REVIEW: The Video Dead
I remember when my mom first bought me The Video Dead at Goodwill on VHS. I didn’t really know what to think about it but I remember the video box cover as clear as day. I watched it, but at the time I was so preoccupied with my Lego set or drawing the box art that I never really paid attention to the film. As time went on, I forgot about it until I saw it pop up on Netflix Instant… and then I just had to watch it. The plot follows a teen that finds an old TV in his attic but little does he know that this TV is a gateway between worlds and soon he unwillingly unleashes a hoard of inner-dimensional zombies that run amuck in his town. But these aren’t your every day zombies, no they want to fit in like regular people but they want to feast on them as well. Now it’s up to teen and an old hermit (he knows about the TV’s tricks) to stop the zombie invasion! Only in the 80s could you get away with something like this. I thought it was very enjoyable but man… there is times where it’s just way too campy.
First I want to talk about the zombies. They aren’t your typical slow lumbering flesh eaters, nor are they the ones you find in voodoo culture… these zombies just exist within the realm of the TV. Because they are from another dimension, they can make themselves seem like real people. As I already explained, they were transported to our world through the TV set and now they want to be like us (the living). So, they decide to kill and eat the people in the town and take over their lives. They begin living in their homes, eating at the dinner table, watching TV and even trying to clean the dishes. To watch them hulking around trying to figure things out is sort of fun to watch, like one would feel as they watch a little kid explore the house for a first time. Though, it gets corny real quick. To see a zombie fall into a washer with his legs sticking up and the washer set to spin took me out of the moment that was so wonderfully crafted. What’s better is that if you kill these zombies they act like they are dead (again to try to fit in) unknowingly to them they are already dead. Now that is some great subtle comedy.
One of the things this movie makes a point on is the hidden comedy inside suburban living. They don’t really make it a strong point to show their theme, hell I’m not even sure that was their intention, but if you lived in one as long as I have you’ll end up seeing the satire in this film. Notice how the people, before the zombie attacks, were so automotive but ‘happy’ at the same time. When the zombies to come into the picture they stumble around idiotically; trying to fit into this new standard of living. I see it as a sort of satire on how suburbanites want to have this Pleasantville like society, and will go to extreme lengths to keep in; when in actuality they are look like fools. I also find it funny that the zombies can’t look at themselves in the mirror as though they can’t really face who they really are. Perhaps I am getting too deep into this sort of movie but it isn’t the first time a really corny movie said so much.
Given that this was an indie movie, it had some damn fine effects. You get to see arms getting chopped off, bodies hacked to pieces, skin tearing and a whole lot of blood. It really felt like it was sort of paying tribute to Night of the Living Dead but yet trying to do it’s own thing. Even the zombie makeup was pretty decent. Sure nothing can beat the groundwork that Savini set in Dawn of the Dead or Day of the Dead but it was feasible. It felt like it was the golden age of schlock all over again when zombies were just painted white with black circles around their eyes. Hell, I have to give the director props for doing the best he could with what he had.
Sure there are things to nitpick and what review of a cornball movie wouldn’t be complete with the flaws? The biggest thing this film suffers from is the horrendous acting. I can take bad acting but there were times where even I cringed when I heard some of the lines. On the plus side, it does add to the films cheesy charm. One of the biggest plot holes comes when the old man tells the kid that one of the only ways to kill the zombies is to lock them in a confined space because they’ll eat each other out of fear of starving. Than he says that he spent his entire life (50 or so years) trying to stop the zombies. The kid than traps the zombies in the basement and they end up eating each other. If the guy knew how to kill them and if it was as easy as trapping them in the basement… why didn’t he do it?
The bottom line is this: If you want to see a real fun film about zombies with sudden cheese level pops, you’ll certainly love this film. It’s an oddball in the zombie genre but it’s a very clever and imaginative movie. I’m glad I got to revisit this film again after all these years and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now all I have to do is find my VHS copy so that I can place it on my shelf. Hopefully I didn’t leave it in my VCR, which is connected to our Zenith that was struck my lightening.
