmmakers seem to have a pretty good sense of humor about what they're doing. The characters are pretty funny (particulaly Randy) and some of the scenarios are definitely done tongue and cheek. I wouldn't say it's quite as over the top as Brain Dead, but it's in that vein. All in all, there are some good jokes, some solid gore, and some pretty ambitious action sequences towards the end. Perhaps a little slow getting started, but once it did I liked it a lot. 7.5 stars out of 10.